NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Glynn Lunney, NASA engineer and flight director during the Gemini and Apollo programs, part 4 of 4

1998

Glynn Lunney, NASA engineer and flight director during the Gemini and Apollo programs, is interviewed about the later missions in the Apollo program. Lunney believes that a mixture of human ability and God's help saved the crew of the Apollo 13, and talks about the evolution of the Apollo program in terms of its geological content. Lunney explains why he wanted his flight controllers to understand geology and do geological training, and talks about his lack of disappointment in the mission reductions after Apollo 17 because of his work on other projects and the plateau of the enthusiasm for Apollo. Lunney ends by explaining the phrase "wine before its time" and how the space program fit the period of the 1960s.

◀ Part 3

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Series: NOVA
Program: To the Moon
Program Number: 2610
Title: Interview with Glynn Lunney, NASA engineer and flight director during the Gemini and Apollo programs, part 4 of 4
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: 0:10:16
Asset Type: Raw video
Media Type: Video
Subjects: Moon; American history; Apollo; Astronaut; Gemini; Space
Creators: WGBH Educational Foundation (Producing Organization)
Contributors: Lunney, Glynn, 1936- (Interviewee)
Rights Summary: Rights Holder: WGBH Educational Foundation
Citation: Chicago: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Glynn Lunney, NASA engineer and flight director during the Gemini and Apollo programs, part 4 of 4,” 1998, GBH Archives, accessed December 3, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_F686A6FD6AAA4051BF7622E181765816.; MLA: “NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Glynn Lunney, NASA engineer and flight director during the Gemini and Apollo programs, part 4 of 4.” 1998. GBH Archives. Web. December 3, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_F686A6FD6AAA4051BF7622E181765816>.; APA: NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Glynn Lunney, NASA engineer and flight director during the Gemini and Apollo programs, part 4 of 4. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_F686A6FD6AAA4051BF7622E181765816

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NOVA; To the Moon; Interview with Glynn Lunney, NASA engineer and flight director during the Gemini and Apollo programs, part 4 of 4