Open on a shot of some sun barely peeking over a planet. Pan camera to reveal a space station floating nearby. Cue vague narration.
Weve all seen this played out in some form or another in films, usually followed by a fantastical use of new technology and heart-pounding space peril. The final frontier has always been a muse for futuristic storytelling, and much of the same tropes have popped up time and time again an expedition to save the human race, a technological error turned life-threatening, an unwavering drive to return home.
The epic scale of outer space films has always been popular with audiences, although it has recently re-entered the cinema with a rush of movies involving space travel. Beginning around the release of Alfonso Cuarns groundbreaking Gravity in 2013, visually stunning space films have become commonplace on the list of highest-grossing movies. In fact, theyve become award-worthy. Christopher Nolans Interstellar won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, and Ridley Scotts The Martian snagged a Golden Globe for Best Comedic Motion Picture. Although not set in space, Denis Villeneuves extraterrestrial Arrival is a contender for Best Picture at this years Oscars.
Recent films taking place in outer space include Passengers, The Space Between Us and the forthcoming Life.
What makes the concept of space such a contender for a box office hit? Perhaps it is the idea of the unknown. Directors can do whatever they want in these films, because there are no rules for space. Having only traveled as far as the moon, humans have no idea of what life in space is truly like, so audiences are willing to accept whatever vision filmmakers dream up. They dismantle physics, redefine the concept of time and create impossible technology and audiences eat it up.
The ticket to success requires a certain balance of reality, however. Many space films are rooted in fact, providing just enough familiar content to convince audiences that the story being told could very well happen in real life. More often than not, technologies in these movies resembles existing technology on Earth, providing a link between what the viewer knows to be true and what they suspend their belief to accept as true. Its a delicate balance. The director doesnt want to make a film so saturated with the unknown that it isnt relatable, but they dont want to make a film thats too realistic and thus unenjoyable.
Theres a certain fascination of the unknown that seems to flow throughout our culture, especially when regarding outer space. What lies beyond our solar system? Does life exist beyond our Earth? Is long distance space travel even a possibility? Audiences want answers to these questions, and space films provide the answers.
Theres a reason audiences have to turn to movies for an idea of what space is like. Despite the appeal of space on the big screen, the percentage of federal funding to NASA has been slashed to nearly a tenth of what it was during the space boom of the 1960s. The notion of space travel has long since become unimportant, but this reemergence of space in the cinema might, for lack of a better term, be pointing out the gravity of the situation.
With the powerful impact films have in shaping society, we could potentially see an increase in funding in the future. In fact, as space films have taken off in recent years, funding for NASA in 2016 was the highest its been in a decade at $19.3 billion. With important films like this years Oscar-nominated Hidden Figures entering movie theaters, public opinion of space programs seems to be shifting to a more enthusiastic one.
Perhaps audiences are beginning to realize that the only way we could end up growing potatoes on Mars or experiencing time warps through multidimensional black holes is through support of long-neglected space programs. In other words, the unknown will only become real as long as we will it to.
As support grows, interest in space will grow, and more space films will continue to populate the cinema. If audiences can back multimillion-dollar films that depict fake space adventures, then surely they can get behind funding to make a trip to a galaxy far, far away a not-too-distant reality.
The rest is here:
Cosmic cinema: spurring interest in real-life space travel? - Miami Student
- A Real Life Hibernation Chamber is Being Made For Deep Space Travel - Futurism - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Humans to be FROZEN IN TIME for space travel as scientists move to COLONISE other planets - Express.co.uk - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Space flight changes astronauts' brains, research reveals - Fox News - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Space travel changes DNA, study finds - STLtoday.com - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Space travel visionaries solve the problem of interstellar slowdown ... - Science Daily - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Quantum Entanglement May Be Key To Long Distance Space Travel Ex Lockheed Exec Said It's Already Happening - Collective Evolution - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Is This Buzz Aldrin-Inspired Locomotive The Future Of Space Travel? - Forbes - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Celestial bodies: The Kelly twins offer a vital sign for space travel ... - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Space travel visionaries solve the problem of interstellar slowdown at Alpha Centauri - Phys.Org - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Newspaper review: Heartthrob and space travel in Wednesday's papers - BBC News - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Another View: NASA's Twins Study offers vital sign for space travel - Press Herald - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Piece of tragic shuttle history gets a second chance at space travel - WQAD.com - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Meet Shawn Pandya, The Third Indian-Origin Woman To Space-Travel - Huffington Post India - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Shawna Pandya clears the air on rumours of space travel - Daily News & Analysis - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- The Expanse and Frankie Adams: Meet the Kiwi who's conquered space travel - Stuff.co.nz - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Did a CSU study find that space travel makes you younger? Not so ... - The Denver Post - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Twins study offers valuable data on space travel - Herald-Whig - - Herald-Whig - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- The Expanse and Frankie Adams: Meet the Kiwi who's conquered space travel - Waikato Times - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- Kelly twins offer a vital sign for space travel - San Angelo Standard Times - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- Lacoste delves into the world of space travel at New York Fashion Week as Baptista honours founder's lesser-known ... - Evening Standard - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- NASA's Irish Twins Study reveals first results of space travel on humans - IrishCentral - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Starbound to revamp space travel in future update - PC Gamer - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- How Does Long-Term Space Travel Affect Humans? - Voice of America - February 13th, 2017 [February 13th, 2017]
