Space Odyssey: Voyage To The Planets
Encyclopedia
Space Odyssey: Voyage To The Planets (released as Voyage To The Planets And Beyond in the United States
) is a mockumentary
about a manned voyage through the solar system
. Space Odyssey premiered in 2004 and was made by the BBC
. It was written and directed by Joe Ahearne
and produced by Christopher Riley
, who was presented with the 2005 Sir Arthur Clarke Award
for Best TV & Radio Presentation.
The story is set at an unspecified time in the future, though in the accompanying book, the mission's chief science officer recalls reading Arthur C. Clarke
's 2010
(published 1982) some 40 years earlier.
powered Pegasus spacecraft on a tour of the solar system. Their mission is a collaboration of the NASA
, CSA, ESA and РКА space agencies and takes the crew to Venus
, Mars
, a close flyby of the Sun
, Jupiter
’s moon Io
and Europa
, Saturn
, Pluto
, and the fictional Comet
Yano-Moore. Most of the planetary destinations the crew reaches are followed by a manned landing there. Prior to the mission large tanks of hydrogen
were deposited in stable orbits around the planets to allow the crew to refuel to have sufficient delta-v
for the multi-year mission.
The crew encounter many hardships and disappointments along the way. A Venus EVA
that almost ends in disaster when the lander Orpheus encounters launch delays, the near-loss of the shield during the aerobrake
in Jupiter's upper atmosphere (according to the first part of the miniseries) and the loss of samples from Jupiter's moon Io all test the crew's resolve. The most devastating blow comes when the ship's medical officer dies of solar radiation-induced lymphoma
in Saturn orbit, forcing the crew to decide whether to continue the mission to Pluto, or abort and return to Earth. In the original British release, the crew decides to press on to Pluto, making history. The American version, broadcast on The Science Channel
, was trimmed for length, the crew deciding to turn back at this stage rather than continue. The programme is narrated by David Suchet
.
Also, several members of Mission Control, most notably:
, the creator of the Walking with Dinosaurs
series. This title was eventually dropped as Space Odyssey had little in common with the Walking with . . . series.
To prepare them for the roles, the actors undertook basic cosmonaut training at Star City
with the Russian space program. Many scenes were shot in simulated zero-gravity aboard a Russian Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft. Backgrounds of the spacecraft interior were later digitally composited
in.
The series DVD describes the selection of locations in the Atacama Desert
, Chile
to represent both Venus and Mars. Weather conditions troubled production, needing to be overcast for Venus, but cloudless for Mars.
The fate of the Titan probe was deliberately ambiguous to prevent any conflicts with the findings of the then imminent landing of the Huygens probe
.
The film's score was written by American composer Don Davis
, who wrote the music for the Matrix trilogy.
published a book written by Christopher Riley
with the same title as the UK version of Space Odyssey. It was based on the fictional diary entries of the ground staff and crew on Pegasus, with supplementary factual information on the planets they visited and the real robotic missions which have explored them through history. It is illustrated with specially commissioned digital still images and screenshots taken from the drama.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) is a mockumentary
Mockumentary
A mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...
about a manned voyage through the solar system
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
. Space Odyssey premiered in 2004 and was made by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. It was written and directed by Joe Ahearne
Joe Ahearne
Joe Ahearne is a British television writer and director, best known for his work on several fantasy-based programmes including Ultraviolet and Doctor Who...
and produced by Christopher Riley
Christopher Riley
Christopher Riley is a British writer, broadcaster and film maker specialising in the history of science. He has a PhD from Imperial College, University of London where he pioneered the use of digital elevation models in the study of mountain range geomorphology and evolution...
, who was presented with the 2005 Sir Arthur Clarke Award
Sir Arthur Clarke Award
The Sir Arthur Clarke Award is a British award given in recognition of notable contributions to space exploration, particularly British achievements. It is owned by the Space Education Trust and is independent of and separate from . Founded in 2005, the awards are an annual event. They take place...
for Best TV & Radio Presentation.
The story is set at an unspecified time in the future, though in the accompanying book, the mission's chief science officer recalls reading Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
's 2010
2010: Odyssey Two
2010: Odyssey Two is a 1982 best-selling science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke. It is the sequel to the 1968 novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, but continues the story of Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation with the same title and not Clarke's original novel. The book is a part of Clarke's...
