Post by Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe on Apr 27, 2010 2:45:24 GMT -6
The Chicago Astronomers invited to view the early preview showing of the new "Hubble 3-D" film
15 April 2010
15 April 2010
(Review a bit late - but it's worth it...)
The Chicago Astronomers were contacted by the IMAX people at the Navy Pier Theater in Chicago, if we would like to come down and catch the Chicago premier preview of the new Hubble 3-D film.
But of course!
Being a school night and April 15th, some could not make it...involved in their own deadlines and disappointed , but we did get a good group together for this treat...
More on the group in a bit...
Our IMAX host Mark, welcomed us, made us feel at home, presented us with our passes and we took our seats...
(No pics were taken of the film, and stills utilized from released promotion images, NASA and of the slide presentation at the end of the film.)
Wearing our 3-D glasses, we settled down for a exciting 45 minutes of Hubblegasm. In the 20 years of service, the great Hubble Telescope has been a great gift and is such a valuable instrument of science. We are all incredibly thankful for the repair mission of last year - overriding the poor decision to scrub any rescue mission by a short sighted ex-NASA Administrator.
I wondered what we would be shown....and was blown away!
The STS-125 Atlantis Shuttle mission in May of 2009, had aboard a IMAX camera. A cumbersome device and with very limited footage of film, the astronauts were taught how to operate the camera in all aspects of the repairs - both inside and out of the Shuttle...
During the 13-day flight, the crew carried out five spacewalks totalling 36 hours and 56 minutes, successfully installed the Wide Field Camera 3 and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph - and repaired both the Advanced Camera for Surveys and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. The astronauts also replaced all six of Hubble's batteries launched with the telescope in 1990. Other tasks included replacing the fine guidance sensors and all six rate sensor units - the gyroscopes were failing and only two were working when they got to it.
The film is narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, in which he does a good job. We get a tour of the building and assembly of the Hubble Telescope in clean rooms as the movie starts...
And the astronauts training for the mission underwater....
The launch of the mission was an incredible experience and a major highlight of the film...
The angles displayed "not-too-often" seen areas of the launch pad and surrounding grounds. The water system releasing a cascading ocean into the firebay was exciting and you know it's going to be good.... but when the solid rocket boosters ignited, the whole theater vibrated...and brought such as grin to this astronomer... ;D Now, I have never witnessed a launch, but I can only assume this is the best one can get without actually being there.
In stable orbit, it was now a matter of catching up to the Hubble and taking us along for the ride...
We have all seen pics of the Hubble, but in this film...every rivet, screw and detail is captured by the camera as the Shuttle's arm grabs onto the telescope and the astronauts climb out bringing the IMAX camera with them...
As they fight Newton's Law, the astronauts replace many components, including dangerous sharp circuit boards, modules and fighting with a screw that just wouldn't come out, jeopardizing the repair mission. But it did finally turn and was removed - allowing access behind a panel. ( At one point, a handle refused to detach - in the way and necessary to continue the repair - and NASA techs recommended that they simply break it off - which they did.)
As they crawled all over and in the Telescope, buckles, tools and apparatus floated just beyond our noses...bringing a smile to our faces, as some in the audience tried to grasp the items...
We also get a lot of fun time with the Atlantis crew, donning space suits, joking around and space dining...
And with a successful repair mission completed, the Atlantis crew returns home...
But...this is not the end of the 3-D experience...
The remaining 1/3 of the film takes us into the optical discoveries that the Hubble has pried out from the cosmos - especially after this repair and upgrade...and it is very cool...
Using supercomputers, the incredible Ultra Deep Field image we all have seen...comes to life in 3-D, as we zoom in and around galaxies, into the Virgo cluster and an amazing guided tour of M45 - The Orion Nebula...
It was the Orion Nebula that I most identified with.
Here is an easily observed object that astronomers target countless times in winter skies - marveling in it's delicate wisps and tendrils. Usually in shades of very pale colors, I have shown this object many times to visitors at the Adler and during personal observation sessions...witnessing the telltale long ago death of a star...and the birth place of new stars...
But here, in this incredible 3-D experience, the producers of the film take real astronomical data and transform it into a vibrant three dimensional environment - zooming into it from our Earthbound perspective of the Orion constellation and warping the familiar pattern into something unfamiliar as we fly into the constellation and into the nebula at hyper light speeds - leaving stars behind us...
The Triangulum, four young stars snuggled in the heart of the nebula and visible in the smallest of scopes...
..was lovingly explored, as we were taken on a ride inside of the gas cloud and perspectives not seen from Earth. Like seeing an old friend with a new face, eddies, currents and hidden areas were brought to life as we looked around the nebula from the inside - immense in scale, we are now surrounded by emission, reflective and radiated clouds - touring causually.
Then, leaving the nebula and after exploring the realm of galaxies...we are pulled back...way back and see our Universe into the galaxy strings or web - visualizing the organized fabric of the Universe.
Amazing!
At the end of the film, it was scheduled to have STS-125 Atlantis astronaut John Grunsfeld talk with us about his experience on the mission, but he was called away for President Obama's space speech...
...But the Chicago Astronomer and Grunsfeld are pals...
We had the organizers/producers of this film present to talk with us and explain how this film was created with a slide show presentation.
Donna Cox - Director of the Advanced Visualization Laboratory of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign spoke first...
...and Frank Summers - Astrophysicist with the Space Telescope Science Institute...
Both gave detailed walk through and process on how this 3-D experience was all put together. It was all very interesting on the meticulous effort the crews undertook in making the project as accurate and imaginative as possible, providing stills of their work...
Here, explaining how the Orion Nebula was modeled and re-created - diving into the heart of the gas cloud and sweating details like the "Tadpoles" - forming proto solar systems...
The project teams, (present is the audience), were shown working on the project, displaying the behind-the-scenes of the first person flow through the Virgo cluster and other areas in an incredible ride among the galaxies and stars...
..and both Cox & Summers gave a very cool presentation and offered kudos to all involved...
After the audience let out, we attended a afterparty with the visualization teams and lead people of the film...
Frank Summers and I chatted briefly about the work.
And Donna Cox took a group shot with The Chicago Astronomers...
Top row: John, Jude, Donna Cox, Our IMAX host Mark, Paulie, Myself, Mrs.Meyer and Mr. Meyer jr.
Bottom row: Alfred, Linda and Joe,
And...
...we all received a Hubble 3-D film patch...
This film combines historical documentation, astronomy and imagination all into an incredible 3-D experience.
Highly recommended.
