Film brings space to Earth

Press, 29 June 1985, Page 7

Film brings space to Earth

By

WARREN LEARY

of Associated Press (through NZPA) Washington Astronauts go into space routinely, but relatively few others can experience flying a space shuttle, floating weightlessly around the cabin,' and viewing the blue-and-white spectacle of the Earth below. Until now, that is. Vicarious space travellers will be able to get a sense of living and working aboard an orbiting shuttle from the comfort of a theatre seat following the recent premiere of a colourful new film on spaceflight. Opened initially at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, the new giant-screen film called “The Dream Is Alive” will take the space experience to

more than 45 specially equipped theatres worldwide. Shown on a 15.50 m high, 15m-wide screen with stereo sound, the film not only shows the preparations, launches, and landing of shuttles, but also gives viewers a sense of living and working inside the vehicles. The film, much of it shot by astronauts using special camera equipment taken on three shuttle missions in 1984, was sponsored by the museum and the Lockheed Corporation. The museum contributed SUS7OO,OOO (SI.SM) to the SUS 3.6 million ($7.84 million) project, and the aerospace company paid the rest. President Reagan and his wife, Nancy, led a guest list of dignitaries at a preview of the 37-minute feature. The Reagans sat with a group of astronauts. Others in the audience included the Defence Secretary, Caspar Weinberger. Produced by Imax Systems Corporation, of Toronto, the movie was shot with cameras using film frames 10 times larger than standard 35mm film. This allows it to be projected oh

giant screens, like the fivestorey tall one in the Washington Museum’s theatre. The film is the latest in a series of giant-screen movies produced by Imax for the museum, and some,, such as the earlier, “To Fly,” have become mainstays at science museums around the world. Mr Graeme Ferguson, president of Imax and pro-ducer-director of the film, told a news briefing that he had made the movie from 90 minutes of footage shot in space and more taken on the ground. Mr Walter Boyne, the

museum’s director, predicted that the new film would be so popular it would be shown 10 times daily to accommodate the thousands of summer visitors who crowd the museum. The film is narrated by the veteran newsman and space buff, Walter Cronkite, and backed by an oftenrousing musical soundtrack. An astronaut, Michael Coats, who shot some of the footage, said that the film gave viewers a realistic feeling of being aboard a shuttle.

When you add Walter Cronkite and music, he added, it was even better than being there.