Moonbase movie *Plymouth* to air Sunday?
Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey
*Plymouth* will be broadcast on NBC this coming Sunday. I don't know
how accurate this rumor is-- but if it's true, catch it! The director
made a presentation at last year's Space Development Conference,
showing slides of the sets and characters.
*Plymouth* is about a near-future community of a few hundred people on
the Moon. The filmmakers went to some trouble to tell a hard-science
story with plausible tech. The director had really boned up. The
people he got as advisors-- such as moonbase maven Dr. Wendell Mendell
of NASA, or space artist Pat Rawlings of Science Applications
International-- were the same people I would have gotten. I was
amazed to hear this Hollywood guy spout all the same technical jargon
as I'd heard at professional astronautics conferences. The colony's
main export is helium-3, and it makes extensive use of local lunar
resources. The designs of equipment, vehicles, and buildings are
quite convincing. Hard science is almost never done well in
Televisionland, but this movie appears to be an exception.
*Plymouth* was intended to be a pilot for a TV series, but didn't get
picked up by the network. The quality of the drama is unknown to me.
If it's a mediocre story, like *Destination Moon* or *Die Frau im
Mond*, the movie should be watchable because its technical background
is strong. (No flames, please; how many SF movies have you sat
through with interesting plots, or intriguing characters, and lousy,
lousy science?) If the story is good, you might be *really* pleased
you tuned it in.
O~~* /_) ' / / /_/ ' , , ' ,_ _ \|/
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Allen W. Sherzer
like the show, it's not too late to get a series out of it. Call
ABC TV programming department and tell them you liked it and would
like a series. Also call the sponsors and tell them.
Allen
d
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|Allen W. Sherzer | Allen's tactics are too tricky to deal with |
| a...@iti.org | -- Harel Barzilai |
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S. J. Okay
>Yes it is indeed goint go be on ABC at 8:00 or 9:00. If you
>like the show, it's not too late to get a series out of it. Call
>ABC TV programming department and tell them you liked it and would
>like a series. Also call the sponsors and tell them.
What I saw of it looked good, but I missed all but the intro 15 minutes
due to a balky VCR. If anybody out there who taped it could volunteer
to provide me with a copy for MOPV (My Own Personal Viewing), I'd be greatly
appreciative. (Save any copyright flames for the null device..)
I'd also be interested in hearing of any general appraisals of the movie for
scientific acuracy, since this one one point of merit that was stressed about
this movie on here.
---Steve
Steven Grimm
>The one glaring item that I noticed was the lack of frost forming on the
>spacesuits or the airlock during the explosive compression sequence about
>twenty minutes before the end.
(another spoiler follows)
My housemate pointed out that the whole sequence inside the colony where people
were scurrying for the radiation shelters was silly. The whole colony, or at
least all the living areas, would have to be shielded; otherwise, wouldn't all
those pretty plants have to be ripped out and replaced after every severe
solar flare?
Overall, it was pretty accurate, I thought. The plot was pretty predictable,
though, and the characters were a bit wooden. Too bad.
I'm crossposting this to rec.arts.tv; it seems appropriate.
---
Steven Grimm kor...@eng.sun.com Moderator, comp.{sources,binaries}.atari.st
"We must be brave, and not let them know how frightened we really are."
-- OPEN LOOK Graphical User Interface Functional Specification
Ed Otto
>I'd also be interested in hearing of any general appraisals of the movie for
>scientific acuracy, since this one one point of merit that was stressed about
>this movie on here.
The one glaring item that I noticed was the lack of frost forming on the
spacesuits or the airlock during the explosive compression sequence about
twenty minutes before the end.
Other than that item, I LOVED the show...
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Ed Otto
>My housemate pointed out that the whole sequence inside the colony where people
>were scurrying for the radiation shelters was silly. The whole colony, or at
>least all the living areas, would have to be shielded; otherwise, wouldn't all
>those pretty plants have to be ripped out and replaced after every severe
>solar flare?
