Posts Tagged ‘space’

Movie Review – When Worlds Collide (1951)

Try to imagine, just for a moment, that a star is racing across the galaxy and heading straight for Earth.

You only have eight months until the star arrives and destroys the planet.  If any part of humanity is to survive, then it’s going to require building rockets and trying to find a new home somewhere in space.

That’s basically the premise for When Worlds Collide, a classic 1950s science-fiction film depicting the end of the Earth and the struggle to try to save a small group of humans, plants and animals.  As the engineers build a rocket, they have to compete against not only the imminent destruction of Earth, but the catastrophic disasters caused by the arrival of the star as well as the anarchy and breakdown of civilization.

When Worlds Collide (1951) – movie poster

Directed by Rudolph Mate and produced by George Pal, When Worlds Collide stars Richard Derr as David Randall, a pilot caught in the middle of the chaos.  Co-starring in the film are Larry Keating as Dr. Cole Hendron, Barbara Rush as Joyce Hendron, the professor’s daughter, John Hoyt as Sydney Stanton, and Peter Hansen as Dr. Tony Drake, a physician in love with Joyce.

When Worlds Collide (1951) – (c) Paramount Pictures

When Worlds Collide begins in South Africa as pilot David Randall (Richard Derr) arrives at an observatory.  Astronomer Dr. Emery Bronson (Hayden Rorke) has made a horrifying discovery, something that he simply doesn’t want to believe.  Dr. Bronson assigns Randall the task of carrying the information to Dr. Cole Hendron, his colleague and fellow astronomer living in the United States.  Randall doesn’t care about the task or the secret information, just how much he’s going to be paid to be a courier.  When talking about Randall’s pay for the task, Dr. Bronson hints that money really isn’t a concern any longer.

A briefcase containing the information is secured to Randall’s wrist, and he’s off on a series of connecting flights from South Africa to the United States.  A reporter has gotten word of Randall carrying secret information, and he tries several times to bribe Randall so that he can learn the information.  Randall refuses and he faithfully keeps the information locked in the briefcase. Read more…

Movie Review – Interstellar (2014)

Imagine a world in the not-too-distant future where mankind itself was faced with its own extinction.

We’re not talking about a killer asteroid, a global nuclear holocaust, or a massive attack by extraterrestrial aliens, but from a different threat instead.  In this case it’s a world where a giant dust storm is threatening to destroy the last of the farmland, eliminating a major source of food for the human race.  On top of that, other plants are also dying, and the oxygen in the atmosphere is going to be depleted.

In order for humans to survive, they’re going to have to find a new home in outer space.  Of course, none of the planets in our solar system are capable of handling human civilization.  In order to survive, mankind is going to have to reach new worlds in distant galaxies.

That’s the premise for Interstellar, a science-fiction adventure film created by Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathan Nolan.  In Interstellar, a small team of astronaut explorers uses a wormhole to reach another galaxy and determine if any of the planets are suitable for human life.  It’s a race against time as the astronauts make the incredible journey and try to find a new home for humanity.  While they’re away on their mission, scientists back on Earth try to research a way to transport the masses off the dying planet and into outer space.

Interstellar (2014) – movie poster

Directed by Christopher Nolan, written by Jonathan and Christopher Nolan, and with music by Hans Zimmer, Interstellar stars Matthew McConaughey as Cooper, a former NASA pilot and a widowed father of two children.  Supporting him are Anne Hathaway as astronaut / scientist Amelia Brand, Michael Caine as Professor Brand, Amelia’s father, Casey Affleck as Tom, Cooper’s grown son, John Lithgow as Donald, Cooper’s father-in-law, and Matt Damon as astronaut / scientist Dr. Mann.

Interstellar (2014) – (c) Paramount Pictures

Interstellar begins on Earth in the near future.  The planet is dying.  Crops have slowly been failing, reducing the diversity of crops available for human consumption, and dust storms continue to plague the farmland.  It’s implied that the Earth’s population has been greatly reduced as part of the aftermath involving a world war, but those details aren’t discussed.  What we do know is that the future is looking extremely bleak for humanity as a whole.

