Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, had a few issues with the space-set thriller Gravity.
At first, it was just with the film's title.
The film #Gravity should be renamed "Zero Gravity"
Neil deGrasse Tyson
@neiltyson
The film #Gravity should be renamed "Zero Gravity"
The film #Gravity should be renamed "Angular Momentum"
Neil deGrasse Tyson
@neiltyson
The film #Gravity should be renamed "Angular Momentum"
And for a second, it look liked Tyson's issues stopped there.
The film #Gravity depicts a scenario of catastrophic satellite destruction that can actually happen.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
@neiltyson
The film #Gravity depicts a scenario of catastrophic satellite destruction that can actually happen.
But then Tyson started in on the film itself — and at first, he was on kind of shaky ground.
Mysteries of #Gravity: Why Bullock, a medical Doctor, is servicing the Hubble Space Telescope.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
@neiltyson
Mysteries of #Gravity: Why Bullock, a medical Doctor, is servicing the Hubble Space Telescope.
FWIW, Bullock's character does say in the film her work on Hubble originated with hospital imaging technology.
But then Tyson began to fact-check the movie as only a Harvard and Columbia educated astrophysicist can. And it was hilarious.
Mysteries of #Gravity: How Hubble (350mi up) ISS (230mi up) & a Chinese Space Station are all in sight lines of one another.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
@neiltyson
Mysteries of #Gravity: How Hubble (350mi up) ISS (230mi up) & a Chinese Space Station are all in sight lines of one another.
Mysteries of #Gravity: When Clooney releases Bullock's tether, he drifts away. In zero-G a single tug brings them together.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
@neiltyson
Mysteries of #Gravity: When Clooney releases Bullock's tether, he drifts away. In zero-G a single tug brings them together.
Mysteries of #Gravity: Why Bullock's hair, in otherwise convincing zero-G scenes, did not float freely on her head.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
@neiltyson
Mysteries of #Gravity: Why Bullock's hair, in otherwise convincing zero-G scenes, did not float freely on her head.
Mysteries of #Gravity: Astronaut Clooney informs medical doctor Bullock what happens medically during oxygen depravation.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
@neiltyson
Mysteries of #Gravity: Astronaut Clooney informs medical doctor Bullock what happens medically during oxygen depravation.
Mysteries of #Gravity: Nearly all satellites orbit Earth west to east yet all satellite debris portrayed orbited east to west
Neil deGrasse Tyson
@neiltyson
Mysteries of #Gravity: Nearly all satellites orbit Earth west to east yet all satellite debris portrayed orbited east to west
Mysteries of #Gravity: Satellite communications were disrupted at 230 mi up, but communications satellites orbit 100x higher.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
@neiltyson
Mysteries of #Gravity: Satellite communications were disrupted at 230 mi up, but communications satellites orbit 100x higher.
Tyson didn't keep his thoughts just to the world of science, either.
Mysteries of #Gravity: Why anyone is impressed with a zero-G film 45 years after being impressed with "2001:A Space Odyssey"
Neil deGrasse Tyson
@neiltyson
Mysteries of #Gravity: Why anyone is impressed with a zero-G film 45 years after being impressed with "2001:A Space Odyssey"
His final point, in fact, was more about sociology than astrophysics.
Mysteries of #Gravity: Why we enjoy a SciFi film set in make-believe space more than we enjoy actual people set in real space
Neil deGrasse Tyson
@neiltyson
Mysteries of #Gravity: Why we enjoy a SciFi film set in make-believe space more than we enjoy actual people set in real space
P.S.: This isn't the first time Tyson has taken issue with a movie's fidelity to the science of the stars, either.
View this video on YouTube
UPDATE: Despite his concerns about factual accuracy, Tyson did enjoy Gravity!
My Tweets hardly ever convey opinion. Mostly perspectives on the world. But if you must know, I enjoyed #Gravity very much.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
@neiltyson
My Tweets hardly ever convey opinion. Mostly perspectives on the world. But if you must know, I enjoyed #Gravity very much.