Actually, not. All of those plants were in the greenhouse which was
probably buried - I saw no windows in the several shots of it they had.
AND, the shelters were set up for people; the greenhouse was set up for plants.
hermann
More technical problems:
- an airlock door in the moonrover garage that consisted mostly of glass.
There is no need to put glass in an airlock door, and it complicates the
engineering enormously. Put a viewport in the bulkhead next to it.
- an emergency manual override in a pressure door that the kids had to
operate through a keypad next to the door (which of course failed for some
reason). A _manual_ override should be just that, manual. Preferably simple
and easy enough to use that you can get the door open quickly, even in
darkness with the wind of decompression blowing around you.
At least they knew enough to have the airlock doors opening _inwards_, so
that air pressure holds them shut. And if for some stupid reason someone has
left it open, it will _automagically_ swing shut in the event of a blowout.
| Mike Hermann | her...@cpsc.ucalgary.ca
_Organized_ religion is like organized crime: it preys on people's weakness,
generates huge profits, and is nearly impossible to eradicate.
Jonathan A Bishop
>kor...@twitterpater.Eng.Sun.COM (Steven Grimm) writes:
>>My housemate pointed out that the whole sequence inside the colony where people
>>were scurrying for the radiation shelters was silly. The whole colony, or at
>>least all the living areas, would have to be shielded; otherwise, wouldn't all
>>those pretty plants have to be ripped out and replaced after every severe
>>solar flare?
>Actually, not. All of those plants were in the greenhouse which was
>probably buried - I saw no windows in the several shots of it they had.
>AND, the shelters were set up for people; the greenhouse was set up for plants.
This was my main complaint, too. If the plants need less shielding than
the people, fine. But, if the greenhouse is sufficiently shielded, why not
just have everyone meet there? It's a central location, and it would be easier
to take a headcount.
Despite these possible errors, I'll watch any show featuring Pete
Conrad.
--------
jabi...@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu
"I'm with you, LEM, though it's a shame that it had to be you.
The mother ship is just a blip from your train made for two.
I'm with you, boys, so please employ just a little extra care.
It's on my mind, I'm left behind when I should have been there."
--Jethro Tull, "For Michael Collins, Jeffrey, and Me"
Yuan Liu
#More technical problems:
#
#- an airlock door in the moonrover garage that consisted mostly of glass.
#There is no need to put glass in an airlock door, and it complicates the
#engineering enormously. Put a viewport in the bulkhead next to it.
#
Maybe they are transparent aluminum. Remember Star Trek IV? :-)
Yuan Liu
l...@cs.umd.edu
Lance Franklin
}
}
}More technical problems:
}
}- an airlock door in the moonrover garage that consisted mostly of glass.
}There is no need to put glass in an airlock door, and it complicates the
}engineering enormously. Put a viewport in the bulkhead next to it.
Well, this seems perfectly practical to me...let's face it, one thing the
moon has plenty of is sand...seems to me glass would be a fine construction
material on the moon, since all you really need is a solar furnace and a
mold to pour the stuff into. I did notice all the glass was rather rough.
Seems consistant with glass poured into a rough mold...and I imagine that
glass is quite tough when it's several inches thick, although I'm sure
there's somebody with more expertise out there that can confirm or deny
this.
}- an emergency manual override in a pressure door that the kids had to
}operate through a keypad next to the door (which of course failed for some
}reason). A _manual_ override should be just that, manual. Preferably simple
}and easy enough to use that you can get the door open quickly, even in
}darkness with the wind of decompression blowing around you.
}
}At least they knew enough to have the airlock doors opening _inwards_, so
}that air pressure holds them shut. And if for some stupid reason someone has
}left it open, it will _automagically_ swing shut in the event of a blowout.
I also noted that they seemed to have an explosive device that blew a plug
to open a passage for air to compress the airlock in an emergency. Perhaps
I'm a bit conservative, but I don't think I would particularly like to
have an electrically-operated explosive device in a position where it can,
if it blows accidentally, reduce the room to a vacuum in a few seconds.
