NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Steve Bales, former NASA engineer and flight controller, part 1 of 3

1998

Steve Bales, former NASA engineer and flight controller, is interviewed about working in Mission Control. He explains why he got excited about the moon, and how he came to work for NASA in Houston. Bales describes the environment in Mission Control as very youthful (he recounts a President Nixon's 1968 visit, when he asked "where are all the old people?"), and as a place where everybody was very passionate about their work. Bales discusses the Gemini program's accomplishment of getting men in space for a longer duration and figuring out rendezvous, and ends with a description of the computing and coding being done at NASA at the time, which was all done using limited numbers of words and was all hand-coded.

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Series: NOVA
Program: To the Moon
Program Number: 2610
Title: Interview with Steve Bales, former NASA engineer and flight controller, part 1 of 3
Series Description: NOVA is a general-interest documentary series that addresses a single science issue each week. Billed as "science adventures for curious grown-ups" when it first aired in March, 1974, NOVA continues to offer an informative and entertaining approach to a challenging subject. It is also one of television's most acclaimed series, having won every major television award, most of them many times over.
Program Description: This remarkably crafted program covers the full range of participants in the Apollo project, from the scientists and engineers who promoted bold ideas about the nature of the Moon and how to get there, to the young geologists who chose the landing sites and helped train the crews, to the astronauts who actually went – not once or twice, but six times, each to a more demanding and interesting location on the Moon's surface. "To The Moon" includes unprecedented footage, rare interviews, and presents a magnificent overview of the history of man and the Moon. To the Moon aired as NOVA episode 2610 in 1999.
Duration: 0:10:13
Asset Type: Raw video
Media Type: Video
Subjects: Gemini; Astronaut; American history; Moon; Space; Apollo
Creators: WGBH Educational Foundation (Producing Organization)
Contributors: Bales, Steve, 1942- (Interviewee)
Rights Summary: Rights Holder: WGBH Educational Foundation
Citation: Chicago: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Steve Bales, former NASA engineer and flight controller, part 1 of 3,” 1998, GBH Archives, accessed December 26, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_BD5A0B6FA29746C88A3693D93A9D363B.; MLA: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Steve Bales, former NASA engineer and flight controller, part 1 of 3.” 1998. GBH Archives. Web. December 26, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_BD5A0B6FA29746C88A3693D93A9D363B>.; APA: NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Steve Bales, former NASA engineer and flight controller, part 1 of 3. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_BD5A0B6FA29746C88A3693D93A9D363B

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NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Steve Bales, former NASA engineer and flight controller, part 1 of 3