GBH Openvault

NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Gerald J. Wasserburg, Professor of Geology and Geophysics, Emeritus, on the John D. MacArthur chair at the California Institute of Technology, part 1 of 3

Part of To the Moon Interviews.

1998

Gerald J. Wasserburg, Professor of Geology and Geophysics, Emeritus, on the John D. MacArthur chair at the California Institute of Technology, is interviewed about his role in the Apollo program. He discusses site selection and his opinion that Apollo 11 was the most important of the Apollo missions, as well as his opinion that manned spaceflight is not necessary to learning about the moon. On the science side, Wasserburg explains his hesitation on water on the moon, the discovery of orange soil, and the fears of contamination from lunar samples. The interview ends with an explanation of the name "Lunatic Asylum" from their work on the moon.

Series

NOVA

Program

To the Moon

Program Number

2610

Title

Interview with Gerald J. Wasserburg, Professor of Geology and Geophysics, Emeritus, on the John D. MacArthur chair at the California Institute of Technology, 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

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

0:23:08

Asset Type

Raw video

Media Type

Video

Subjects

Astronaut

Gemini

American history

Moon

Space

Apollo

Creators

WGBH Educational Foundation (Producing Organization)

Contributors

Wasserburg, Gerald J., 1927-2016 (Interviewee)

Rights Summary

Rights Holder: WGBH Educational Foundation

Citation

Chicago: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Gerald J. Wasserburg, Professor of Geology and Geophysics, Emeritus, on the John D. MacArthur chair at the California Institute of Technology, part 1 of 3,” 1998, GBH Archives, accessed December 27, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_D8E9DB8751524F659DCB8E0A7FA3F028.

MLA: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Gerald J. Wasserburg, Professor of Geology and Geophysics, Emeritus, on the John D. MacArthur chair at the California Institute of Technology, part 1 of 3.” 1998. GBH Archives. Web. December 27, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_D8E9DB8751524F659DCB8E0A7FA3F028>.

APA: NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Gerald J. Wasserburg, Professor of Geology and Geophysics, Emeritus, on the John D. MacArthur chair at the California Institute of Technology, part 1 of 3. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_D8E9DB8751524F659DCB8E0A7FA3F028