Lance
--
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NC Microproducts, Inc. | Lollipop?!?" The Fat Fury |
Richardson, Texas +----------------------------------------------+
Dean Reece
Well, I suspect that the writers decided that on the moon, glass would be
more obtainable than metals. Is there a book this movie was made from?
If so, that may shed some light on a few design decisions.
All in all, I thought the science & effects were probably closer to
reality than most sci-fi movies I've seen (Though the Space Oddessy movies
were pretty good). _Plymouth_ is certainly the most accurate MADE FOR
TV space movie out there.
As for acting, plot, and premise - well, um, nuff said.
Henry Spencer
>I also noted that they seemed to have an explosive device that blew a plug
>to open a passage for air to compress the airlock in an emergency. Perhaps
>I'm a bit conservative, but I don't think I would particularly like to
>have an electrically-operated explosive device in a position where it can,
>if it blows accidentally, reduce the room to a vacuum in a few seconds.
In fact, they almost certainly would not have an electrically-operated
explosive device to do that, period. The traditional space-hardware
preference for doing lots of things with pyrotechnics would have to be
severely modified or abandoned for a long-term colony with many relatively
unsophisticated people around. Those things are dangerous even if they
*don't* reduce rooms to vacuum when fired. Pyrotechnic hardware kills
people regularly. They are accepted in current use because they can do
many jobs with very lightweight hardware. For a lunar base, safety issues
would almost certainly take priority.
--
"We're thinking about upgrading from | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
SunOS 4.1.1 to SunOS 3.5." | he...@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry
James T. Green
many people with absolutely no relevant background were sent
to the Moon.
It seemed that Plymouth was the only moonbase, or perhaps one
of a few. With so many people here on Earth so willing to
go into space, and dedicating their lives and careers to
that goal, I find it extremely unbelieveable that a bunch
of hicks would be sent.
I was very annoyed by all the "was it right to come here"
BS dialog that was being bantered about by some of the
characters. I don't believe anyone who wasn't absolutely
positive about the rightness of going would be *ALLOWED* to
go (at least anytime in the next century).
However, there was one character (the kid with the super
moon buggy) who said that he "couldn't be pried (sp) out of here...
every time an airlock opens, you're making history." I would
have like a lot more of that kind of positive attitude throughout.
Technically, it seemed OK. We could probably do it within
20 years (or less) if it could only get funded :-(
--------------------------------------------------------
James T. Green, Innocent Bystander
jgr...@eros.calpoly.edu
Allen W. Sherzer
>Is this a pilot? Could be a neat series. Especially if the moonwere
>to suddenly be ripped out of oorbit and....
Yeah! Then we cold have some aliens show up and try to trash the place.
(We're talking high concept TV here).
>Hope they make it a series. We could use a good SF network show again.
Alas no. I talked to the Disney publist working on the show. She said the
overnight ratings showed Plymough coming in with a 16% share. She said
this was 'respectable' but it isn't enough. The main problems where that
the sets where torn down when ABC didn't pick up the series last year,
the show was too expensive to produce, and the producer doesn't work for
Disney anymore.
HOWEVER, it would be a good idea to call/write your local affiliate,
ABC Programming Department, and the shows sponsors. If they see that
there is a market for a show like this they will produce shows to
meet the demand.
Allen
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|Allen W. Sherzer | DETROIT: Where the weak are killed and eaten. |
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Brett G Person
to suddenly be ripped out of oorbit and....
ope they make it a series. We could use a good SF network show again.
Brett G. Person
North Dakota State University
uunet!plains!person | per...@plains.bitnet | per...@plains.nodak.edu
Gary Coffman
>
>All in all, I thought the science & effects were probably closer to
>reality than most sci-fi movies I've seen (Though the Space Oddessy movies
>were pretty good). _Plymouth_ is certainly the most accurate MADE FOR
>TV space movie out there.
