Carl Sagan: The Gift of Apollo

By Nancy Atkinson - November 3, 2011 at 3:54 PM UTC | Space Exploration

We all could use a little Carl Sagan in our day, and this latest installment in a new video series put together by Reid Gower might be just what you need for a little inspiration! Gower puts the words of Sagan to video and music, creating a stunning tribute to both Sagan himself and the Apollo program. Gower says he is "using social media to promote scientific literacy," and this video is part 8 of

"The Sagan Series"

and he's also created a companion set of videos,

"The Feynman Series,"

using the words of physicist Richard Feynman.

This video is based on a chapter of Sagan's monumental book

Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space,

a book that has inspired and motivated many people, including me. In this video, Sagan discusses the triumph of landing on the Moon, as well as pointing out the true political motivations for the Apollo missions, and their often overlooked benefits.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com