a beautiful planet Earth Is 'A Beautiful Planet' from an Astronaut's-Eye-View

[Reefa]

 

Most people  will never have the experience of flying high over Earth in a spacecraft and seeing the planet's atmosphere, oceans and landmasses unspooling far below.

 

But now, Earthbound humans can look down on their planet in a way that emulates an astronaut's perspective more closely than anything ever seen before, thanks to "A Beautiful Planet," a new film created in IMAX 3D.  

 

The film uses footage shot by NASA astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS). "A Beautiful Planet" is the first movie to use digital technology in space to capture glimpses of Earth and scenes of daily life inside the ISS at IMAX resolution, for projecting on a large-scale theater screen in 3D.

 

 

Even the astronauts who shot the movie agreed that seeing the IMAX footage was the next best thing to living in space and peering out of the ISS windows. Kjell Lindgren, one of the film's astronaut cinematographers, told Live Science during a roundtable discussion that IMAX's immersive environment is very similar to what he saw firsthand.

 

"Having that scene occupy your entire field of view is the closest you can come to actually experiencing it," Lindgren said.

 

"Mini film school"

 

To prepare for shooting, the astronauts worked closely with Toni Myers, the film's director and editor, and cinematographer James Neihouse in "a mini film school," Lindgren said. The production team familiarized the astronauts with the technical requirements for shooting IMAX and showed them how to use visual elements like composition, camera angles and movement to share their unique view of Earth and their daily routines.

 

The scale of IMAX projection meant the camera-toting astronauts had to be exceptionally careful with their exposure, focus and steadiness, Neihouse told Live Science.

 

"Small mistakes become huge mistakes on a big screen," he said.

 

Myers provided a list of locations on Earth and of ISS scenes — such as sleeping, performing experiments and celebrating Christmas — that she wanted the astronauts to capture. But the scenes weren't scripted, and the astronauts were encouraged to be on the lookout for interesting moments that might arise unexpectedly.

 

This is easier said than done, though, said astronaut Terry Virts, who captured stills and footage for the film and who has taken more than 500,000 photos in space (more than any other astronaut). Virts explained that the speed at which the ISS travels — 5 miles (8 meters) per second — made capturing some of their Earth scenes especially challenging, leaving the astronauts mere moments to grab shots as the ISS hurtled past.

 

"If you see it and think about it, it's too late," Virts said.

 

The film is Myers' fourth IMAX movie shot in space, following "Hubble 3D" (2010), "Space Station 3D" (2002) and "Blue Planet" (1990). Improvements in camera capabilities meant that her shot list for the astronauts could include nighttime scenes that would not have been possible to capture using earlier technology: spectacular auroras, flashes from lightning storms and signs of human activity — the sprawl of city lights and fishing boats.

 

Spoiler

A scene from the IMAX film "A Beautiful Planet." In this image, the great lakes of North America lie trapped in ice and snow.

 

A sobering sight

 

But when viewed from the ISS, some signs of human activity revealed a devastating impact on the planet. 

 

Across the length of Madagascar a brown expanse stretched where forests once grew. Plumes of smoke emerged from South American rainforests as swatches of trees burned. Parched landscapes in the American Southwest showed scars left by drought and climbing temperatures.

 

Climatologist and Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) Gavin Schmidt is well-acquainted with the evidence of recent and rapid climate change on Earth, but he was still taken aback when he saw the film, he told Live Science.

 

"I knew it was bad. I didn't know it was that bad," Schmidt said. "That kind of imagery, that's powerful. You see the fingerprint of deforestation, of ice-sheet collapse, pollution from runoff, the bare hillsides of Madagascar."

 

However, alongside these troubling images, there was still room for optimism, he said.  

 

"The beauty of the system as a whole tells people maybe we can change that, maybe we can have a different fingerprint," Schmidt said.

 

And perhaps in watching the ways that astronauts interact with the ISS, viewers might learn some lessons about how to treat the Earth, Lindgren suggested.

 

"We live on the ISS. We spend an inordinate amount of time up there taking care of it, because we recognize that it protects us from the cold, harsh void of space. Look at the Earth from that perspective — it provides us with food, water, protection from radiation. And we don't spend nearly as much time taking care of it as we do on the space station," Lindgren said.

 

Myers said using the film to help people recognize the similarities between life on the ISS and living on "spaceship Earth" was a goal from the beginning.

 

"If kids can understand what it takes to keep a crew alive in a closed system like that, and understand that the Earth is exactly the same thing for billions of people — that's the analogy I wanted to pursue," she said.

