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Author
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Topic: Director Duncan Jones at Johnson Space Center
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Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 03-17-2009 11:54 AM
   
On Monday, March 16, collectSPACE arranged to interview Duncan Jones as he toured NASA's Johnson Space Center. Jones was in Houston to screen his first feature film, "Moon" a sci-fi thriller starring Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey, that will be released by Sony Picture Classics this June. The son of David Bowie, Jones spoke with collectSPACE about how NASA and other international space programs served in part as inspiration for his vision of a Helium 3 mining operation on a near future Moon, which is the setting of his film. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 03-17-2009 12:07 PM
The tour, led by NASA protocol officer Lori Wheaton, began at the Sonny Carter Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, where astronauts train to conduct spacewalks in a 40 foot deep, 6.2 million gallon pool. 
Joining Jones on the tour was Ben Longmier with Space Center Lectures, which was host to the "Moon" screening later that evening at Space Center Houston.  Also with Jones was Jo Ellen Brantferger with Angelika Film Centers, which will open with the film in June.  Although difficult to see through the water, astronauts Heide-Stefanyshyn-Piper and Dan Burbank were suited in the pool, working out the procedures for a new spacewalk that space station astronauts will conduct in place of the outing dropped from the STS-119 mission. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 03-17-2009 12:12 PM
The tour continued at the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility, where astronauts train inside full scale reproductions of the International Space Station, the space shuttle, the Russian Soyuz, and where hardware for NASA's next exploration program, Constellation, is being assembled. 
The tour entered a mock-up of the space shuttle crew cabin, where Jones was able to explore the flight deck and middeck of the orbiter.  |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 03-17-2009 12:17 PM
 
Jones also toured the inside of the space station mock-ups.  |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 03-17-2009 12:22 PM
Jones' "Moon imagines a near-future mining camp located on the far side of the Moon. During the tour, he was came face to face with NASA's first concepts for the real robots and rovers that will accomplish what he envisioned. 
Behind Jones and Longmier is the same Lunar Electric Rover that drove in President Barack Obama's inaugural parade. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 03-17-2009 12:28 PM
The tour finished with a visit to three Mission Control rooms, two active and one historic. First were the space shuttle and space station rooms, where flight controllers were actively monitoring the progress of the STS-119 and Expedition 18 crews in space. 
In a bit of life imitating art, one of David Bowie's most famous songs, "Major Tom", opens with the line, "Ground Control to Major Tom". This Ground Control is a real console in the station mission control. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
|
posted 03-17-2009 12:30 PM
The final stop on the tour was the Historic Mission Control, preserved as it was used during the Apollo and early space shuttle programs.  
That should read, Moon Director. | |
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