One such farmer is Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a former NASA test pilot and engineer.  At night he’s haunted by nightmares of a failed test flight.  Living with him on the farm are his two children, teenager Tom (Timothee Chalamet) and 10-year-old daughter, Murphy (Mackenzie Foy), better known as “Murph“.  Although Cooper’s wife has died, his father-in-law, Donald (John Lithgow), lives with the family and helps keep an eye on the kids.  Donald also watches over Cooper’s farm vehicles, most of which have been enhanced through Cooper’s engineering skills. Read more…

India’s Mars Orbiter Mission – Launch & Trans-Mars Injection

On November 5, 2013, the country of India launched a Mars Orbiter Mission probe into Earth orbit.

The satellite, operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation, orbited the Earth seven times before successfully burning its engines to escape Earth orbit and placing it on a heliocentric trajectory towards Mars.  This flight path through space will send the Mars Orbiter Mission around the sun and have it slingshot and pick up speed for its flight to Mars.  If the four trajectory course corrections are also successful, then the space probe should arrive at Mars on September 24, 2014.

If this mission is successful and the Mars Orbiter Mission is able to orbit Mars and communicate with home base back on Earth, then India will be the fourth country / organization to have orbited Mars, after the U.S., Russia, and Europe.

launching of the Mars Orbiter Mission on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)

Launching of the Mars Orbiter Mission was carried out on a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).  This rocket, designed and constructed in India, uses four stages to lift payloads into Earth orbit.  So far the PSLV has carried out 25 launches, with 23 of those launches successfully reaching their target orbit. Read more…

Movie Review – Alien (1979)

“In space, no one can hear you scream.”

In honor of Ridley Scott’s upcoming science fiction movie, Prometheus, today we’re taking a look at Alien, one of Scott’s earlier science fiction movies.  As we already know, Prometheus takes place in the same universe and before the events in Alien, but it’s not a true prequel to Alien.  We’ll see some similar elements of Alien in Prometheus, but the two movies have completely different stories.

Back in 1979, Ridley Scott shocked the audiences with his sci-fi / horror / suspense movie, Alien.  Just like the birth of the alien creature, Alien came out of nowhere and horrified the audience with Ridley Scott’s thrilling yet eerie style of directing.  Throw in Dan O’Bannon’s creepy story and H.R. Giger’s horrific alien design, and there you go.  This movie will keep you on the edge of your seat and probably give you nightmares for some time.

Alien begins with the commercial towing vehicle Nostromo hauling 20,000,000 tons of mineral ore on a course to Earth.  Its crew of seven is currently in stasis as computers navigate the ship through the known universe.

A mysterious signal from an unknown planet is received by the Nostromo, and the computers begin to power up parts of the ship and wake the sleeping crew members.  One by one the crew awakens, and when they finally get to their duty stations they realize that they’re not anywhere near the Earth.  In fact, they’re only about halfway home.

The Nostromo‘s captain, Dallas (played by Tom Skerritt), checks with the ship’s computer (named “Mother”) and learns that the Weyland-Yutani company is ordering them to investigate the mysterious signal.  The crew of the Nostromo is unhappy with the company’s orders, but they follow through with them.  We see the Nostromo ship detach from its cargo and make a not-so-soft landing on the alien planet.

Alien (1979) – (c) 20th Century Fox

Upon touching down on the planet the Nostromo is damaged.  Engineers Parker (played by Yaphet Kotto) and Brett (played by Harry Dean Stanton) begin repairing the ship’s damage while Captain Dallas, Executive Officer Kane (played by John Hurt) and Navigator Lambert (played by Veronica Cartwright) put on their pressure suits and begin exploring the alien planet.  Warrant Officer Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver) and Science Officer Ash (played by Ian Holm) remain behind on the Nostromo with Brett and Parker. Read more…

Movie Review – Flight to Mars (1951)

Back in 1950, Destination Moon took viewers on what was seen as a realistic flight to the Earth’s Moon.

One year later a film decided to take viewers one step further —- to the planet Mars.  Released in 1951, Flight to Mars portrays a secret rocket flight to the Red Planet.  A team of engineers along with a newspaper reporter embark on the incredibly risky journey, not even knowing if they’ll be able to return to Earth.  But when they arrive on Mars, the crew discovers that the planet is nothing what they expected.

Directed by Lesley Selander, Flight to Mars is a relatively low-budget science-fiction film that was filmed in only five days.  The film even borrows details and props from previous sci-fi films such as Rocketship X-M (1950) and Destination Moon (1950).