>
>As for acting, plot, and premise - well, um, nuff said.
>
>-de...@sco.com
The one thing that fasinated me was the way they attempted to get around
the "moonwalk" problem. In a TV show, especially one with a large cast,
the problem of simulating a walking gait other than Earth normal is
horrendous. So the writers usually are required to come up with some
gimmick to avoid the problem. This time they chose weighted boots.
Such a "solution" would actually exaggerate the unusual gait rather
than minimize it because foot inertia would be increased while the
person would still have to contend with the lower resistance of
a 1/6 G field. In the late unlamented _Space 1999_ they used an
Earth normal gait inside Moonbase Alpha and an exaggerated slow
motion gait when they went outside. That was one of the many
jarring technical flaws of that show. I wonder, does anyone have a
*real* solution to the writer's delemma short of an artifical gravity
generator?
Gary
Frank Crary
>The one thing that fasinated me was the way they attempted to get around
>the "moonwalk" problem. In a TV show, especially one with a large cast,
>the problem of simulating a walking gait other than Earth normal is
>horrendous.
the low Lunar gravity. At least in part, it resulted from the spacesuit
design: The Apollo suits had both poor lower body/leg mobility AND a
heavy (equivilent to 17 kg on Earth) portable life support system/
backpack. The PLSS backpack rode high on the astronaut's back, and there
was no balancing weight in front. The result was that the astronaut's
center of mass was shifted far up and rearward. Without full freedom
to move their legs to compensate, the astronauts found the best was to
move was to "hop." A better suit design would probabibly eliminate most
of the "Lunar gait."
Frank Crary
Gary Coffman
>In article <29...@ke4zv.UUCP> ga...@ke4zv.UUCP (Gary Coffman) writes:
>>The one thing that fasinated me was the way they attempted to get around
>>the "moonwalk" problem. In a TV show, especially one with a large cast,
>>the problem of simulating a walking gait other than Earth normal is
>>horrendous.
That wasn't what I was talking about, though people who watched the
Apollo astronauts would expect such a gait outside. What I was thinking
about was the fact that, inside a base, you would still have Earth normal
inertia while facing only 1/6 G resistance. Your normal gait under those
conditions should resemble that of an ice skater to some degree. You
would tend to take long gliding steps and be very conscious of quick
stops. That's very difficult to simulate on film for an entire cast.
Gary
Frank Crary
>about was the fact that, inside a base, you would still have Earth normal
>inertia while facing only 1/6 G resistance. Your normal gait under those
>conditions should resemble that of an ice skater to some degree. You
>would tend to take long gliding steps and be very conscious of quick
>stops. That's very difficult to simulate on film for an entire cast.
I would think it would be almost impossible. There is no actual data
on how people would walk under these conditions. The Apollo LM was too
small to do any real walking in. The problem you refer to might not ever
exist for slower motions (e.g. a reasonably slow pace.) Also, the necessary
changes in gait might not be very visable (unless you know what to look for.)
It is quite possible that this would be something one had to adjust to, or
concentrate on, but which did not really involve many changes in actual motions
Frank Crary
John K. Gibbons
>In article <29...@ke4zv.UUCP> ga...@ke4zv.UUCP (Gary Coffman) writes:
>
>I would think it would be almost impossible. There is no actual data
>on how people would walk under these conditions. The Apollo LM was too
>small to do any real walking in. The problem you refer to might not ever
>
> Frank Crary
A combination of attention to walking style, occasional use of slow-motion,
and just ignoring the issue for more static shots might succeed. As Frank
Carey says, we don't really know what normal gait in a shirt-sleve Lunar
habitat would be like. However, slow motion (_not_ necessarily at 1:6,
just enough to convey that steps can be longer, falling slower, stopping
more difficult, etc.) would enhance verisimilitude -- which is after all
not quite the same as accuracy or truthfullness.
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