The first four segments of a film series underway at DUST called: “Nikola Tesla and the End of the World“ by Ian Strang –
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Category Archives: Space films and videos
.Videos: Recent rocket flights
A selection of videos about rocket flights in the past couple of weeks:
** Virgin Galactic – Elevating Unity – Episode 5: Third Rocket Powered Flight:
On July 26th, 2018 VSS Unity completed its third rocket-powered test flight, a key step forward the path to space. Julia Hunter, Virgin Galactic Vice President and longtime employee, gives us a behind-the-scenes look into her life as a program leader, astrophysics scholar and space mom working to realize a longtime dream of opening commercial spaceflight to citizens and science. Join Julia as she narrates a key test flight that surpassed 170,800 feet, reaching Mach 2.47. VSS Unity was piloted by Dave Mackay and Mike “Sooch” Masucci, with pilots Kelly Latimer and Todd Ericson in carrier aircraft VMS Eve.
** SpaceX – Falcon 9 launches satellite for Indonesia and booster makes bulls-eye landing on sea platform:
[ Update: Posting by SpaceX:
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** Blue Origin – New Shepard flies and crew capsule blasts off from booster using abort motor
** China – Long March 4B rocket launches Guafen-11 reconnaissance satellite – (China has launched about two dozen rockets in 2018)
** Arianespace launched four Galileo navigation satellites from the Guiana Space Center, Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
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Video trailers: “The First” – Hulu TV series with Sean Penn + “First Man” – Film with Ryan Gosling
The First is a new Hulu original series starring Sean Penn about the first human mission to Mars. It will premier on September 14th. Here is the trailer:
From the caption:
The First is created by Beau Willimon (House of Cards) and stars Sean Penn. Set in the near future (2030), this groundbreaking story explores the challenges of taking the first steps towards Mars. Viewers will get an intimate look at the dedicated characters trying to reach the unknown while dealing with the psychological and physical toll it takes to achieve the impossible.
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July 20, 2019 will be the 50th anniversary of the first time a human set foot on another celestial body. A start on the coming year of tributes and remembrances will be the movie First Man, starring Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong. It is currently set to open on October 12th. Here is a trailer:
From the caption:
On the heels of their six-time Academy Award®-winning smash, La La Land, Oscar®-winning director Damien Chazelle and star Ryan Gosling reteam for Universal Pictures’ First Man, the riveting story of NASA’s mission to land a man on the moon, focusing on Neil Armstrong and the years 1961-1969. A visceral, first-person account, based on the book by James R. Hansen, the movie will explore the sacrifices and the cost—on Armstrong and on the nation—of one of the most dangerous missions in history.
Written by Academy Award® winner Josh Singer (Spotlight), the drama is produced by Wyck Godfrey & Marty Bowen (The Twilight Saga, The Fault in Our Stars) through their Temple Hill Entertainment banner, alongside Chazelle and Gosling. Isaac Klausner (The Fault in Our Stars) executive produces. DreamWorks Pictures co-finances the film.
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Videos: “The Expanse” is saved + Sean Penn heads to Mars + First trailer for “First Man”
Solar Sci-Fi (i.e. hard science fiction involving near-term scenarios within our solar system) has gone big time in the past few years with the major financial successes of the films Gravity and The Martian. The TV series The Expanse, which depicts conflicts among settlers of Mars, the Asteroid Belt, and Earth, has lasted 3 seasons on the SyFy Channel and will now continue on Amazon Prime:
- Amazon Studios’ chief recounts Jeff Bezos’ push to save ‘The Expanse’ – GeekWire
- Jeff Bezos says Amazon will pick up sci-fi TV saga ‘The Expanse’ – GeekWire
Sean Penn will headline a new TV series on Hulu called “The First” about humans going to Mars : The First (Hulu): Sean Penn’s Mars TV Series Debuts First Plot Details | IndieWire
Set in the 2030s, the eight-episode first season is mainly set on Earth as the astronauts prepare for the journey to the red planet and NASA forms a partnership with a private company to support the trip.
And on the Solar Sci-Reality front, the film First Man with Ryan Gosling looks to be an epic re-telling of how Neil Armstrong came to take that first step onto the lunar surface:
The film is to be released in the fall.
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Video: “In Saturn’s Rings” shows space exploration at its most spectacular
The new documentary film In Saturn’s Rings, narrated by LeVar Burton, shows striking scenes of space travel and exploration using only actual images observed with telescopes, space probes, and astronaut cameras. No computer generated artists’ creations are included but techniques developed by Ken Burns and Walt Disney give 3-D impressions of objects like Saturn and its rings. The super high-resolution film will be available on “Giant Screen, IMAX, Fulldome Planetariums“. Check out the trailer for the film:
From the caption:
In Saturn’s Rings is a groundbreaking giant-screen movie adventure that takes audiences on a space exploration journey of the mind, heart, and spirit, from the Big Bang to the awe-inspiring rings of Saturn.
Narrated by LeVar Burton, In Saturn’s Rings is created entirely of more than 7.5 million stunning images of Earth, the Milky Way, and the Saturn taken by Hubble, Cassini, and other NASA space telescopes looking deep into the past.
The film is made with 2D multiplane parallax techniques developed by Walt Disney combined with Ken Burns technique to avoid using any type of camera projection, 3D models, visual FX, texture maps etc. We also feature some high resolution time lapse photography.
Visit insaturnsrings.com to learn more about how this film was made, screening and release info and more.
Trailer music is custom version of track from Neumann Films.
Updates on when and where the film will be shown are available at In Saturn’s Rings (@InSaturnsRings) | Twitter
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