Tag: Movies
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Maury Island Incident and ‘Men in Black’ stories become a cause for celebration
The 1947 Maury Island UFO incident is commemorated in a mural on display in Des Moines, Wash. (Explore Seattle Southside Photo) Even the Men in Black need their day in the sun. And they’re getting it this week, in the place where those classic characters in UFO tales made their debut. Roswell may be the…
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Orbital Reef space station wins a key role in Hollywood movie even before it’s built
An artist’s conception shows the Orbital Reef space station. (Orbital Reef via Amazon) The commercial space station that Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture has a hand in building, known as Orbital Reef. will be getting some Hollywood-level product placement years before it’s due to go into operation. Blue Origin and the other partners in…
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Immerse yourself in life aboard the International Space Station at ‘The Infinite’ VR experience
Visitors to “The Infinite” walk around an exhibit space at the Tacoma Armory that contains a full-scale VR version of the International Space Station. In the foreground, Lesley Kilp and Kyle Byram are sitting down to watch a VR spacewalk. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) TACOMA, Wash. — One tour of the International Space Station…
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Bad moon falling: Geophysicist adds her own scientific spin to ‘Moonfall’ movie
“Moonfall” features a resurrected space shuttle and an ominously looming moon. (Courtesy of Lionsgate) Even geophysicist Mika McKinnon, one of the science consultants for a $140 million disaster movie called “Moonfall,” admits that the moon-crashing tale is ridiculously exuberant. But what’s wrong with that? “A movie is supposed to be fun, and science is allowed to be fun,”…
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How the ‘Dune’ science-fiction saga parallels the real science of Oregon’s dunes
Timothée Chalamet and Rebecca Ferguson star in “Dune,” a movie based on sci-fi author Frank Herbert’s book. The tale draws in part upon Herbert’s experiences in the Pacific Northwest. (Warner Bros. Photo) The deserts of Abu Dhabi and Jordan play starring roles in the blockbuster sci-fi movie “Dune,” which premieres this week in theaters and…
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NASA confirms it’s working with Tom Cruise (and SpaceX?) to make a movie on space station
Tom Cruise played a drone repairman who turned into an action hero in the 2013 sci-fi movie “Oblivion.” (Universal Pictures) NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has confirmed in a tweet that the space agency is working with movie star Tom Cruise on a project that involves shooting a film on the International Space Station. Deadline Hollywood…
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Not so far, far away: How the Star Wars galaxy falls short of the real-life search for planets
Luke Skywalker’s home planet, Tatooine, and its two suns are a good example of science echoing Star Wars. Or is it the other way around? (Lucasfilm Photo) Over the past 42 years, filmgoers have seen exotic worlds come to life in a succession of Star Wars movies — a series that is now coming to…
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Brad Pitt coaxes a thumbs-up for his ‘Ad Astra’ movie in hookup with space station
Brad Pitt, the star of the space movie “Ad Astra,” chats with NASA astronaut Nick Hague over a video hookup to the International Space Station. (NASA via YouTube) Imagine the taglines in the movie ads: “Really good” portrayal of zero-gravity! “Absolutely” better than George Clooney! There’d be some justification for Brad Pitt’s space movie, “Ad…
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Review: ‘First Man’ and ‘The First’ focus on the moon, on Mars … and on families
Ryan Gosling plays the role of NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong in “First Man.” (Universal Pictures Photo) Two big-name dramatic productions — “First Man” in theaters, and “The First” on Hulu — are putting the glorious past and potentially glorious future of space exploration on big and small screens. But if you’re expecting the Ryan Gosling…
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Five ‘Martian’ miscues to fix in space flicks
Astronaut Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) climbs through a hatch in his pressurized rover in a scene from “The Martian.” (Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.) LOS ANGELES — Planetary scientist Pascal Lee could give astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson a good run for his money when it comes to truth-squadding movie depictions of space missions.…