Ep 10: Galileo Was Right

From the Earth to the Moon: A Retrospective Podcast on The Apollo Program

Scientist astronaut Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, a geologist, persuades his mentor, professor Lee Silver, to train the Apollo astronauts in selecting appropriate rock samples to collect through field experience, rather than the boring classroom lectures NASA has been using. Silver takes the four Apollo 15 prime and backup landing crew members (David Scott, James Irwin, Richard F. Gordon, Jr., and Schmitt) to the southwestern desert, while lunar geologist Farouk El-Baz trains the Command Module pilots (Alfred Worden and Vance D. Brand) in high-altitude recognition of geological features using airplane flights over Hawaii. Schmitt is disappointed to learn his own Apollo 18 flight will be cancelled, but he still believes the training of the other astronauts is vital. It pays off when Scott and Irwin find the "Genesis Rock", originally believed to come from the Moon's primordial crust. The title refers to Scott's reproduction of an experiment proving Galileo's hypothesis that gravity will cause bodies of differing masses to fall at the same rate in a vacuum, by dropping a hammer and a feather.

Episode 10 links:

Jim Irwin Saluting the Flag

British animated short about Apollo 15

FTETTM Hammer and Feather scene

Real Hammer and Feather on Moon

Apollo 15 EVA 1 complete TV transmission

Al Worden talking about 15, good and bad, including stamp incident

Apollo 15 In the Mountains of the Moon (saw this in elementary school-still well done!)