(published 1982) some 40 years earlier.
Story
Five astronauts pilot the nuclear thermal rocketNuclear thermal rocket
In a nuclear thermal rocket a working fluid, usually liquid hydrogen, is heated to a high temperature in a nuclear reactor, and then expands through a rocket nozzle to create thrust. In this kind of thermal rocket, the nuclear reactor's energy replaces the chemical energy of the propellant's...
powered Pegasus spacecraft on a tour of the solar system. Their mission is a collaboration of the NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
, CSA, ESA and РКА space agencies and takes the crew to Venus
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
, Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
, a close flyby of the Sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
, Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
’s moon Io
Io (moon)
Io ) is the innermost of the four Galilean moons of the planet Jupiter and, with a diameter of , the fourth-largest moon in the Solar System. It was named after the mythological character of Io, a priestess of Hera who became one of the lovers of Zeus....
and Europa
Europa (moon)
Europa Slightly smaller than Earth's Moon, Europa is primarily made of silicate rock and probably has an iron core. It has a tenuous atmosphere composed primarily of oxygen. Its surface is composed of ice and is one of the smoothest in the Solar System. This surface is striated by cracks and...
, Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
, Pluto
Pluto
Pluto, formal designation 134340 Pluto, is the second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the tenth-most-massive body observed directly orbiting the Sun...
, and the fictional Comet
Comet
A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
Yano-Moore. Most of the planetary destinations the crew reaches are followed by a manned landing there. Prior to the mission large tanks of hydrogen
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
were deposited in stable orbits around the planets to allow the crew to refuel to have sufficient delta-v
Delta-v
In astrodynamics a Δv or delta-v is a scalar which takes units of speed. It is a measure of the amount of "effort" that is needed to change from one trajectory to another by making an orbital maneuver....
for the multi-year mission.
The crew encounter many hardships and disappointments along the way. A Venus EVA
Extra-vehicular activity
Extra-vehicular activity is work done by an astronaut away from the Earth, and outside of a spacecraft. The term most commonly applies to an EVA made outside a craft orbiting Earth , but also applies to an EVA made on the surface of the Moon...
that almost ends in disaster when the lander Orpheus encounters launch delays, the near-loss of the shield during the aerobrake
Aerobraking
Aerobraking is a spaceflight maneuver that reduces the high point of an elliptical orbit by flying the vehicle through the atmosphere at the low point of the orbit . The resulting drag slows the spacecraft...
in Jupiter's upper atmosphere (according to the first part of the miniseries) and the loss of samples from Jupiter's moon Io all test the crew's resolve. The most devastating blow comes when the ship's medical officer dies of solar radiation-induced lymphoma
Lymphoma
Lymphoma is a cancer in the lymphatic cells of the immune system. Typically, lymphomas present as a solid tumor of lymphoid cells. Treatment might involve chemotherapy and in some cases radiotherapy and/or bone marrow transplantation, and can be curable depending on the histology, type, and stage...
in Saturn orbit, forcing the crew to decide whether to continue the mission to Pluto, or abort and return to Earth. In the original British release, the crew decides to press on to Pluto, making history. The American version, broadcast on The Science Channel
The Science Channel
Science is a United States cable, satellite and IPTV Television Network produced by Discovery Communications. Science features programming in the fields of space, technology, prehistory and animals.-History:...
, was trimmed for length, the crew deciding to turn back at this stage rather than continue. The programme is narrated by David Suchet
David Suchet
David Suchet, CBE, is an English actor, known for his work on British television. He is recognised for his RTS- and BPG award-winning performance as Augustus Melmotte in the 2001 British TV mini-drama The Way We Live Now, alongside Matthew Macfadyen and Paloma Baeza, and a 1991 British Academy...
.
Characters
- Tom Kirby (played by Martin McDougallMartin McDougallMartin McDougall is an actor best known to US audiences for his role as the Tleilaxu Face Dancer Scytale in the Sci Fi Channel's 2003 miniseries Frank Herbert's Children of Dune.-External links:...
