Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!dimacs.rutgers.edu!mips!spool.mu.edu!cs.umn.edu!kksys!wd0gol!newave!john
From: john@newave.UUCP (John A. Weeks III)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Shuttle Movies (was Re: Rescue a shuttle?)
Message-ID: <697@newave.UUCP>
Date: 14 Mar 91 02:25:42 GMT
References: <14694@mcdphx.phx.mcd.mot.com>
Reply-To: john@newave.mn.org (John A. Weeks III)
Distribution: usa
Organization: NeWave Communications Ltd, Eden Prairie, MN
Lines: 36

In article <14694@mcdphx.phx.mcd.mot.com> rax8@phx.mcd.mot.com (Steve Roberson ) writes:
> Anyone remember the movie "Space Camp" where they landed a shuttle-full
> of kids by remote control? At night?

That movie was pretty bogus.  I do think, however, that the plot had
one of the kids land the shuttle at night at White Sands.  If you recall,
they went into a flat spin upon re-entry and it was up to one of girls
on board to recover from the spin.

I was disappointed that the female astronaut in the movie acted and talked
like she knew almost nothing about the shuttle.  And she must have missed
class the day that they talked about abort procedures, like abort once
around.

On a related note, I saw "Moonraker" the other night.  The movie got
off to a bad start--they show a shuttle ignite its main engines while
riding on the back of a 747.  No wonder the average person is so mis-
informed about the space program.

A bunch of us at work tried working out alternate openings for the shuttle
theft at the start of Moonraker (during coffee break, of course).  The best
suggestion was having the shuttle de-mate from the 747, then glide down and
mate up with a new Soviet stealth cargo plane.  This solves the problem of
having the shuttle engines fire, and it explains how the shuttle was able to
fly out of the area.  Gee, nothing unrealistic about that 8-).

The rest of Moonraker was pretty good provided that you were willing
to let your mind accept a few more unrealistic shuttle operations.

-john-

-- 
===============================================================================
John A. Weeks III               (612) 942-6969               john@newave.mn.org
NeWave Communications                 ...uunet!rosevax!tcnet!wd0gol!newave!john
===============================================================================