- A VR Company is Attempting to Make Holographic Videos for Space Travel - Mobile Magazine - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Two-Time Space Traveling Astronaut to Speak at Black History ... - Patriots Point - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Make space travel great again: NASA, heeding Trump, may add astronauts to a test flight moon mission - National Post - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- In recently unearthed essay, Winston Churchill anticipated space travel and extraterrestrial life - The Providence Journal - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Twins in space: intergalactic travel could change DNA - The Student - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- An unearthed essay reveals Winston Churchill anticipated space travel and aliens - Stuff.co.nz - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- Focus Friday: The necessity of space travel - The Daily Cougar - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- NASA announces $2m investment on technology advancement for deep space travel - WDSU New Orleans - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- Focus Friday: The necessity of space travel - The Daily Cougar - The Daily Cougar - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Ask Ethan: How Can I Travel Through Space Without Getting Into Trouble? - Forbes - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Do You Have The Right Personality For Long-Term Space Travel ... - Seeker - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- In recently unearthed essay, Winston Churchill anticipated space travel and extraterrestrial life - Washington Post - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- UK bids to be world leader in Space travel by 2020 - Daily Star - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Know before you fly: privatized space travel - Observer Online - February 21st, 2017 [February 21st, 2017]
- You could fly to SPACE from the UK within three years as plans are for space port are unveiled - The Sun - February 21st, 2017 [February 21st, 2017]
- Commercial space travel could be ready as early as 2020 - New York Post - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- This Finnish startup democratizes space travel and it just raised over 3 million to find the next 'Slumdog ... - Business Insider Nordic - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Commercial space travel WITHIN THREE YEARS on flights to launch from BRITAIN - Express.co.uk - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Katherine Johnson led African American efforts in space travel - Farm and Dairy - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Space travel is measured in light years, but what's a light year anyway? - MyStatesman.com - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- TRAPPIST-1: How Long Would It Take to Fly to 7-Planet System? - Space.com - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- NASA Looking for Bright Ideas to Help With Space Travel - Tech.Co - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]
- The history of space travel encapsulated - Fairfaxtimes.com - February 25th, 2017 [February 25th, 2017]
- SpaceX's reusable rockets make space travel much cheaper - The ... - CMU The Tartan Online - February 27th, 2017 [February 27th, 2017]
- Stars align for space travel at memorable Oscars ceremony - Siliconrepublic.com - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- FSU researcher to lead US-Russia project on health, space travel - Florida State News - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- Crowding the cosmos: space travel turns private - The Student - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- Forget SpaceX: 10 companies that will change space travel in 2017 & 2018 - Geektime - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- Safe space travel: Protecting alien worlds from earthlings - and vice versa - Deutsche Welle - March 2nd, 2017 [March 2nd, 2017]
- Watch: 'Black Holes' A Satirical Comedy About Space Travel From Sundance 2017 - Konbini US - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- Doctor Launches Vision Quest To Help Astronauts' Eyeballs - NPR - March 4th, 2017 [March 4th, 2017]
- Beyond Earth talking about space travel - Alaska Public Radio Network - March 4th, 2017 [March 4th, 2017]
- Would You Book A Flight To The Moon? - The Alternative Daily (blog) - March 6th, 2017 [March 6th, 2017]
- Colorado Likely To Benefit From Privatized Space Travel - CBS Local - March 6th, 2017 [March 6th, 2017]
- NEC develops reliable FPGAs for space travel - Electronics Weekly - Electronics Weekly - March 8th, 2017 [March 8th, 2017]
- 4 Entrepreneurs Changing the Way We Think About Space Travel - Tech.Co - March 9th, 2017 [March 9th, 2017]
- Why Space Travel Can Be Absolutely Disgusting - Live Science - March 9th, 2017 [March 9th, 2017]
- EDITORIAL: Exploring private space travel - Indiana Daily Student - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- Harvard Scientists Theorize That Fast Radio Bursts Come From Alien Space Travel - Popular Mechanics - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- Space Exploration: US congress approves $19.5 billion for NASA to get humans to Mars by 2033 - NTA News - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- MIT Conference To Focus On Space Travel For The Public - CBS Boston / WBZ - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- Reusing rockets is best way to advance space travel, SpaceX officer tells symposium attendees - Colorado Springs Gazette - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- How space travel leads to cognitive shifts in awareness | Life and ... - The Guardian - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Cheap space travel, electric cars and a whirlwind love life love life... the billionaire genius inventing our future - Mirror.co.uk - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Reusable rockets key for space travel industry - Alamogordo Daily News - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Is this massive airplane the future of space travel? One billionaire thinks so. - SOFREP (press release) (subscription) - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- spotlight - NYCAviation - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- BBC commissions documentary about commercial space travel fronted by Brian Cox - Radio Times - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- The Physics of Interstellar Travel : Explorations in ... - June 6th, 2017 [June 6th, 2017]
- Mars rover scientist, SpaceX engineer join NASA astronaut corps - Reuters - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- How SpaceX Launched a Chinese Experiment Into Space, Despite US Ban - Foreign Policy (blog) - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- 'Blast Camp' gives students lessons on space travel - Fremont News Messenger - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- IKEA looks to space travel for new micro-living furniture collection - Dezeen - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- HPE's next frontier: Space travel & memory-driven computing - IT Brief Australia - June 8th, 2017 [June 8th, 2017]
- 20 Out-Of-This-World Companies Working On Space Travel Technologies - Interesting Engineering - June 12th, 2017 [June 12th, 2017]
- Here's how space travel is helping keep you healthy - Eyewitness News - June 12th, 2017 [June 12th, 2017]
- Space travel leads to two-headed worm - New Atlas - New Atlas - June 13th, 2017 [June 13th, 2017]