Just a silly little thing. Background music from Joel Cummins - Looped Ascent Follow me on Twitter for more updates: https://twitter.com/DJSnM I have a discord server where I regularly turn up: https://discord.gg/zStmKbM If you really like what I do you can support me directly through Patreon https://www.patreon.com/scottmanley
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It probably went something like this: STUDIO EXEC.: "Why is the plane flying upside down?" FX GUY: "That's how the shuttle actually launches..." STUDIO EXEC.: "People are going to think we're idiots. Flip it right-side up." FX GUY: "But... Yes sir."
let me get this right: the only movie that did their space shuttle flight right was the one made before the actual flight of the first space shuttle? wtf hollywood?
Showing it launch the right way before the actual rocket launched irl is incredible
I never thought I’d hear that Moonraker was accurately depicting anything about space travel, but here we are.
Hollywood always does the thunder and the lightning at the same time also.
‘Sequel to Maximum Overdrive’ That puts the whole Cars franchise into perspective.
I can almost imagine a conversation during "Moonraker" production. Consultant: "The space shuttle should be upside down as it enters orbit." Director: "No, I want the shuttle to appear right-side up, or the average viewer will think we got it wrong!" Consultant: "Well if you want the space shuttle to be right side up then Earth has to be upside down!" Director: "What does that even mean?" DoP: "Uh, guys? I think I can make that work." Director and Consultant: "Upside-down Earth?" DoP: "Upside-down Earth." I mean, it totally works, right? The shuttle has it's belly pointed to the bottom of the frame (right-side up for the viewer), but it has its back to Earth (scientifically accurate). They framed Earth above the shuttle instead of below it. Beautiful It looks like very conscientious composition. And of course, you can't spell "conscientious" without "scien-" ... without "scientio". Dammit.
Don't forget movies like Armageddon and Life force portray the shuttle as capable of travel well beyond earth's orbit.
As someone who lives in the Southern Hemisphere, I can half understand why Hollywood can't grasp flying upside down to get into space...
"Armageddon gets this half right" is the kindest word anyone has ever had about the science in that movie
I like the fact that the shuttle launch you used for this short is one where you see a bird getting killed by the top of the external tank.
Moonraker had Derek Meddings as visual effects supervisor. Considering how many miniature rocket launches he's done it's no wonder he knew how the Shuttle would work before it flew
When I watched Moonraker when I was young I was like "Yeah, cool, Spaceshuttles, nice..." When I realized that movie came out before the first Shuttle flight: *Mind blown!*
“This is Jaws, he hurts people”. /quotes I knew there had to be someone else cool about Moonraker!
For what it's worth, the space shuttle absolutely could launch heads up, and on STS-87, it actually did perform part of the ascent heads-up. The reason for the heads-down posture is two-fold: 1) the vehicle is somewhat more stable when going through Max-Q in this posture and 2) the ET is out of the way for communication with ground stations. But on STS-87, because of the flight path, an extra ground station in Bermuda would have been required to maintain communication during a heads-down ascent. So, they rolled out of that position early, transitioning comms to the overhead TDRSS constellation instead.
My favorite “Butcher-ing” of the shuttle’s flight characteristics is in the move “The Core” when Hillary swank keeps raising and lowering the landing gear like it’s an airliner!!! I LMAO when I saw that!
I was in ....I guess kindergarten in 81 when Columbia went up for the first time. It was an absolute EVENT, you know what time it is when they wheel a TV into every classroom lol. I was blessed with an awesome and passionate teacher who taught us about nature, dinosaurs, gerbils, and ...the Space Shuttle and this is one of the gems she taught us that I remember and I had a toy shuttle at home that I played with upside down after that. Lonnnng ago!!
OK Scott, you can't do a 60 seconds video. it's like giving a drop of water to somebody dying of thirst in the desert.
Fun Fact: The special effects designer for Moonraker was Derek Meddings, who previously worked on Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation shows! He was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Special Effects.
This format is a double-edge sword. On the one hand, it's quick and to the point. On the other hand, I now have the urge to fly unsafely.