Two Years of Chasing Atlantis

Hey Chasers!

July 8th marks the second anniversary of Atlantis’ final liftoff from Earth.  Just a few days ago, Atlantis’ new home was opened to the public as she rests at a precise 43.21 degree angle, proudly displaying both her scored heat shielding and open cargo bay in celebration the Shuttle’s legacy. Oh yeah, and that’s the Canadarm extending from the bay if you hadn’t noticed it. (Below)

Shuttle Atlantis in New Shuttle Exhibit cr. Ryan Horan

Shuttle Atlantis in New Shuttle Exhibit cr. Ryan Horan

Two years ago, we were tightly huddled within a forest of tripod legs anxiously waiting to see if Atlantis would fly. Literally one million people stood beneath rain clouds in hopes of a patch of clear skies that would be needed to avoid a scrubbed mission. We only had one shot to capture the launch on film. If the mission were scrubbed, we didn’t have the funding at the time to make a return journey. Despite the weather and the risk, the million gathered on the shores; some having traveled much farther than us to witness this (potentially) historic moment. As you might know by now, the clouds did part, and just in time. At T – 30 minutes, those gathered around radios heard “Atlantis…you are go for launch” crackle through the radio. The roar of the crowd in celebration was second only to the  exuberance of the launch itself.

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Grand Opening of New Atlantis Exhibit

Hey Chasers,

Today marks the Grand Opening of the new Atlantis Facility at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

In November of last year, Paul and I joined a media circus in watching Atlantis as it moved out of the Vehicle Assembly Building from the last time and began a full day journey to the New Atlantis complex at the Visitor Center. At that time, the Atlantis Facility was only partly completed. One entire side of the building was intentionally left open so that Atlantis could be rolled into the building. The structure was completed by literally building it around the Atlantis Space Shuttle.

Earlier in February, Dr. Ryan Kobrick, one of our interviewees, and Executive Director of Yuri’s Night, sent us the photo below of Atlantis as the world’s largest shrink wrapped space craft.

Atlantis In Shrink Wrap being prepared for New Facility cr. Ryan Kobrick

Atlantis In Shrink Wrap being prepared for New Facility cr. Ryan Kobrick Feb 2013

 

Two days ago, another of our Florida space friends, Ryan Horan, was able to get early access to the facility. The shot is from a very similar angle and demonstrates a great “Before and After”

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Constellation Awards Tomorrow!!

Hey Chasers,

The Constellation Awards are tomorrow!! (Saturday June 22nd)

TCON Banner

TCON Banner

 

Paul and I will be at the award ceremony tomorrow night. Not only will we be presenting one of the awards for the evening, but we will be giving a short presentation about Chasing Atlantis.

If you’re planning at being at the event, be sure to come find us and talk to us about the film. If you’re not planning at being there, YOU SHOULD BE. Last year we were at Constellation when it was hosted parallel with Polaris 26 and we had an amazing time. Constellation is a fantastic union and celebration of geek culture. It’s a great chance to meet some awesome geeks, creative minds, and see some brilliant costumes. It’s basically the Oscars…with pointed ears.

Tickets are still available at the door. The event is being held at The Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Toronto-Markham

Keep Chasing!

Matthew

We’re Headed to the Constellation Awards!

Hey Chasers,

The 2013 Constellation Awards are this Saturday, June 22nd, at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites Toronto-Markham…and we are going to be there…presenting!!!

TCON Banner

TCON Banner

The Constellation Award’s are Canada’s annual science fiction awards focused on rewarding excellence in science fiction film and television. This year marks the 7th anniversary of the awards to honour the actors, writers and artists who create all the cool sci-fi film and TV that is currently out there. The great part about it is that the awards are selected by the viewers.

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Planetary Resources Launches Campaign to Fund Revolutionary Telescope

Hey Chasers,

We wanted to share an incredible project that has been started by Planetary Resources.

A few months ago, you might recall that we had the amazing opportunity to interview Chris Lewicki and Chris Voorhees of Planetary Resources. 

planetary

Both Chris’ discussed the company’s mission to explore space and secure “resource-rich” asteroids that are within our solar system. The goal:  mine those  asteroids for those resources (kinda like in cool space video games…but in real life!!) Both Chris’ have a wealth of engineering experience and have worked directly with NASA. In our interview with Chris Voorhees, he talked about being the last human being to actually touch the Opportunity rover before it landed on the surface of Mars and the profound impact that had on him being a star gazer and knowing that something you helped construct is actually on the surface of another planet. Chris Lewicki actually has an asteroid named after him.  (We are hoping to unlock this achievement ourselves depending on the success of the film 😉 )

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Chris Hadfield’s ISS Journey in 90 Seconds

Hey Chasers,

ISS Commander and Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield has only been on earth a short while and we’re already missing his regular awesome communications from orbit. Seems that I am not the only person feeling sentimental about the end of Chris’ time on the station as I’ve discovered this video  which provides a 90 second highlight reel to commemorate his incredible journey. Definitely worth a watch and features Chris’ song written and performed with the Barenaked Ladies.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GFrYdBz7ToE]

 

Keep Chasing!

-Matthew

Chris Hadfield’s Sentimental Return to Earth WATCH LIVE

Hey Chasers,

Today marks the day of Chris Hadfield’s return to Earth after service as Commander of the International Space Station since March of 2013. Hadfield departed for the ISS in December 19th of 2012. Live footage, as of the time of this post, is available right now!! The link is below.

Being a station astronaut is remarkable in and of itself. But in addition to living in space for half a year, Hadfield has helped make space cool(er). Hadfield’s outreach to engage the public with all things space has been extraordinary. His updates from space, thoughtful tweets about the borderless world he floats above, and the fragility of the Earth  have helped to make Chris Hadfield perhaps as well known as Neil Armstrong. And whether rocking out with the Barenaked Ladies or speaking live with William Shatner, Chris has made space main stream.  To top it all off, he left us with  his “Space Oddity” Video recorded on the ISS as a final send off. The video even received a retweet from David Bowie himself.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo]

Chris was our first Chasing Atlantis interview. Personally, being able to sit down with him was the initial validation I needed to show that our film was on the right track. We came out of that interview in a daze. “We just interviewed Chris Hadfield…” I recall repeating to Paul “…and he invited us to watch his band.” which we did at a local Space Coast pub shortly thereafter. Chris described his experiences in space and the perspective that the experience creates to put humanity and our planet in context; a fragile blue marble in the heavens. I don’t think we could ask for a better ambassador of humanity in space.

Below is a highlight of several of our  interviews with an opening narration by and segments of our interview with Chris Hadfield. Below is a link to the live feed of Chris’ landing which, at the time of this post, has just begun!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bFr3Tiq4xs]

LIVE FEED TO HADFIELD LANDING VIA THE CANADIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION and NASA TV

-Keep Chasing!

-Matthew

Updated Cast Page

Hey Chasers!

Just updated our cast page to reflect some of our more recent interviews. If you haven’t seen the cast page yet or want to check out the updates, just hit the “Cast” tab above or click here.