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| bartist |
 Posted: Mon Oct 14, 2013 8:37 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6967
Location: Black Hills
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Gravity was a good adventure story and a stunning visual experience. Can't add much to what others have said. Agree with Joe that, given its firm footing in the present, it's not sci-fi in the usual meaning of extrapolations of technological innovation into a future society. Cuaron, with his brilliant eye for finding spiritual motifs in austere and extreme places, would probably be able to make a fine movie about a grieving scientist who is trapped in a deep ocean submersible. I'm glad he chose Low Earth Orbit.
One quibble (and I'm not turning into Mr. N.D. Tyson, I hope): If there is a cascade of collisions sending a huge field of debris around the earth, knocking out satellites, then said cascade is probably happening at 23,000 miles up, the altitude of geosynchronous orbit where most satellites are found. While some fragments might deorbit in a path that intersects that of the ISS, most of the hailstorm would be up at 23K, and not at 250 miles in altitude. You wouldn't have a massive debris field sweeping through like that, at LEO.
(edit): Checking his recent Facebook posting, I note that Tyson in fact found much to like about "Gravity," and mentions some of the things that it got RIGHT. This is worth reading, as it makes clear that his tweets about errors did not constitute a take-down of the film. |
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| knox |
| Posted: Mon Oct 14, 2013 12:41 pm |
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Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 1246
Location: St. Louis
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GRAVITY - SPOILERS POSSIBLE
The film, because it focuses on an emotional basket case who would NEVER pass through the many screening procedures of NASA, didn't work for me. Sure, she looks great floating in her underwear, but her reactions seem utterly unlike what I've heard about people who make it through astronaut training, be they "civilians" or flight crew. From her first massive attack of hyperventilation, my inner voice was saying, "Really?" And, factcheckers, Soyuz escape pods don't have manual controls - reentry is entirely automated and you can't steer them over to the Chinese place nearby. They are programmed to go from point A, the ISS, to point B, central Kazakhstan. They also can't land in water and if they did, odds are very slim that you'd land in a small lake a hundred yards from shore. And space junk is much much more dispersed - outer space is reeealllly reeeallly BIG. I wouldn't mind ANY of this malarkey if it were folded into a futuristic actioner, where one can wink and say, yeah, it's the future, who knows.
Sorry to harsh your buzz, Gravity-philes. |
Last edited by knox on Tue Oct 15, 2013 9:12 am; edited 1 time in total |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Mon Oct 14, 2013 12:51 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
Posts: 8424
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Quote: I'm not convinced what you saw is necessarily what Cuaron intended
It really doesn't matter. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Mon Oct 14, 2013 3:16 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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| Which is what the rest of my sentence implied. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 2:01 am |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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Jeremy,
you're right. Missed that. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 8:09 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12944
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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knox: The Soyuz she returned in is one the Chinese bought from the Russians with controls in Chinese, so it would have been reprogrammed to land in China. I don't think she had any real control over her re-entry after she jettisoned the rest of the Soyuz, especially since she couldn't even read the controls.
I was wondering why she was so anxious to get out of the capsule. Maybe she didn't realize she'd landed in water? |
Last edited by Syd on Tue Oct 15, 2013 10:54 am; edited 1 time in total
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 8:23 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6967
Location: Black Hills
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POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR GRAVITY
We have another "Signs" !
Seriously, I thought Marc would take that bait you dangled, Knox. Anyway, regarding....
Quote: Soyuz escape pods don't have manual controls - reentry is entirely automated and you can't steer them over to the Chinese place nearby
Do you mean, KNOX, the first Soyuz, the one on the ISS? I wondered about that. She is manually able to direct it over to the Chinese station. I, too, had heard all the Soyuz are automated.
I'm not sure I see Bullock as "emotional basket case," but you raise an interesting question. Would a screening process eliminate someone still grieving over the loss of a child? Would the training be only "six weeks" for a scientist? I thought anyone selected to go up had a much longer training period.
