Request Spacecraft from several low budget movies

[Graham2001]

Recently I've watched several 'low budget' movies out of curiosity, a few of them have even had interesting spacecraft that I thought might be well suited for Orbiter.

Ignition

Rogue elements in the US Military decided to assassinate the President by staging a fake terrorist attack on a rocket launch. The LV seems to be a 'hacked' Titan launched from somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.

A. Pseudo-Titan



B. Under the launchpad



C. John C. Calhoun AFB, Pacific Northwest



Fallout/Memorial Day

Two films that shared the same models, the first involved terrorists hijacking a space station, the second like 'Ignition' sees rogue elements of the US government playing at fake terrorism, this time blaming Russian cyberpunks who've taken over a laser battle-sat.

A. Hacked Apollo



B. Space-Station Gateway (Fallout)/Luna (Memorial Day)



While it is not shown doing so in either film, it is implied that the solar panels rotate with respect to the space station, presumably to maximize solar exposure (Check the arrows). Scale for this station can be figured out either by using the shuttle as reference (Though note how it is docked! (See also below.)) or by comparing the component I marked with an arrow with an actual ISS component.



A further film featuring a space-station 'Def-Con IV' was going to be added to this request, but will be held pending until I can get a good shot of the entire space station which looks a little like [ame=http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=1799]ARAAG[/ame].

 

[T.Neo]

Though note how it is docked!

Oh my. :uhh:

 

[Graham2001]

Oh my. :uhh:

You think that's bad, in the film they use Shuttle-Mir footage in the (Poverty-Row) 'Mission Control' sequences to show the docking which looks nothing like the model shots!

 

[Bendarr]

Perhaps the XRV Lifting body from "Marooned? (1969)" I'm sure that could be done in Orbiter.

http://www.cloudster.com/sets&vehicles/Marooned/MaroonedTop.htm

 

[Andy44]

The vehicle in Marooned would be a pretty realistic add-on, it's based on real lifting body (looks like an X-24 without a center vertical stabilizer), and it even has a propulsion module on it for orbital maneuvering, similar to the Transtage used in the DynaSoar program.

As for docking the shuttle in a stupid way, watch the James Bond movie Moonraker to see some silliness. In that film they docked the orbiters to the outside of a rotating station using the side hatch, so that when the station spun up the weight of orbiters would be hanging sideways by the hatchways! To make things worse, the gravity was in the axial direction instead of radial, a classic Hollywood goof that was repeated in Armageddon.

 

[Graham2001]

As for docking the shuttle in a stupid way, watch the James Bond movie Moonraker to see some silliness. In that film they docked the orbiters to the outside of a rotating station using the side hatch, so that when the station spun up the weight of orbiters would be hanging sideways by the hatchways! To make things worse, the gravity was in the axial direction instead of radial, a classic Hollywood goof that was repeated in Armageddon.

Not to defend Moonraker, but at least they dock hatch-to-hatch, not hatch-to-???.

 

[supersonic]

It's not going to be fun on reentry.....

 

[Graham2001]

It's not going to be fun on reentry.....

They've tested hatches in heat-shields before with no problems, just not on these birds.

And here is the next film.

Def-Con IV

Canadian post-nuclear war flick, plot-line involves the crew of an orbiting missile silo returning to Earth two months after hostilities end and getting caught up in the usual power struggles.

Apologies about the poor quality of the station shots, the thing is rotating every time it appears and if you do watch the film they got the orientation right, up is towards the station core, down is away from it.

Space Station Nemesis (View One)



Space Station Nemesis (View Two)



Space Station Nemesis (Crew Pod)

 

[Andy44]

Indeed. Remember that the shuttle's heat shield has several openings in it, such as landing gear doors, and of course the ET umbilical doors, which start the mission open and then close after ET sep. They always made me nervous, but they work. And MOL was supposed to use a version of Gemini with a docking port through the heat shield.

 

[Graham2001]

The Russians did the same thing with the return capsules for Salyut 3 & 5. But back onto topic, I'll probably add one more 'Def-Con IV' screen shot once I have one that gives a good idea of the spacecrafts scale.

Another one that might make a good add-on, although I lack a copy of the film is 1984's 'The Noah's Ark Principle' (Review), probably Roland Emmich's best film (It's the one he made to graduate from film school). From memory the station looks a bit like the ISS. If anyone has a copy feel free to post a picture.

 

[4throck]

Well, here's a trailer for The Noah's Ark Principle :

.
I didn't know about that movie but the station does look like ISS with more modules and no solar panels.

 

[Graham2001]

Again from memory, the station was nuclear powered.

I really wish I had a copy to hand... if only so I could confirm how the space shuttle docked to the station. I cannot remember if it was correct (to a docking hatch in the payload bay), Moonraker style (to the side hatch) or what.

 

[Graham2001]

Perhaps the XRV Lifting body from "Marooned? (1969)" I'm sure that could be done in Orbiter.

Or perhaps the RVX (AKA: X-33) from "Fallout"...

A. Liftoff! (The only surprise in the entire movie.)



B. Holding Station

 

[raftdood]

Spacecraft from Walt Disney's "The Black Hole"

Image from the interior or the spacecraft...

The only exterior shot I could find...

 

[Graham2001]

Well I think Sputnik has already made the Cygnus.

See: [ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=973"]http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=973[/ame]

 

[Blacklight]

Though note how it is docked!
Oh my. :uhh:

I don't know what the problem is with that ! I dock like that all the time with the Shuttle. Although I will have to admit that the crunching sound as the station's docking module smashes through the lower deck's floor does unnerve the crew some.

 

[n122vu]

The Black Hole...surprised the NAACP isn't all over this thread.

Hey, I know it's not a low-budget movie, but it's a tv show about watching low-budget movies...I submit to you The Satellite of Love from TV's Mystery Science Theater 3000...

 

[Andy44]

Well, if we're including TV shows, let's not forget the 1970s Buck Rogers: http://www.universalhartland.com/code/buck000m.shtml

 

[Graham2001]

Well, if we're including TV shows, let's not forget the 1970s Buck Rogers: http://www.universalhartland.com/code/buck000m.shtml

I see no problem with this suggestion. I enjoyed that show...when I was much younger.

 

[Graham2001]

Spacecamp

Not a low budget movie, but one I thought worthy of inclusion anyway, actually I'm surprized this one has not turned up in Orbiter before.

I'm not even going to bother to summarize the plot for this film, just follow the link below for a review:

http://moria.co.nz/sciencefiction/spacecamp.htm

Anyway the film has a nice (Albeit incomplete) space station:

Space Station Daedalus









---------- Post added at 04:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:20 AM ----------

The Russians did the same thing with the return capsules for Salyut 3 & 5. But back onto topic, I'll probably add one more 'Def-Con IV' screen shot once I have one that gives a good idea of the spacecrafts scale.

I've managed to locate the best 'on ground' exterior shots of the 'Control Pod' that can be used for scaling. I've also made a couple of captures of the crews mission patch. If anyone is interested I'll try my hand at interior shots.

Space Station Nemesis





Nemesis Mission Patch