) - mission commander. American citizen. - John Pearson (played by Mark DexterMark DexterMark Dexter is a British RADA trained actor.Dexter's early successes were on stage, in particular with two high-profile productions of Tennessee Williams plays, beginning with Sam Mendes' 1995 Olivier Award winning production of The Glass Menagerie at the Donmar Warehouse, in which he played The...
) - flight medic. British citizen. - Yvan Grigorev (played by Rad Lazar) - flight engineer. Russian citizen.
- Nina Sulman (played by Michelle JosephMichelle Joseph-Acting career:Joseph is most famous for playing Walford's first lesbian resident, Della Alexander, in the BBC soap opera EastEnders from 1994 - 1995.Other acting credits include:*As Time Goes By *The Bill *So What Now?...
) - exobiologist. British citizen. - Zoë Lessard (played by Joanne McQuinn) - geologist. Canadian citizen.
Also, several members of Mission Control, most notably:
- Alex Lloyd (played by Mark Tandy) - mission scientist. British citizen.
- Claire Granier (played by Hélène Mahieu) - flight surgeon. French citizen.
Production
The film had initially been titled Walking with Spacemen due to the involvement of Tim HainesTim Haines
Tim Haines is a screenwriter, producer and director who is best known for his work on the BBC popular science shows Walking with Dinosaurs, Walking with Beasts, and Walking with Monsters...
, the creator of the Walking with Dinosaurs
Walking with Dinosaurs
Walking with Dinosaurs is a six-part documentary television miniseries that was produced by BBC, narrated by Kenneth Branagh, and first aired in the United Kingdom, in 1999. The series was subsequently aired in North America on the Discovery Channel in 2000, with Branagh's voice replaced with that...
series. This title was eventually dropped as Space Odyssey had little in common with the Walking with . . . series.
To prepare them for the roles, the actors undertook basic cosmonaut training at Star City
Star City, Russia
Star City is a common name of an area in Moscow Oblast, Russia, which has since the 1960s been home to the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center...
with the Russian space program. Many scenes were shot in simulated zero-gravity aboard a Russian Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft. Backgrounds of the spacecraft interior were later digitally composited
Digital compositing
Digital compositing is the process of digitally assembling multiple images to make a final image, typically for print, motion pictures or screen display...
in.
The series DVD describes the selection of locations in the Atacama Desert
Atacama Desert
The Atacama Desert is a plateau in South America, covering a strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes mountains. It is, according to NASA, National Geographic and many other publications, the driest desert in the world...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
to represent both Venus and Mars. Weather conditions troubled production, needing to be overcast for Venus, but cloudless for Mars.
The fate of the Titan probe was deliberately ambiguous to prevent any conflicts with the findings of the then imminent landing of the Huygens probe
Huygens probe
The Huygens probe was an atmospheric entry probe carried to Saturn's moon Titan as part of the Cassini–Huygens mission. The probe was supplied by the European Space Agency and named after the Dutch 17th century astronomer Christiaan Huygens....
.
The film's score was written by American composer Don Davis
Don Davis (composer)
Donald Romain Davis is an American film score composer, conductor, and orchestrator. Best known for his work on The Matrix, he has worked on a variety of films, from horror to comedy.- Early life :...
, who wrote the music for the Matrix trilogy.
Tie-in book
BBC BooksBBC Books
BBC Books is an imprint majority owned and managed by Random House. The minority shareholder is BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation...
published a book written by Christopher Riley
Christopher Riley
Christopher Riley is a British writer, broadcaster and film maker specialising in the history of science. He has a PhD from Imperial College, University of London where he pioneered the use of digital elevation models in the study of mountain range geomorphology and evolution...
with the same title as the UK version of Space Odyssey. It was based on the fictional diary entries of the ground staff and crew on Pegasus, with supplementary factual information on the planets they visited and the real robotic missions which have explored them through history. It is illustrated with specially commissioned digital still images and screenshots taken from the drama.
See also
- Defying GravityDefying Gravity (TV series)Defying Gravity is a multi-nationally produced space travel television science fiction drama series, first aired on August 2, 2009 on ABC and CTV and canceled in the autumn of 2009...
, a show based on a similar premise