Flight to Mars stars Cameron Mitchell as Steve Abbott, a prestigious newspaper reporter who documents the space flight to Mars.  Arthur Franz plays the role of Dr. Jim Barker, the chief engineer and pilot of the spacecraft.  Virginia Huston has the role of Carol Stafford, an engineer who is in love with Jim Barker.  Marguerite Chapman plays the role of Alita, a Martian assigned to help Jim Barker and later falls in love with him.

Flight to Mars (1951) – (c) Monogram Pictures

Flight to Mars begins with two scientists ominously looking at planet Mars through a massive telescope.  One of the scientists remarks that the spaceship will be leaving in two days.  He also wonders if they’ll actually make it to the planet.  Perhaps there’s life up there on the red planet.

Over at the Pentagon we meet Dr. Lane (John Litel), an engineer and adventurer.  Dr. Lane is more concerned about him and his rocket crew landing on Mars.  Finding a way back home is not a concern to the scientist.  We also meet Steve Abbott (Cameron Mitchell), a prestigious newspaper reporter who will be documenting the space flight. Read more…

Colonizing Mars — A One-Way Trip To The Red Planet

The Netherlands-based nonprofit company Mars One is looking for people to help colonize and pave the way for future settlement on the planet Mars.

The catch?  It’s being planned as a one-way trip.

A few days ago Mars One released its basic requirements for future astronauts heading to Mars.  The requirements don’t seem to be too strenuous.  You have to be at least eighteen years old, intelligent, and in good physical and mental health.  You don’t need to be the top of your class in test pilot school like the old days of NASA.

And of course, I’m sure you need all of your affairs settled here on Earth before blasting off to Mars.  After all, you’re never going to see any of your family and friends ever again.  You’ll probably be able to send and receive video messages to and from the Red Planet, but that’s about it.

I’ve heard of this one-way-trip concept discussed for a while now when it comes to future space exploration.  The problem is that when you consider the extreme distances, travel time measured in years, and costs that will exceed billions of dollars, it’s hard to convince governments to send astronauts outside of the Earth’s orbit.  Through in the development of future spacecraft plus all of the necessary testing and re-testing to make sure it’s as safe as possible.

That’s just getting the astronauts and equipment safely TO the destination.  Bringing them home safely is another task and significant expense.

But what if you found volunteers who would make the one-way voyage knowing full well that they’ll most likely never return to Earth?  Think of all the work and research those volunteer astronauts could accomplish as long as they keep receiving resupply ships along with fellow colonists.  We’re talking about leaps and bounds of advances without worrying about bringing the astronauts back home.

It sounds cruel but it’s just part of the exploration and colonization process.  Plus, is it really that cruel if you have an all-voluneteer crew? Read more…

Movie Review – Destination Moon (1950)

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Those famous words by astronaut Neil Armstrong became embedded in our minds back when he made his famous moonwalk in July of 1969.  Okay, maybe it was eleven years prior to my time.

Since the conclusion of the Second World War and the capture of German V-2 rockets and their scientists, people have been fascinated with rocket flight.  Specifically, building them bigger and ultimately sending a payload and a person into not only Earth orbit but the deep unknowns of outer space.  The 1950s era gave us some of the best science fiction movies of all time, from the serious to the fantasy.

One of the better science fiction movies that took a serious look at space travel was Destination Moon.  Being released back in 1950, Destination Moon was also one of the earliest science fiction movies dealing with realistic space flight.

The plot for Destination Moon is fairly simple.  A team of industrialists come together and decide to build a rocket capable of flying to the Moon and returning home safely.  They decide to make this a private endeavor as A) unknown people (indirectly referring to Communists) are sabotaging current rocket flight experiments, and B) whatever gains they make will most likely be seized by the U.S. government.  The bottom line is that it’s up to them to build a rocket and reach the moon before the Russians, as the country that controls the moon will gain a tremendous military advantage for waging wars on Earth.

The rocket’s construction takes place out in the desert of the U.S. southwest.  The wide open spaces help keep prying eyes away from the secret project.  Are the industrialists worried about breaking any laws regarding rocket launches and flying in space?  Not really, as they mention just going ahead with the project before the government makes laws against it.  The government does try to stop the rocket’s launch at the last minute, but the astronauts launch anyway and embark on their quest.

Destination Moon (1950) – (c) Eagle-Lion Classics Inc.

