Christopher Nolan on Interstellar: 'We're going to leave this planet at some point'

[kevindavis007]

Christopher Nolan and members of his cast and filmmaking team gathered in Los Angeles recently to discuss Interstellar.


The director's new sci-fi epic opens on Friday everywhere (after a limited IMAX opening on Wednesday) and comes with some of the highest expectations of the year. Not only is it Nolan's first film since completing the Dark Knight trilogy, but it's perhaps the most ambitious of his career, even more so than his previous sci-fi blockbuster, Inception.


Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway star as the leaders of a space crew tasked with traveling through a wormhole that has mysteriously appeared near Saturn and find out what happened to 12 previous explorers who vanished through the object. Blight is slowly rendering Earth uninhabitable, and it's hoped that the wormhole is the gateway to another galaxy where a planet capable of supporting human life can be found.


Read more: http://interstellar-news.blogspot.com/2014/11/christopher-nolan-on-interstellar-were.html

[DCPatriot]

Somebody tell him that we were warned on told not to return to the moon.

Why else did they stop?  With the American Spirit at the time at an all time high, it didn't make any sense to plant a flag and leave, never to return.

That's right.  I'm surprised Mr. Nolan isn't aware of Apollo 11.  They reported seeing massive "ships" lining the crater.

THAT'S the reason Christopher Nolan is incorrect in his 'prediction'.

The human race isn't welcomed beyond earth.

As 'wacko' as that may read to many here...it's plausible.  The evidence supports my position.

[Dexter]

Why else did they stop?

A combination of feeling like we already beat the Russians and not really having something clear to gain by continuing to visit the moon. It's extremely costly to play golf on the moon.

[DCPatriot]

A combination of feeling like we already beat the Russians and not really having something clear to gain by continuing to visit the moon. It's extremely costly to play golf on the moon.

Well, I think the 'normal' thing a country that went there would do is set up a series of surveillance and equipment to keep tabs on "all kinds of countries and people".  The defensive advantage alone should demand it.

[NavyCanDo]

Somebody tell him that we were warned on told not to return to the moon.

I'd be happy just to be able to get into Earths Orbit. Without hitching a ride on a Russian ship.

If I would have said in the 1970s or 80s that in the early 21st century, Americans would have to rely on the Russians to get a man into  orbit, they would have called me a damn liar.

[kevindavis007]

A combination of feeling like we already beat the Russians and not really having something clear to gain by continuing to visit the moon. It's extremely costly to play golf on the moon.

Also gotta feed the welfare bums.... Looks I appreciate what Kennedy did, but his big mistake was stopping at the Moon.. It should have been at the Moon by then end of this decade and Mars at the end of the 70's...

[ABX]

A combination of feeling like we already beat the Russians and not really having something clear to gain by continuing to visit the moon. It's extremely costly to play golf on the moon.

Add to that the massive expense. Gerald Ford's administration shifted focus to development of the space shuttle and near-earth satellites instead of moon exploration. The budget went to that. Ford focused on the best ROI for the space program and communication satellites were the big emerging market at the time. Having a reusable reentry vehicle was the golden goose.

[kevindavis007]

Add to that the massive expense. Gerald Ford's administration shifted focus to development of the space shuttle and near-earth satellites instead of moon exploration. The budget went to that. Ford focused on the best ROI for the space program and communication satellites were the big emerging market at the time. Having a reusable reentry vehicle was the golden goose.

I think it was Nixon.. Carter nearly killed the space program.

[Oceander]

A combination of feeling like we already beat the Russians and not really having something clear to gain by continuing to visit the moon. It's extremely costly to play golf on the moon.

There is probably a lot of truth to that.  Certainly the political point was made, and that really didn't require follow-up reinforcement.  Not only is it costly to play golf on the Moon, but the ROI for manned space exploration is significantly lower, generally speaking, than for unmanned exploration.  There are obviously places and times where you want to be able to put people, but doing routine exploration in forbidding environments is usually better done with unmanned equipment.  For example the data we've gotten about the heliopause from the Voyager craft would be impossible to get with a manned expedition using our current technology.

Honestly, if we really want to see whether it makes sense to get people out into space, let's open up space to private exploration and see what happens.  Private enterprise, generally speaking, will only do something if the investment provides positive economic returns.

[kevindavis007]

There is probably a lot of truth to that.  Certainly the political point was made, and that really didn't require follow-up reinforcement.  Not only is it costly to play golf on the Moon, but the ROI for manned space exploration is significantly lower, generally speaking, than for unmanned exploration.  There are obviously places and times where you want to be able to put people, but doing routine exploration in forbidding environments is usually better done with unmanned equipment.  For example the data we've gotten about the heliopause from the Voyager craft would be impossible to get with a manned expedition using our current technology.

Honestly, if we really want to see whether it makes sense to get people out into space, let's open up space to private exploration and see what happens.  Private enterprise, generally speaking, will only do something if the investment provides positive economic returns.

That is why I'm glad that NASA is working with SpaceX..

[Oceander]

That is why I'm glad that NASA is working with SpaceX..

I'm not sure if SpaceX really needs that albatross! 

