Experts from the Grechko Planetarium in Nizhny Novgorod have shared their insights on the realism of popular space-themed films, addressing common misconceptions and highlighting scientific inaccuracies. Staff members Tatyana Kalyakina and Nikita Kapitanov, who have a lifelong passion for space, analyzed scenes from movies like “The Martian,” “Alien,” “Interstellar,” “Star Wars,” “Armageddon,” and “Gravity,” offering their expert opinions.
Addressing the possibility of growing crops on Mars, as depicted in “The Martian,” Kalyakina and Kapitanov stated that while sending humans to Mars is a achievable goal within the coming decades, the challenge lies in protecting astronauts from the Sun’s radiation, which requires advanced spacesuits not yet developed. They confirmed that growing crops on Mars is realistic, as plants need light, water, and carbon dioxide, all of which can be provided on the planet, with excrement acting as a potential fertilizer.
Regarding the feasibility of building a massive spacecraft like the “Nostromo” from “Alien,” the planetarium staff explained that while technically possible, assembling such a large object (20 million tons) in orbit would require numerous launches and be an incredibly expensive and time-consuming project. The current most powerful rockets can only lift 400-500 tons per launch.
When discussing “Interstellar,” the planetarium staff addressed the concept of time dilation, explaining that time can indeed slow down due to gravity or speed, but the effects are relative to the observer. They also clarified the “spaghettification” effect near a black hole, where an object would be stretched and torn apart due to the extreme gravitational forces.
The staff debunked the common misconception from “Star Wars” that sound can travel in space, emphasizing that space is a vacuum and lacks the medium for sound waves to propagate. They also noted that while explosions in space can be bright, they would not have the scattering of sparks and flames seen in the films.
As for “Armageddon,” the experts confirmed that landing on and walking on a moving asteroid is possible, and the technology to collect samples from asteroids has already been developed.
Finally, regarding “Gravity,” the planetarium staff explained that fire behaves differently in zero gravity due to the lack of convection, resulting in smoke rather than a sustained flame. They also pointed out that tears would not flow in space due to the absence of gravity, which breaks the surface tension of the liquid.