NOVA; Interview with Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr., astronaut, engineer, and Commander on Apollo 12, part 2 of 2 : To the Moon
Description:
Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr., astronaut, engineer, and Commander on Apollo 12 is interviewed about the Apollo 12 mission. Conrad describes the mission's liftoff problems and his identification of the fact that the spacecraft had been hit by lightning. Apollo 12 also had difficulties in landing on the moon, partly because of changes to the calculations in finding their location. Conrad had made a bet with someone about whether or not the astronauts' words were scripted by NASA or the US Government, so he pre-arranged what he would say upon landing on the moon, but never got the payoff. He describes his thoughts on the scientist-astronauts and the astronauts' quarantine after returning to the moon, and the accomplishments of Apollo, despite the program ending too soon. The interview ends with Conrad's explanation of his work today in "space services" for commercial space travel. 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.