Skip to content
Are We Over the Moon? episode artwork

Aug 15, 2016 54 min

Are We Over the Moon?

from Big Picture Science Hosted by Big Picture Science

When astronaut Gene Cernan stepped off the moon in 1972, he didn’t think he’d be the last human ever to touch its surface. But no one’s been back. Hear astronaut Cernan’s reaction to being the last man on the moon, the reasons why President Kennedy launched the Apollo program, and why Americans haven’t returned. Now other countries – and companies – are vying for a bigger piece of the space pie. Find out who – or what – will be visiting and even profiting. Will the moon become an important place to make money? Plus, the moon landing was a great step for “a man,” and “men not machines” make space history. But what about women? More than a dozen were qualified for space flight in the early 1960s. Hear from one of these original “Mercury 13,” and find out why NASA grounded them. Guests: Gene Cernan – Retired American naval officer, former NASA Astronaut. John Logsdon – Professor emeritus, Space Policy Institute, George Washington University Al Hallonquist – Aerospace historian Robert Richards – Founder and CEO of Moon Express Sarah Ratley – Former pilot, member of the "Mercury 13" Dan Durda – Planetary scientist, Southwest Research Institute.

Episode details come from the podcast's RSS feed.

Embed this episode

Ready to play

Are We Over the Moon?

0:00 54:00

No transcript yet.

Requests help us decide what to transcribe next.

Frequently asked questions

How long is this episode of Big Picture Science?

This episode is 54 minutes long.

When was this Big Picture Science episode published?

This episode was published on August 15, 2016.

Can I download this Big Picture Science episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.