GBH Openvault

NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Thomas Joseph Kelly, aerospace engineer responsible for working on the Apollo Lunar Module, part 3 of 3

Part of To the Moon Interviews.

1998

Thomas Joseph Kelly, aerospace engineer responsible for working on the Apollo Lunar Module, is interviewed about the Apollo 13 mission. Kelly determined that the LM was designed to be usable as a lifeboat, although the astronauts were never trained on this contingency. Kelly explains some of his reservations on the subsequent Apollo missions, including Apollo 14's issues with its spacecraft's docking and its panic button, and explains how the Apollo 14 mission was saved. Kelly believes that the Apollo program ended while NASA was ahead in terms of risks, felt that the astronauts had been highly effective in their "scientific harvest", and said that he was almost relieved when later Apollo missions were called off. Inside the Lunar Module, Kelly explains the space and mechanisms, and explains why there were no seats in the LM, and explains where the Apollo 11 crew would have been situated. Kelly explains the LM as a flying machine, shows where the docking window and hatches were, and talks about how much the astronauts loved the LM. The interview ends with Kelly's comparison of old and new space technology, and his feelings of pride. Footage ends with shots of the LM, no audio.

Series

NOVA

Program

To the Moon

Program Number

2610

Title

Interview with Thomas Joseph Kelly, aerospace engineer responsible for working on the Apollo Lunar Module, part 3 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

0:15:51

Asset Type

Raw video

Media Type

Video

Subjects

Space

American history

Astronaut

Apollo

Gemini

Moon

Creators

WGBH Educational Foundation (Producing Organization)

Contributors

Kelly, Thomas Joseph, 1929-2002 (Interviewee)

Rights Summary

Rights Holder: WGBH Educational Foundation

Citation

Chicago: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Thomas Joseph Kelly, aerospace engineer responsible for working on the Apollo Lunar Module, part 3 of 3,” 1998, GBH Archives, accessed December 27, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_F5819870C4C64DD5861B6C1303084C51.

MLA: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Thomas Joseph Kelly, aerospace engineer responsible for working on the Apollo Lunar Module, part 3 of 3.” 1998. GBH Archives. Web. December 27, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_F5819870C4C64DD5861B6C1303084C51>.

APA: NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Thomas Joseph Kelly, aerospace engineer responsible for working on the Apollo Lunar Module, part 3 of 3. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_F5819870C4C64DD5861B6C1303084C51