karn (01/04/83)
Last week while on vacation, I saw the film "Hail Columbia" in the IMAX theater at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. IMAX is that novelty large-screen format which takes standard 70mm film and turns it sideways, allowing each frame to be much larger than a conventional 70mm movie frame. (Most regular movie theaters use 35 mm film.) IMAX films are projected on a screen roughly 5 stories tall; from just about any seat in the audience, the screen fills your entire field of vision, with some head motion necessary to see the corners clearly. The oldest and best known IMAX flick is "To Fly", which came out in 1976. There is also an 8-channel surround sound system using a separate synchronized tape deck which doesn't waste any valuable film area on sound stripes. "Hail Columbia" is a Canadian-made documentary about 45 minutes long with covers the first launch of Columbia, starting with the rollout at Rockwell and the ferry flight to KSC. More time than I liked was spent splicing in film clips, e.g, "Young and Crippen's thoughts on the mission". However, the part you were waiting for was well worth the price of admission. From a remotely controlled IMAX camera 1000 feet from pad 39A, the pre-launch static firing test and actual launch was filmed. During the static firing test, the "twang" in which the whole stack bends under the thrust of the main engines is very visible. After shutdown, the combined stack slowly swayed back and forth, settling in its original position, while a blizzard of snow fell off the external tank. Very impressive! The launch sequence is re-shown several times from several different angles simultaneously, in a split-screen fashion obviously intended to overwhelm the viewer (and save time). I would much rather have seen each sequence individually on the whole screen. The landing is also covered, although the IMAX camera couldn't get any closer to the strip than the rest of the public. You get to hear the double sonic booms (why are there two, anyway?) that the TV commentators usually talk over "Well, we should have the booms. Yup, I just heard 'em..." Despite its flaws, this movie is a must-see for any space junkie (such as myself). One begins to get a feeling of the size and power of the shuttle which doesn't even begin to come out through a TV screen. I believe it has also been shown in a museum in New York City, although I don't know if it is still there. Phil Karn
smb (01/04/83)
"Hail Columbia" was being shown at the Museum of Natural History in New York; unfortunately, the run ended about 6-8 weeks ago. I managed to see it just before it closed; I highly recommend it to all shuttle buffs. --Steve Bellovin
kiessig (01/04/83)
"Hail Columbia" is also showing at the Great America Theme Park, right nearby in Sunny Santa Clara, California. Rick Kiessig
greg (01/04/83)
San Diego also has shown "Hail, Columbia" in the Reuben Fleet Space Center, which has an IMAX screen. I have debated whether it would be reasonable to arrange a special showing during Unicom. Since the show is not the current one, it would require a special rental of the Center. What about it? Are there enough space junkies out there to fill the theater? It would take about 150 to 200 people to keep the cost reasonable. If anything, Phil Karn's review understates how good it is -- that test firing alone is worth the admission price....
coletti (01/05/83)
#R:eagle:-70300:uiucdcs:12700029:000:211
uiucdcs!coletti Jan 5 11:20:00 1983
The double sonic boom occures because of the shuttle's tail.
It's so tall that it extends beyound the shock-wave (sonic boom)
that was generated by the nose, creating its own shock-wave.
- Neil Coletti