[sci.space.shuttle] Shuttle on Mission: Impossible

mears@hpindda.HP.COM (David Mears) (11/08/89)

I realize that this will probably come too late for many, but hopefully
it will be sufficient notice for some.

For those of you who would be intrested and who may not otherwise watch
`Mission:  Impossible' on Thursday nights, this coming Thursday's show
(9 Nov 1989) will have the MI team doing something related to the space
shuttle.  They apparently even go up in it.  It should be interesting.

David B. Mears
Hewlett-Packard
Cupertino CA
hplabs!hpda!mears
mears@hpda.HP.COM

thomas@mvac23.UUCP (Thomas Lapp) (11/09/89)

> For those of you who would be intrested and who may not otherwise watch
> `Mission:  Impossible' on Thursday nights, this coming Thursday's show
> (9 Nov 1989) will have the MI team doing something related to the space
> shuttle.  They apparently even go up in it.  It should be interesting.

I saw a posting in one of the newsgroups I read that mentioned how
realistic that the Mission: IMPOSSIBLE team was when referring to
what a computer could and could not do.  If I recall the topic correctly,
it had something to do with the fact that when trying to crack a
particular computer system, they didn't use "magic" but did it in
a way that would make sense.

However, as soon as I saw the previews for this week's show, I realized
that reality was going to go out the window.  I don't recall exactly
what it was that was so "dumb" and outlandish, but anyone who reads
sci.space.shuttle would probably be disappointed in watching the program.
I think this is because it deals with a subject that we all know a 
good bit about, and know when things are done realistically or not.

Of course, by the time you read this, it will probably be over with, so
I hope you enjoyed the program...

                         - tom
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phil@delta.eecs.nwu.edu (William LeFebvre) (11/11/89)

In article <101.UUL1.3#5131@mvac23.UUCP> thomas@mvac23.UUCP (Thomas Lapp) writes:
[[Original attribution lost....sorry]]
>> For those of you who would be intrested and who may not otherwise watch
>> `Mission:  Impossible' on Thursday nights, this coming Thursday's show
>> (9 Nov 1989) will have the MI team doing something related to the space
>> shuttle....
>
>Of course, by the time you read this, it will probably be over with, so
>I hope you enjoyed the program...

I didn't.  Neither did my wife (former JSC shuttle flight controller).
It was horrible.  It was awful.  It was unrealistic.  It was totally
contrary to fact or any reasonable extension of fact.  It was hokey.
It was clear that the producers did almost no research on the subject.
Our "hoke-o-meter" broke.  We turned it off after about 40 minutes and
decided that our time could be better spent thinking about what to
make for dinner.  I almost turned "Different World" on instead.  It
was THAT bad!

		William LeFebvre
		Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
		Northwestern University
		<phil@eecs.nwu.edu>

mears@hpindda.HP.COM (David Mears) (11/11/89)

Well, it wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either.  I noticed a few
inconsistancies; people who follow things much closer than I probably
noticed a few more.  There were some external shots with a white
external tank and some with the more recent orange.  There were also
shots that implied that there was a metal surface around the cabin
windows rather than tiles.  However, there was also a lot of good NASA
footage and the special effects for weightlessness were fairly decent.
At least they didn't just ignore gravity altogether.  Considering that
they didn't have a major motion picture budget, I think they did quite
well.

Anybody else see it?  Like it?  Hate it?  Other comments?

David B. Mears
Hewlett-Packard
Cupertino CA
hplabs!hpda!mears
mears@hpda.HP.COM

mahaun@sactoh0.UUCP (Mark A. Haun) (11/13/89)

In article <3330024@hpindda.HP.COM>, mears@hpindda.HP.COM (David Mears) writes:
> Anybody else see it?  Like it?  Hate it?  Other comments?

There was just one other minor problem in the plot;  they had the
laser destroying communications satellites which would obviously be
in geostationary orbit!  I liked that one shot of the shuttle 
approaching what looked to me like an Intelsat-series sat....

Other than that, and about 100 other gross inconsistencies, it
wasn't all that bad :-) ...


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mike@trsvax.UUCP (11/14/89)

The satellite was a Hughes 380, the most commonly deployed communications
satellite.  Okay, so it wasn't in geostationary orbit.  I can remember at
least two of those babies (Palapa and Westar) that ended up like that
thanks to Morton Thiokol.

Mike Hardeman
(mike@trsvax.UUCP)
Tandy Research and Development
(817) 390-2112

The opinions expressed here are not those of Tandy Corporation
(I don't think they even know I work here)