MPT Digital Studios highlights work of local NASA scientists

Maryland Public Television (MPT) is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the July 1969 Apollo 11 mission to the moon with the Summer of Space multiplatform experience. As part of the celebration, MPT Digital Studios has released four new digital-first programs highlighting the work of NASA scientists at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt. The statewide broadcaster will also celebrate the day of the moon landing anniversary with a 12-hour “Moon-a-thon” lineup of space-related programming on Sat., July 20 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on MPT-HD.

MPT DIGITAL STUDIOS

Situated on a sizeable campus near College Park, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center is home to a wealth of innovative scientific activity committed to learning more about the universe and our place in it. NASA scientists at the Goddard Space Flight Center were eager to share some of the work with MPT Digital Studios, and MPT is excited to share these projects with viewers across the state and beyond. The four MPT Digital Studios productions include:

The Dig: NASA Lunar Orbiter
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, a robotic spacecraft circling the moon, has collected over ten years of data on its mission, and continues to scout out potential sites for future human exploration.

The Dig: NASA Apollo Rocks
The Marshall Space Flight Center’s Noble Gas Research Library is preparing to receive previously unopened samples of lunar material from the 1972 Apollo 17 mission. Scientists hope analysis will offer new clues about the formation and history of the moon.

The Dig: NASA Asteroid
NASA Goddard also oversees the navigation for OSIRIS-REx, a spacecraft currently orbiting Asteroid Bennu. They plan to collect and analyze a sample from Bennu in the coming years, in order to bring new insight to the study of our solar system.

The Dig: NASA Mars 2020
The Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer was recently completed and shipped for integration into the ExoMars Rover, which will launch in 2020 on a voyage to the red planet.

"MOON-A-THON"

On Sat., July 20 – exactly 50 years since astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the surface of the moon – MPT will commemorate the day by broadcasting 12 hours of moon- and space-related content on its main channel MPT-HD. The marathon of documentaries and specials, dubbed “Moon-a-thon,” begins at 8 a.m. with a special episode of the popular children’s show Ready Jet Go! and continues throughout the day with installments of American Experience and episodes of NOVA; A Year in Space, about astronaut Scott Kelly’s 12-month mission on the International Space Station; and 8 Days: to the Moon and Back, a BBC docudrama, among other productions. The full lineup of MPT’s Moon-a-thon programs can be viewed at mpt.org/space/moonathon/.

MPT Digital Studios’ digital-first productions about the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the July 20 "Moon-a-thon" airing MPT-HD add to a plethora of PBS premieres airing on MPT’s television stations and being made available for online viewing throughout the summer. For more information about MPT's Summer of Space, visit mpt.org/space/.