[Rockhounds] NASA may not have televised the first moon landing if it weren't for a group of geologists

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

Mission control might never have witnessed Neil Armstrong take his first
steps on the moon if it weren't for the vision of men like Eugene
Shoemaker. Geologists Ivo Luccitta and Jerry Schaber say Shoemaker, who was
their boss and a top gun at the U.S. Geological Survey, made a lot of stuff
happen on that historic mission.

Originally, NASA didn't want to televise the iconic moment, they said.

"We worked very hard here to use television in our field exercises and show
them how valuable it was," Luccitta said.

As the story goes, Shoemaker had a *lot *of convincing to do when it came
to NASA.

"They didn't want to take a rock hammer. They didn't want to take anything
that … could hurt their suit and poke a hole in their suit. They didn't
want us to even photograph the rocks," Schaber said.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nasa-almost-didnt-film-the-first-moon-landing/