NOVA; Interview with Dr. Gordon Swann, geologist with the US Geological Survey (USGS) and Principal Investigator of Lunar Geology for Apollo, part 1 of 4 : To the Moon
NOVA; Interview with Dr. Gordon Swann, geologist with the US Geological Survey (USGS) and Principal Investigator of Lunar Geology for Apollo, part 1 of 4 : To the Moon
Description:
Dr. Gordon Swann, geologist with the US Geological Survey (USGS) and Principal Investigator of Lunar Geology during Apollo 14 and 15, is interviewed about teaching geology to the astronauts. Swann talks about his first training field trip in Big Bend, Texas, and training Tom Stafford and Jim Lovell. Astronauts tended to vary in their interest in geology, and Swann talks about the exercises he used to train them, including using a compass, mapping from aerial photographs, and the general principles of geology. The final five minutes of the interview are audio-only of an interview with Dr. David Roddy on lunar craters (from tape 52254, ID "barcode52254_Roddy_01"), and Lisa Gaddis and Eric Eliason (from tape 52254, ID "barcode52254_Gaddis_Eliason") describing the Clementine maps and the coloration of the moon. 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.
