TWiT.TV — with Leo Laporte & Friends

Running time: 51:46

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Host: Marc Pelletier

Guest: Dr. Harrison Schmitt, Lunar Module Pilot, Apollo 17.

Those great voices you will hear in our opening theme are Harrison 'Jack' Schmitt, lunar module pilot, and Gene Cernan, commander of Apollo 17. They were the two last men to walk on the moon. To be accurate, Harrison Schmitt was the last man out of the lunar module, and to set his foot down on the surface, while Gene Cernan was the last person to step back into the lunar module before take off, in December 1972. So either way, they can both lay claim to being the last man on the moon, it is just a matter of how you look at it!

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Schmitt, former Senator from New Mexico, who was the first American Astronaut-Scientist, a Harvard trained Geologist. I really wanted to invite him on the show, not only because he is, in my opinion, one of the great explorers of our time, but because he is a scientist. He has a unique perspective on the experience and the mission, which included living on the moon for three days, and exploring its surface in the valley of Taurus-Littrow.

Book:
Return to the Moon, by Dr. Harrison Schmitt
Preview at Google books

Films:
In the Shadow of the Moon
The Wonder of it All

Pictures:
Blue Marble Photograph
Schmitt running on the moon
Schmitt working near the lunar rover
Eugene Cernan
Schmitt taking lunar soil samples
Schmitt near large boulder
Apollo 17's lunar rover

Videos:
Apollo 17's lunar rover
Schmitt falls

Other interesting links:
Fusion Technology Institute
Fusion Technology Institute class notes
More of Dr. Schmitt's class notes
Detailed Bio

Our book of the week is Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson. For your free audio book visit Audible.com/Biotech.

Thanks to Cachefly for providing the bandwidth for this netcast.

Also thanks to Philippe Pelletier and Will Hall for the great opening and closing themes AND Matthew McInerney for the cool FiB Desktops.

Running time: 51:46