Impact (TV miniseries)
Encyclopedia
Impact is a mini-series about a meteor shower which eventually sends the moon on a collision course with Earth. The two-part (Episodes were called Nights) mini-series premiered February 14 and 15, 2009 on the Canadian premium television channel Super Channel and was also shown on ABC
on June 21 and 28, 2009 and on Alpha TV
on September 2011 .
said to be the most spectacular in 10,000 years, an asteroid
hidden by the meteor field strikes the Moon
. Fragments of the asteroid and of the Moon itself penetrate Earth's atmosphere
and make impact. The initial damage is minimal, though significant physical damage to the lunar surface can be seen from Earth. Experts believe that the Moon has stabilized into a slightly closer orbit. Then strange anomalies begin to manifest themselves on Earth, including cell phone disruptions, unusual static discharges
and odd tidal behavior
. The world's leading scientists, including Alex Kittner, Maddie Rhodes, and Roland Emerson, begin piecing together evidence that suggests the moon's properties have been permanently altered because the asteroid that hit the Moon was actually a fragment of a brown dwarf
; the fragment is highly magnetized and more massive than the Earth despite being only 19 kilometers across, and it is still inside the moon. When the Moon's new, more elliptical orbit brings it closer to Earth, electromagnetic
surges begin affecting the surface, causing people, vehicles, and other objects to levitate at random, worldwide. Alex, Maddie, Roland and the rest of their team soon discover that the Moon's new orbit will cause it to collide with the Earth in 39 days, completely destroying the planet. After a failed attempt by the United States
to destroy the Moon with nuclear weapons, the three scientists plan an international mission to the Moon, where astronauts must construct a device to magnetize the Moon's core, causing it to disgorge the embedded brown dwarf fragment, eliminating the magnetic effects and restoring the Moon to a stable orbit. Because of their unique expertise, Alex and Roland must join an American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut on the mission, which is expected to be a one-way trip.
Roland's pregnant fiancée, Martine Altmann, was travelling across Germany on a train that levitated and derailed. She and an American, Bob Pierce, are able to lead the survivors to a military convoy, and Bob convinces the soldiers to allow Martine to ride to Roland's location. She and Roland are immediately married. Alex's children are left in the care of their late mother's father. When they attempt to drive cross-country to reunite with Alex, their car levitates and crashes. After a confrontation with a man hoarding resources at a convenience store, the children's grandfather suffers a fatal heart attack. The other man originally plans to leave alone, but has a change of heart and brings the children to Washington, DC. Alex is already in space, but he had asked Maddie, with whom he once had a romantic relationship, to make sure his children remained safe. He is able to tell his children "goodbye" over a video feed.
On the Moon, the electromagnetic machine is assembled. Roland and the astronaut, Courtney, travel in a rover to locate a fissure in the lunar surface. The rover crashes deep inside the fissure and Courtney falls to her death. Roland is unharmed but trapped inside the fissure and unable to rejoin the spacecraft. He demands that the cosmonaut, Sergei, launch the module so that he and Alex can be saved. The device is activated, causing a large explosion on the Moon, which kills Roland. The Moon splits in two as the brown dwarf fragment flies into the Sun. The orbit of the lunar debris is stable. Sergei and Alex make radio contact, revealing that they escaped the Moon before the explosion. Back on Earth, Alex is reunited with his children and with Maddie.
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
on June 21 and 28, 2009 and on Alpha TV
Alpha TV
Alpha TV is a Greek terrestrial channel . The station features a mix of Greek and foreign shows with an emphasis on entertainment programs. The studios are located near Athens...
on September 2011 .
Plot
During a meteor showerMeteor shower
A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speeds on parallel trajectories. Most meteors are smaller...
said to be the most spectacular in 10,000 years, an asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
hidden by the meteor field strikes the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
. Fragments of the asteroid and of the Moon itself penetrate Earth's atmosphere
Atmosphere
An atmosphere is a layer of gases that may surround a material body of sufficient mass, and that is held in place by the gravity of the body. An atmosphere may be retained for a longer duration, if the gravity is high and the atmosphere's temperature is low...
and make impact. The initial damage is minimal, though significant physical damage to the lunar surface can be seen from Earth. Experts believe that the Moon has stabilized into a slightly closer orbit. Then strange anomalies begin to manifest themselves on Earth, including cell phone disruptions, unusual static discharges
Electric charge
Electric charge is a physical property of matter that causes it to experience a force when near other electrically charged matter. Electric charge comes in two types, called positive and negative. Two positively charged substances, or objects, experience a mutual repulsive force, as do two...
and odd tidal behavior
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....
. The world's leading scientists, including Alex Kittner, Maddie Rhodes, and Roland Emerson, begin piecing together evidence that suggests the moon's properties have been permanently altered because the asteroid that hit the Moon was actually a fragment of a brown dwarf
Brown dwarf
Brown dwarfs are sub-stellar objects which are too low in mass to sustain hydrogen-1 fusion reactions in their cores, which is characteristic of stars on the main sequence. Brown dwarfs have fully convective surfaces and interiors, with no chemical differentiation by depth...
