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Mission Critical: Langley’s Moon Shot Premieres Friday, February 28, 8:30 p.m.
Mission Critical is the story of Langley’s contributions to the Apollo Program, or NASA’s mission to land humans on the moon within a 10-year period set by then President Kennedy. While all NASA centers played a role in this mission, Langley was unique. It is the oldest of all the field centers and the first to operate the Space Task Group, which began with Project Mercury, the predecessor to Gemini and Apollo.
Mission Critical begins with Langley’s origins after the Wright Brothers first flight, and the beginning of man’s quest for the moon. The program focuses on three areas of importance; the introduction of the first human computers, featuring Christine Darden and Katherine Johnson. Second, the Rendezvous Docking Simulator that simulated docking the LEM to the Command Module, and finally the Lunar Landing Research Facility that allowed astronauts the ability to simulate landing a craft on the surface of the moon. Without these three key components, reaching the moon would not have been possible.
Mission Critical: Langley’s Moon Shot Premieres Friday, February 28, 8:30 p.m. on WHRO TV15. View the :30 preview here.
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About WHRO Public Media: Since its founding in 1961 to support education, WHRO Public Media has employed creativity and technology to serve the residents of Eastern Virginia in its mission to educate, inform and entertain viewers and listeners of WHRO’s four public television and six public radio stations. Owned by 21 southeastern Virginia school divisions, WHRO Public Media also delivers online educational and new media services to 286,000 students and 25,000 educators per month. To learn more, visit whro.org.
