Returning Home: The West Coast Leg of the North America Tour

Hey Chasers!

We survived! We successfully made it back to Canada, but not first before making three stops along the West Coast.

We left Florida following our interviews with Ryan Kobrick and John Horan in Florida. During that post we talked about struggles with getting into the new Atlantis Facility. That unfortunately didn’t pan out. We did get amazing footage right under the wing of Atlantis during her roll out but we thought it would be cool to see Atlantis all shrink wrapped and getting prepped for public display this Summer. Alas, NASA was touchy to have Atlantis filmed in such a state and we had no choice but to respect their wishes on that one. Nonetheless, some incredible adventures still awaited us on our next stop: San Francisco

Image

Sun Rise over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco

Read More

Next Stop: The Canadian Space Agency and NASA

Hey Chasers,

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Following our last post, which found us in Toronto, we headed over to Montreal to film at our own Canadian Space Agency. The CSA has been in the news a great deal lately with Chris Hadfield’s launch to the International Space Station in December. Paul was able to capture the launch celebration at the CSA with Jenny Chan, one of our associate producers. At the event, Paul met several key CSA personalities, and we thought it fitting to make a return journey to do some interviews at the CSA, and learn more about the role that Canada plays in the exploration of space.

CSA

A shot of the Canadian Space Agency. The building is amazing. I wanna have an office there.

Read More

Toronto and Clara Mooney: Our First North America Tour Stop

Hey Chasers,

Today was the first day of our epic North America tour.  We were able to sit down with Toronto Grade 1 student, Clara Mooney and her family. Clara is one of the brightest young people I have ever met. She spent the morning with us talking about her love of space, her Chemistry science fair project, her favorite episodes of start trek, and all things geek.

I was really glad to be able to meet Clara. She reminded me of where I started my space adventure at a very young age also watching episodes of Star Trek and having planet models adorning my room. We have had several opportunities to speak to those who have worked for decades in the space program and have even since retired from NASA. Many of them spoke of a childhood inspiration which guided their careers toward the stars. If we could go back in time and interview these individuals as a child, myself included, I think they would all share a great deal in common with this extraordinary young girl.

Image

I’m stoked to show the very fun and very cool interview that Clara did with us. She will be joining the many other amazing crew we have had the privilege of meeting during our chase of Atlantis and will be among the film’s interviews. In the meantime, Clara’s “Chasing Atlantis” tagline!!

[youtube=http://youtu.be/7Em1V3JtnrI]

North America Tour!

Hey Chasers,

So we are headed back on the road in a few days. Each time that we think Chasing has wrapped production, another amazing opportunity opens up. This is actually shaping up to be our most epic filming journey yet. Here is what we have lined up:

Starting in Toronto, I’m giving a speech at the University of Toronto International Development Conference (www.utoronto-idc.org) The conference is being hosted by the current cohort of the program I graduated from at U of T. It’s great to come back to the program because, in a sense, it is like coming full circle. I sometimes felt that I had given up on one dream (space) to embrace another (international aid) but now here I am years later combining both topics into one presentation. While in town, Paul and I will be connecting with Clara Mooney, a grade 2 student who was brought to our attention because of her passion for space. I hear she dressed up as Spock this past Halloween. Clara’s enthusiasm for all things geek reminded us of ourselves at that age and we are excited to connect with her.

Canadarm2 Connected to the International Space Station

Canadarm2 Connected to the International Space Station

Read More

2013 YouTube Challenge: Happy New Year!

Hey Chasers!

To ring in the New Year we had an idea. Chasing Atlantis is a film about how people are inspired by space and space exploration. But it is also about the pursuit of one’s passion and the journey that can lead you on. In light of this, we want to hear more about what YOU are pursuing this year through our YouTube Challenge. It doesn’t have to be space related. We just want to know what you are passionate about. We are doing the project to inspire others to also pursue their own dreams/interests this year AND we will be using some of the videos in the film! Be sure to re-post the video on our Facebook page and send us an e-mail at youtubechallenge@chasingatlantis.com if you put one up!  We hope to see a whole bunch of them online! Happy 2013!!

 

[youtube=http://youtu.be/P9uTzIPRdTw]

 

-Matthew