And SYD, was the massive flurry of space debris plausible? |
Last edited by bartist on Tue Oct 15, 2013 9:09 am; edited 1 time in total
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 8:26 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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SPOILERS HERE, ALSO
Syd wrote:
I was wondering why she was so anxious to get out of the capsule. Maybe she didn't realize she'd landed in water?
Wasn't there smoke in the cabin? |
Last edited by bartist on Tue Oct 15, 2013 9:14 am; edited 1 time in total
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 8:30 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12944
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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bartist wrote: Syd wrote:
I was wondering why she was so anxious to get out of the capsule. Maybe she didn't realize she'd landed in water?
Wasn't there smoke in the cabin?
Okay. |
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 9:02 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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bartist wrote: We have another "Signs" !
Seriously, I thought Marc would take that bait you dangled, Knox. Anyway, regarding....
Quote: Soyuz escape pods don't have manual controls - reentry is entirely automated and you can't steer them over to the Chinese place nearby
Do you mean, KNOX, the first Soyuz, the one on the ISS? I wondered about that. She is manually able to direct it over to the Chinese station. I, too, had heard all the Soyuz are automated.
I'm not sure I see Bullock as "emotional basket case," but you raise an interesting question. Would a screening process eliminate someone still grieving over the loss of a child? Would the training be only "six weeks" for a scientist? I thought anyone selected to go up had a much longer training period.
And SYD, was the massive flurry of space debris plausible?
Syd--Paying respect to Gary's request for SPOILER alerts,. this post is chock full of spoilers. Please adjust it. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 9:08 am |
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Location: Black Hills
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Oct 15, 2013 11:07 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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Sort of a followup on Capt. Phil and Somali pirate docs:
Quote: Mohammed Abdi Hassan, also known as Afweyneh or Big Mouth, was detained at Brussels international airport on Saturday after a sting operation.
Undercover agents had persuaded the Somali and an associate that they wanted to make a documentary about their pirate exploits.
Mr Abdi Hassan now faces criminal charges, including hijacking.
Prosecutors believe that the Somali was behind the seizure of a Belgian ship in 2009, reports the BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels.
Mr Abdi Hassan is also charged with kidnapping the ship's crew and with belonging to a criminal organisation. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 12:01 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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bartist wrote: POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR GRAVITY
We have another "Signs" !
Seriously, I thought Marc would take that bait you dangled, Knox. Anyway, regarding....
Quote: Soyuz escape pods don't have manual controls - reentry is entirely automated and you can't steer them over to the Chinese place nearby
Do you mean, KNOX, the first Soyuz, the one on the ISS? I wondered about that. She is manually able to direct it over to the Chinese station. I, too, had heard all the Soyuz are automated.
I'm not sure I see Bullock as "emotional basket case," but you raise an interesting question. Would a screening process eliminate someone still grieving over the loss of a child? Would the training be only "six weeks" for a scientist? I thought anyone selected to go up had a much longer training period.
And SYD, was the massive flurry of space debris plausible? |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 12:01 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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bartist wrote: POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR GRAVITY
We have another "Signs" !
Seriously, I thought Marc would take that bait you dangled, Knox. Anyway, regarding....
Quote: Soyuz escape pods don't have manual controls - reentry is entirely automated and you can't steer them over to the Chinese place nearby
Do you mean, KNOX, the first Soyuz, the one on the ISS? I wondered about that. She is manually able to direct it over to the Chinese station. I, too, had heard all the Soyuz are automated.
I'm not sure I see Bullock as "emotional basket case," but you raise an interesting question. Would a screening process eliminate someone still grieving over the loss of a child? Would the training be only "six weeks" for a scientist? I thought anyone selected to go up had a much longer training period.
And SYD, was the massive flurry of space debris plausible? |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2013 12:13 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12944
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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Well, after two or three satellites had been destroyed; it was a cascading effect, especially after the space telescope and space station had been destroyed. The periodic debris seems to have been from the original satellites. Satellites in geosynchronous orbit shouldn't have been affected, but communicating with someone who's surrounded by debris would be difficult. Eventually the debris will spread out. I'm not sure whether it's low enough to eventually burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. Tiangong seemed to be a bit lower.
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