Destination Moon is not one of those highly technical or complicated movies that leaves the audience baffled by the terminology or technology.  Early in the movie we see Woody Woodpecker explaining the concept and physics of space travel to a group of investors (just like the Mr. DNA character in Jurassic Park).  On board the rocket is Joe Sweeney, a mechanic drafted at the last minute to join the lunar flight.  Joe has a strong New York City accent and doesn’t have much understanding of space flight, so the other astronauts keep explaining concepts to him (and the audience). Read more…

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Lands on Mars

Early this morning we were treated to another feeling of pride as the Curiosity rover for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory made a successful landing on our neighbor in space.

I was part of the many who chose to stay up late and watch the coverage live on NASA’s website.  It was fascinating watching the footage from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and seeing the scientists and technicians in action while Curiosity made its historic descent and landing.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory – descent and landing of Curiosity rover

Of course, Curiosity is not the first U.S. rover to successfully land on the Martian surface.  The Sojourner rover as part of the Mars Pathfinder mission successfully landed and operated on Mars from July 4 – September 22, 1997.  The Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity both landed on Mars in January of 2004.  Spirit‘s wheels became stuck in the sand in January of 2010, and communication with it ended on March 22, 2010.  As far as Opportunity, that rover is still operating on the surface of Mars. Read more…

Christmas — Good Will To Man

Christmas Eve has finally arrived.

Later this evening children will be tucked into bed, trying desperately to sleep before the arrival of Santa Claus.

Tomorrow morning will involve the unwrapping of presents and watching as joy is spread between families and friends.

In today’s modern times, it’s easy to forget just how fortunate we are to be able to celebrate such a holiday.  Here in the U.S., times are peaceful.  It’s not like artillery barrages are flattening buildings, or massive armies of soldiers are sweeping through the countryside, killing everybody who stands in the way.

One of my favorite examples of humanity and the Christmas spirit dates back to December 25, 1914 in Belgium. Read more…

Atlantis – STS-135 – The FINAL Space Shuttle Flight

It’s hard to imagine that this day has finally arrived.

From Columbia‘s first flight in STS-1 on April 12, 1981, to Atlantis‘s final mission in STS-135 on July 8, 2011, the space shuttle launches and landings have both thrilled viewers and inspired future astronauts for over thirty years.

Thirty years!

Since the early days of childhood I’ve been fascinated by flight and the space program.  I remember being in elementary school and receiving word over the P.A. system about the Challenger disaster.  I remember looking at newspapers lying on a table talking about the Columbia disaster while helping my brother move between college residences in February of 2003.

And now, sadly, I’m sure I’ll remember where I was as Atlantis took to the skies on the final space shuttle mission.

Launching of STS-135 Space Shuttle Atlantis on July 8, 2011.

Read more…

STS-133 – Space Shuttle Discovery’s Final Flight

Earlier today the Space Shuttle Discovery (OV-103) touched down at Kennedy Space Center, concluding its 39th and final mission into Earth orbit.

I was fortunate enough to be in central Florida during the launch of Discovery.  The Florida trip was a planned family vacation to theme park land, and the launching of the space shuttle was just a bonus.

So the big question — Can you really see a rocket launch from central Florida?

Yes!

Just don’t expect to see any details.  It’s basically a tiny black dot cruising high into the sky and leaving behind a massive exhaust plume in its wake.  It’ll look quite a bit different than the normal airliner contrails that sometimes cover the sky.

I was in Epcot on the day of the launch, and (as predicted because I tend to have bad luck) the sky was mostly cloudy that afternoon.  We had nice and sunny skies for most of the week, but that afternoon was mostly cloudy with only a few pockets of blue sky.  In other words, you just had to keep scanning the few holes in the cloud and hope to be looking at the right one at the right angle during the launch.

I wasn’t so lucky.

launch of Space Shuttle Discovery - STS-133

The camera was ready, but I picked the wrong hole in the clouds.  Shouts were heard as the rocket suddenly climbed high into the sky.  By the time I spotted it there was nothing but an exhaust plume.  Oh well. Read more…

A new look at space travel

XCOR Aerospace, the next company to start offering people rides to the edge of space, just today started tickets at the bargain price of only $95,000 each.

For that price one person alone gets to ride with a pilot on a half hour suborbital flight about 37 miles about the surface of the Earth.  Of course, the vehicle being constructed can only carry one passenger at a time and said passenger has to wear a pressurized spacesuit, but that’s still what I would imagine to be quite a ride.

Read more…