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NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Adelbert "Del" O. Tischler, Director of the Chemical Propulsion Division at NASA, and Director of the Shuttle Technology Office, part 2 of 2

Part of To the Moon Interviews.

1998

Adelbert "Del" O. Tischler, former Director of the Chemical Propulsion Division at NASA, and former Director of the Shuttle Technology Office at NASA is interviewed about some of the decisions behind Apollo (audio only for the entire interview). Tischler calls von Braun a "persnickety guy" and explains von Braun's ideas, including Earth Orbit Rendezvous. Tischler explains how some of the Apollo program's ideas were modified from Russian space theories.

Series

NOVA

Program

To the Moon

Program Number

2610

Title

Interview with Adelbert "Del" O. Tischler, Director of the Chemical Propulsion Division at NASA, and Director of the Shuttle Technology Office, part 2 of 2

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

Alan Binder, former Principal Investigator of NASA's Lunar Prospector mission, is interviewed about the Lunar Prospector. Binder says that if moon travel became viable again, he would want to go to the moon, but says that in order to get financial and public support for space exploration, scientists need to sell the science of the moon. Another option, according to Binder, is to make travel to the moon commercially viable, and lists many benefits of going to the moon, including using it as a fuel source, or colonizing the surface for human habitation (audio cuts out from 00:07:30 - 00:09:00). Binder explains the work of the Lunar Prospector and talks about the necessity of having computers to do a lot of the work. On Apollo, Binder calls the program the most significant event of the 21st century, and talks about the roles of the Apollo program, the Clementine spacecraft, and hte Lunar Prospector. The interview ends with Binder's views on his relationship with NASA, which he characterizes as being needlessly bound up in beaurocracy and red tape.

Duration

0:02:20

Asset Type

Raw video

Media Type

Video

Subjects

Space

Moon

Astronaut

American history

Apollo

Gemini

Creators

WGBH Educational Foundation (Producing Organization)

Contributors

Tischler, Adelbert "Del" O., 1918-2017 (Interviewee)

Rights Summary

Rights Holder: WGBH Educational Foundation

Citation

Chicago: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Adelbert "Del" O. Tischler, Director of the Chemical Propulsion Division at NASA, and Director of the Shuttle Technology Office, part 2 of 2,” 1998, GBH Archives, accessed December 26, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_CA41ECFE1F3C4026907D54624D7378AA.

MLA: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Adelbert "Del" O. Tischler, Director of the Chemical Propulsion Division at NASA, and Director of the Shuttle Technology Office, part 2 of 2.” 1998. GBH Archives. Web. December 26, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_CA41ECFE1F3C4026907D54624D7378AA>.

APA: NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Adelbert "Del" O. Tischler, Director of the Chemical Propulsion Division at NASA, and Director of the Shuttle Technology Office, part 2 of 2. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_CA41ECFE1F3C4026907D54624D7378AA