In this exclusive web extra, expert panelists answer questions as they commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
On July 16th, 1969, a Saturn V rocket thundered off the pad at Cape Canaveral, carrying Apollo 11 on its historic mission to the moon. Four days later, on July 20th, Neal Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon. But the program that made the landing possible started years before that, with a series of lunar exploration probes, many of them designed right here at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In 1972, the last two astronauts walked on the lunar surface, ending America's moon program....or at least putting it on long-term hiatus. Today, NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are gearing up again--this time to return to the moon and establish a permanent base. JPL is working on the landing systems, probes and other tools that will once again help make this dream reality. NASA's Ares rockets and Orion spacecraft will carry the next generation to the moon. As part of a special program recorded at JPL's von Karman Auditorium, Larry and guests look back at Apollo and forward towards Ares, Orion, Constellation and beyond.
Panelists:
Dr. Louis Friedman, Executive Director of The Planetary Society
John Casani, Special Assistant to the JPL Director. Casani began his career at JPL in 1956 and worked on some of the first lunar probe missions.
Mike Sander, Manager, Exploration Systems and Technology Office, JPL
Scott Jay "Doc" Horowitz, former Shuttle Astronaut and Ares 1 designer