[kevindavis007]

I'm not sure if SpaceX really needs that albatross! 

Good point..

[SPQR]

No bucks, no Buck Rodgers

[Dexter]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_%28moon%29

An ocean moon and the possibility of extraterrestrial life exists in our own solar system, yet we can't seem to come up with the funds to go look. We've always got plenty of money for war though.

[SPQR]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_%28moon%29

An ocean moon and the possibility of extraterrestrial life exists in our own solar system, yet we can't seem to come up with the funds to go look. We've always got plenty of money for war though.

That is why you develop partnerships with other space agencies. The Cassini mission is a partnership with 3 space agencies. Each agency provide one aspect of the mission.

[SPQR]

That is why you develop partnerships with other space agencies. The Cassini mission is a partnership with 3 space agencies. Each agency provide one aspect of the mission.

In other words, you are spreading the costs. In the early days of NASA, the missiles used were normally ICBM missiles like the Redstone, Atlas and Titan Missiles used by the USAF. The Russians used the R-7 ICBM as their main mode of transportation. They are still using the R-7 ICBM missile as their main mode of transportation after 50 years. We are starting to use using former MX(Peacekeeper) missiles in the transportation business of the Space X. By the way the Air Force also also contracted decommissioned MMII boosters

[SPQR]

Also gotta feed the welfare bums.... Looks I appreciate what Kennedy did, but his big mistake was stopping at the Moon.. It should have been at the Moon by then end of this decade and Mars at the end of the 70's...

You are forgetting the Space Shuttle was well under development in the 1970s. The STS program was conceived in 1969.In 1969, President Richard Nixon decided to support proceeding with Space Shuttle development. A series of development programs and analysis refined the basic design, prior to full development and testing. In August 1973, the X-24B proved that an unpowered spaceplane could re-enter Earth's atmosphere for a horizontal landing. There was two launching sites. One in Florida and the other at Vandenberg AFB. But there was one landing at White Sands, New Mexico

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle#Landing_sites

[PzLdr]

I always thought someone would have to go some to top 2001: A Space Odyssee as the worst Sci Fi movie I've ever seen [just my opinion]. Nolan has accomplished that feat. Two hours and forty-five minutes of tedium, AND, IMO, a homage [rip off] of some the themes of 2001, sans monkeys.

[SPQR]

I always thought someone would have to go some to top 2001: A Space Odyssee as the worst Sci Fi movie I've ever seen [just my opinion]. Nolan has accomplished that feat. Two hours and forty-five minutes of tedium, AND, IMO, a homage [rip off] of some the themes of 2001, sans monkeys.

You must be joking that "2001" is the worst movie. Its a masterpiece and set the standard for science fiction films. The use of classical music in the space backdrop such as such as Johann Strauss II's 1866 Blue Danube Waltz,Stanley Kubrick is a genius. I thought the sequel to "2001" was very good also. It explained why did HAL malfunctioned and murdered his crew.


"Open the pod bay doors,HAL"

[PzLdr]

You must be joking that "2001" is the worst movie. Its a masterpiece and set the standard for science fiction films. The use of classical music in the space backdrop such as such as Johann Strauss II's 1866 Blue Danube Waltz,Stanley Kubrick is a genius. I thought the sequel to "2001" was very good also. It explained why did HAL malfunctioned and murdered his crew.


"Open the pod bay doors,HAL"

Sorry. I wasn't joking. I found the special effects to be excellent. Ditto the music. I also found it to be one of the most pretentious, confusing and tedious movies I've ever seen. Nolan is right on its tail.

[SPQR]

Sorry. I wasn't joking. I found the special effects to be excellent. Ditto the music. I also found it to be one of the most pretentious, confusing and tedious movies I've ever seen. Nolan is right on its tail.

You need to think on Arthur C Clark and Stanley Kubrick's level of intellect about the evolution of mankind whether we had some help from extraterrestrials. How simple apes can evolve into interdimensional beings by use of the Monolith. Dave Bowman and later on HAL acted as agents of the Monolith. There was this television show in the 1970s called Space:1999 where the Moon is blasted out of Earth orbit. They spent much of season one pondering the nuclear accident was truly an accident or some mysterious universal force fated them to wander the Universe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolith_(Space_Odyssey)

[kevindavis007]

You need to think on Arthur C Clark and Stanley Kubrick's level of intellect about the evolution of mankind whether we had some help from extraterrestrials. How simple apes can evolve into interdimensional beings by use of the Monolith. Dave Bowman and later on HAL acted as agents of the Monolith. There was this television show in the 1970s called Space:1999 where the Moon is blasted out of Earth orbit. They spent much of season one pondering the nuclear accident was truly an accident or some mysterious universal force fated them to wander the Universe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolith_(Space_Odyssey)

I saw the Interstellar and I loved it... It will be a cult hit.. It was like 2001 and better. I also liked the subtle homage to 2001.. I'm glad it wasn't a preachy green message.. In fact I felt they he kinda critizied them.. I did like the main message, our time on earth is limited, and we have a choice... Either stay on this planet forever and go extinct, or go to other planets or live in huge space stations to survive as a species... It is our choice.