 

Spoiler

Nighttime view of Spain and the Mediterranean Sea as seen in the new IMAX film, "A Beautiful Planet."

 

Awe and wonder

 

Lindgren told Live Science that seeing the vastness of Earth from space is life-changing. And in fact, many astronauts have described this profoundly transformative effect. In a recent study, a team of psychologists investigated the emotions described by numerous space travelers, to better understand the mechanisms that inspire these "blissful moments" and how similar emotions manifest in people who have never been to space.

 

Could an immersive IMAX view of Earth allow more people to share that life-changing perspective? The filmmakers said they believe it can.

 

"When you look down on Earth, you see it's unique — and fragile," Lindgren said.

 

"I would hope that we inspire our audience of all ages, but particularly young people, about what a beautiful place our planet is," Myers added, "especially when you see it from this unique perspective. And I would like to inspire them to take good care of it and look for solutions to some of the problems we have."

 

Would-be astronauts can embark on their own "voyage" into near-Earth orbit when "A Beautiful Planet" opens in IMAX theaters on April 29.

 

source

[Jordan]

Indeed! our planet is the most beautiful one amongst all the known ones!

But beauty is sometimes very relative. there are other planets whitch looks very beatiful from space even if no life is possible there!

[2Old2Remember]

1 hour ago, jordan4x said:

Indeed! our planet is the most beautiful one amongst all the known ones!

But beauty is sometimes very relative. there are other planets whitch looks very beatiful from space even if no life is possible there!

Not saying you are wrong bro, just saying what I believe according to the unproven things we have been brought up to believe.

We don't live on a planet. There is no space. (so that means there are no satellites and no other planets. Resulting in all these space station videos and images are faked.) I am not saying the earth is flat, but it sure isn't a ball and spinning. Why have we not seen a full video from here to one of these space stations if it was true? Why haven't an astronaut gone out with a camera and do a full 360? You never see that third wall. Just saying

[VileTouch]

48 minutes ago, 2Old2Remember said:

Not saying you are wrong bro, just saying what I believe according to the unproven things we have been brought up to believe.

We don't live on a planet. There is no space. (so that means there are no satellites and no other planets. Resulting in all these space station videos and images are faked.) I am not saying the earth is flat, but it sure isn't a ball and spinning. Why have we not seen a full video from here to one of these space stations if it was true? Why haven't an astronaut gone out with a camera and do a full 360? You never see that third wall. Just saying

wow... just...i'm speechless

 

btw, this is happening right now: (needs flash)

[OrbingStorm]

1 hour ago, 2Old2Remember said:

Not saying you are wrong bro, just saying what I believe according to the unproven things we have been brought up to believe.

We don't live on a planet. There is no space. (so that means there are no satellites and no other planets. Resulting in all these space station videos and images are faked.) I am not saying the earth is flat, but it sure isn't a ball and spinning. Why have we not seen a full video from here to one of these space stations if it was true? Why haven't an astronaut gone out with a camera and do a full 360? You never see that third wall. Just saying

So what is it that all the astronomers looking through telescopes are seeing?You do believe in the sun don't you?

[Jordan]

1 hour ago, 2Old2Remember said:

Not saying you are wrong bro, just saying what I believe according to the unproven things we have been brought up to believe.

We don't live on a planet. There is no space. (so that means there are no satellites and no other planets. Resulting in all these space station videos and images are faked.) I am not saying the earth is flat, but it sure isn't a ball and spinning. Why have we not seen a full video from here to one of these space stations if it was true? Why haven't an astronaut gone out with a camera and do a full 360? You never see that third wall. Just saying

 

You're probably talking about the american flag effect on the moon and other stories!

Well, i'm not saying you're wrong too, but everyone has the right to believe what he wants!

 

[2Old2Remember]

Real video from ground up. The horizon is still at eye level. There are many others.

[2Old2Remember]

2 hours ago, OrbingStorm said:

So what is it that all the astronomers looking through telescopes are seeing?You do believe in the sun don't you?

the sun and the moon and the stars are not so far away. The sun is not as big as they say. And the moon does not reflect the light of the sun cause then you'd feel the heat from the moon. I believe that the sun being the center of the solar system was developed by Sun worshipers, and the whole space and planets system by evolutionist. btw I am not saying this is it. I am just saying this is what I think based on what I can see for myself and not what I read in school books.

[truemate]

i luv my earth

[AP1972]

We live on planet earth and must be proud of it...