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| Hammer and Feather Drop - Scott demonstrates that Galileo was right |
Today on Far Future Horizons we present the tenth episode of
the acclaimed twelve-part HBO television miniseries From the Earth to the Moon
– "Galileo Was Right” which dramatizes the mission of Apollo 15.
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| Portrait of Galileo Galilei by Giusto Sustermans |
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| Apollo 15 Mission insignia |
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.
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| Crew of Apollo 15: David R. Scott, Alfred M. Worden and James B. Irwin |
Silver takes the four Apollo 15 prime
and backup landing crew members (David Scott, James Irwin, Richard F. Gordon,
Jr., and Schmitt) to the south-western desert, while lunar geologist Farouk
El-Baz trains the Command Module pilots (Alfred Worden and Vance 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.
From The Earth to the Moon (the Signature Edition) is available on DVD from Amazon .com.
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