Space Race
I missed most of the series while I was in Brazil, but I’ve been really enjoying the end of BBC TWO’s [Space Race][1]. They seem to have done a fantastic job digging up the real story of the race between the USA and the USSR to get a man on the moon, and some of the reconstructions and archive footage of the Russian part of the story have been remarkable.
Two images really grabbed me. The first was a reconstruction of [Yuri Gagarin’s][2] orbit of the the Earth. They showed him sitting in the tiny, padded capsule, gazing out of the little round porthole at the Earth below, and excitedly telling control that he could see the curvature of the planet. That really touched me for some reason. What must it have been like to be the first human ever to see our planet from space? To be so helpless and vulnerable, and yet to have such an overwhelming experience? Because he couldn’t control the capsule at all, there was nothing to distract him from what he could see, as there would have been for later cosmonauts and astronauts. All he could do was look. It was as if he had become a baby curled up in this technological uterus, being born into a new age of our species, suddenly getting a glimpse of the new world. Or something like that—-this kind of thing makes me unduly emotional and prone to sentimental hyperbole.
The second image was archive footage from the first flight around the moon, and showed the Earth rising above the surface of the moon. The a very similar scene was re-created in 20011, and I still think that it’s one of the best opening scenes in a film ever. Seeing the original footage—-grainy and poor quality though it was—-was spine tingling. I suppose that with all the images we see from space now, we should be used to it, but every time I see a shot like that, I’m struck by the fact that we live on a stunningly beautiful planet. Actually, it’s beautiful at every scale from the microscopic to the inter-planetary, but seen from space it’s a perfect blue-green jewel. I don’t know why, but it inspires such tenderness in me. It looks so small and vulnerable that you want to cup it in your hands to protect it. One of the reasons that I love the Kate Bush song, “Hello Earth” so much is that she articulates this feeling so much better than I can:
Hello, Earth. Hello, Earth. With just one hand held up high I can blot you out, Out of sight. Peek-a-boo, Peek-a-boo, little Earth.
I’m not really an ambitious person—-ordinary, everyday experiences seem amazing enough to me without wishing for more—-but if there’s one thing that I really would like to do before I die, it’s to see the Earth from space. I just want to look at it and cup it in my hands.
1 This also had the Sun rising behind the Earth, so that Sun, Earth and Moon were all in alignment. â
[1]: http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2004/06june/24/space.shtml “Press Release from the BBC” [2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YuriGagarin “Wikipedia entry for Gagarin”
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> It was as if he had become a baby curled up in this technological uterus, being born into a new age of our species, suddenly getting a glimpse of the new world.
Well, as the earth-rise is the first scene in â2001â, this is the last one, is it not?
A human, borne by technology to a new level, looking like a baby to this new world, «For though he was master of the world, he was not quite sure what to do next. But he would think of something.»----- I didn't look up the dates, but an exhibition on Kubrick I've seen claimed there had been no images of the earth from outer space at the time the movie was made (which is why the color is off). Should this be true please take out "re-created", because 2001 definitely is a first-of-its-kind masterpiece.
by Tobias Weber @ 06/10/2005 7:11 pm • Permalink •
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"if thereâs one thing that I really would like to do before I die, itâs to see the Earth from space"
Bill Bailey's Part Troll ran through my head when I read that! It certainly beats swimming with dolphins in my opinion
by Jonathan @ 06/10/2005 8:10 pm • Permalink •
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I'm excited about the Rocket Racing League for this reason. I think that a competition of this type will do a lot to make orbit-capable rockets more safe and plentiful.
by bitweever @ 06/10/2005 10:11 pm • Permalink •
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Funny how we view things from different perspectives (literally sometimes). Any time I've thought about Gagarin it's always the technology and whatnot that got in the road. I missed this programme but as you say, to experience what he had must have been... mind blowing.
by Gordon @ 07/10/2005 10:11 am • Permalink •
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"Or something like thatâthis kind of thing makes me unduly emotional and prone to sentimental hyperbole."
Gordon Bennet! You just give us a beautiful poetic metaphor, and boring Mr Objective Scientist has to jump up in your brain and insult it. Tell him to be quiet and make friends with your poet Mrs Tralala Hello Birds Hello Trees. See if you can persuade them to work together.
by ThoughtBadger @ 08/10/2005 10:11 am • Permalink •
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dakkar: You know, that didn't occur to me at the time, but you're right. I unconsciously plagiarised Kubrick.
Tobias Weber: That would be amazing if it was true. I'll try and find out. It wouldn't surprise me if he did imagine it without seeing any images.
Jonathan: Hehe---I remember that bit.
bitweever: Cool! I didn't know about that. Mind you, the old space race resulted in both sides taking a lot of risks with people's lives in order to be the first.
Gordon: I found a link the the transcripts of his communications with Ground Control via Wikipedia, but unfortunately they aren't translated. I'd love to know what he said while he was up there.
ThoughtBadger: :-D Actually, it was Mrs Tralala Hello Birds Hello Trees who was laughing at her own cliches, not Mrs. Objective Scientist. But yes, they do fight sometimes. The me in the middle tries to keep the peace.
by bsag @ 08/10/2005 4:11 pm • Permalink •
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Spare a thought for poor Cryosat. Us glaciologists are down one very fun tool which now resides at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean rather than majestically orbiting planet mud. Not too sure I'd trust RocketRacing just yet...
by Ian @ 10/10/2005 8:11 am • Permalink •
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Been a bit of a "Space Nut" for the last 40+ years, I think when "2001...." was first started to be filmed in 1964, there had been some 18 spaceflights and "astro-flights" (USAF/NASA X-15), plus some 18 years of photographs from both outer space and very-high altitude sounding rockets, so Mr Kubrick had a lot of material to go on. After 1965-6 when NASA had flowen ten Gemini spacecraft he would have had some fantastic images to work from. Try astronautix.com for more details. PS love the website, will visit again....
by Martin Dawson @ 21/10/2005 7:11 pm • Permalink •
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Ian: I know. I really felt for you guys. Doing any science that depends on blasting things into space seems like a very nerve-wracking and often frustrating business.
Martin Dawson: Interesting. I still think he was pretty visionary, though---with or without source material. And thanks! It's not often about space, but once in a blue moon there's at least something to interest some people.
by bsag @ 21/10/2005 8:11 pm • Permalink •
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