; the fragment is highly magnetized and more massive than the Earth despite being only 19 kilometers across, and it is still inside the moon. When the Moon's new, more elliptical orbit brings it closer to Earth, electromagnetic
Electromagnetism
Electromagnetism is one of the four fundamental interactions in nature. The other three are the strong interaction, the weak interaction and gravitation...
surges begin affecting the surface, causing people, vehicles, and other objects to levitate at random, worldwide. Alex, Maddie, Roland and the rest of their team soon discover that the Moon's new orbit will cause it to collide with the Earth in 39 days, completely destroying the planet. After a failed attempt by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to destroy the Moon with nuclear weapons, the three scientists plan an international mission to the Moon, where astronauts must construct a device to magnetize the Moon's core, causing it to disgorge the embedded brown dwarf fragment, eliminating the magnetic effects and restoring the Moon to a stable orbit. Because of their unique expertise, Alex and Roland must join an American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut on the mission, which is expected to be a one-way trip.
Roland's pregnant fiancée, Martine Altmann, was travelling across Germany on a train that levitated and derailed. She and an American, Bob Pierce, are able to lead the survivors to a military convoy, and Bob convinces the soldiers to allow Martine to ride to Roland's location. She and Roland are immediately married. Alex's children are left in the care of their late mother's father. When they attempt to drive cross-country to reunite with Alex, their car levitates and crashes. After a confrontation with a man hoarding resources at a convenience store, the children's grandfather suffers a fatal heart attack. The other man originally plans to leave alone, but has a change of heart and brings the children to Washington, DC. Alex is already in space, but he had asked Maddie, with whom he once had a romantic relationship, to make sure his children remained safe. He is able to tell his children "goodbye" over a video feed.
On the Moon, the electromagnetic machine is assembled. Roland and the astronaut, Courtney, travel in a rover to locate a fissure in the lunar surface. The rover crashes deep inside the fissure and Courtney falls to her death. Roland is unharmed but trapped inside the fissure and unable to rejoin the spacecraft. He demands that the cosmonaut, Sergei, launch the module so that he and Alex can be saved. The device is activated, causing a large explosion on the Moon, which kills Roland. The Moon splits in two as the brown dwarf fragment flies into the Sun. The orbit of the lunar debris is stable. Sergei and Alex make radio contact, revealing that they escaped the Moon before the explosion. Back on Earth, Alex is reunited with his children and with Maddie.
Scientific Reaction
The Impact mini-series received little comment from the scientific community due to its lack of realism, incorrect use of terminology, and basic misunderstanding of the law of gravity, as we currently understand it.Main cast
- David James ElliottDavid James ElliottDavid James Elliott is a Canadian-born actor who was the star of the series JAG, playing lead character Harmon Rabb Jr. from 1995 to 2005. In the Fall of 2010, Elliott was cast on CSI: NY.-Biography:...
as Alex Kittner - Natasha HenstridgeNatasha HenstridgeNatasha T. Henstridge is a Canadian fashion model turned actress. Her most notable on-screen roles include Species, The Whole Nine Yards, It Had To Be You, Ghosts of Mars, She Spies, the TV series Eli Stone, and the Canadian TV mini-series Would Be Kings, for which she won the Gemini Award for...
as Maddie Rhodes - Benjamin SadlerBenjamin SadlerBenjamin Sadler is a German actor who was born in Toronto, Canada, the son of a German graphic designer and a British teacher. He lived in Canada until he was five...
as Roland Emerson - Steven CulpSteven CulpSteven Bradford Culp is an American film and television actor, best known for his roles as Rex Van de Kamp in the television series Desperate Housewives and CIA Agent Clayton Webb in JAG.-Early life:...
as President Edward Taylor - James CromwellJames CromwellJames Oliver Cromwell is an American film and television actor. Some of his more notable roles are in Babe , for which he earned Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, Star Trek: First Contact , L.A...
as Alex's father-in-law - Florentine LahmeFlorentine LahmeFlorentine Lahme is a German actress.After she passed her Abitur, Lahme studied Japanology and English for four semesters. After that she decided to become an actress....
as Martina Altmann
Filming locations
- VictoriaVictoria, British ColumbiaVictoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, British ColumbiaBritish ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
— Central Park, University of VictoriaUniversity of VictoriaThe University of Victoria, often referred to as UVic, is the second oldest public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It is a research intensive university located in Saanich and Oak Bay, about northeast of downtown Victoria. The University's annual enrollment is about 20,000 students...
, Dominion Astrophysical ObservatoryDominion Astrophysical ObservatoryThe Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, located on Observatory Hill, in Saanich, British Columbia, was completed in 1918 by the Canadian government. Proposed and designed by John S...
(CNRCNational Research Council of CanadaThe National Research Council is an agency of the Government of Canada which conducts scientific research and development.- History :...
) - BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
External links
- Yazel, Leslie, "Early Warning About 'Impact': Urgency Never Hits", June 20, 2009, The Washington Post.