On set of: The Space Between Us

Background:

There is a division, believe it or not, of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) called the Science and Entertainment Exchange. This is a small office near Hollywood that, if a movie producer so desires, will put the producer/writer/director in touch with real, world-class experts. As you might imagine this connection is most common in sci-fi movies. You may recall the first Thor movie where the female lead was envisioned to be a nurse in the original script, and the connection between Asgard (Thor’s home) and Earth was via some kind of magic. In the final script, the female lead became an astrophysicist and the way to go from Asgard to Earth was via an Einstein-Rosen Bridge (a real physics concept). All of those changes came as a result of the Exchange consultant suggestions.

My Story:

In late 2012, I was contacted by the Exchange to see if I might be able to do some consulting on a movie about the first child born on Mars. They said that since I was the Mars Czar it seemed logical to ask me to help. After some back and forth on logistics, I went to Brentwood in January of 2013 and met with Producers Jerry Zucker (Airplane!, Ghost etc) and Richard Lewis (Backdraft) plus writer Allan Loeb. Since the story partly involved human health in space travel, I arranged for a flight surgeon/space doctor friend of mine, Jim Vanderploeg, MD, to come along as well.

Jim and I spent hours answering questions about Mars, speculating about the health of a child born on Mars, challenges of living on Mars, and then finally an issue that stuck in my mind: Loeb asked about communicating between Earth and Mars. (A key plot point was the relationship between Gardner on mars and his girlfriend on Earth.) The writing team had been doing some research he said and there was this time delay thing…10 minutes or so for a call to go from Earth to Mars. “Couldn’t they just get on the internet?” Loeb said…

After that mind-boggling comment, I spent a bit of time explaining physics and the speed of light to the group. I did also, however, offer them a way out similar to the Einstein-Rosen Bridge in Thor. By invoking a Quantum Mechanical phenomena called Entanglement, I explained there was a scientific principle that might offer a way for signals to go faster than the speed of light (or in a higher dimension make it look that way.) On the spot I created the brand “QuantumCom”. The creative team liked that and eventually adopted the idea. You can see the term in this frame from the movie.

As often happens in the movie business, the producer role shifted from Zucker to Richard Lewis. And as happens in movies (and developing space missions), a long time can go by between an initial meeting and any follow up. From the discussions in late 2012/early 2013 it was around June of 2014 before I heard from Richard again. By that time, the movie was named Out of This World and first drafts of a script were emerging. Richard and I discussed me becoming a formal adviser if the movie got the “green light” from a studio. In the interim, Richard gave me a copy of the script and asked me to look it over. I filled the binder with many yellow stickies where I thought the concept or dialog didn’t match reality.

By the end of 2014 and into 2015, the project came closer and closer to reality and I eventually negotiated a contract as “Space Exploration Consultant”. Studios shifted after Relativity Media went to the brink of bankruptcy. A new player, STX, came on board and demanded a leading star for the role that was equal parts Sir Richard Branson and Elon Musk. Gary Oldman was hired.

Gary Oldman and I on set, filming The Space Between Us.

The studio boss (producer of Bad Moms) began to insist that the love story element (Asa Butterfield as the boy) be emphasized, and the space entrepreneur role be much reduced. This was a mistake I think but such are the ways of the movie business.

Asa Butterfield and I at the premiere of The Space Between Us.

Filming began about August 2015 on the set of Spaceport America a facility built by the state of New Mexico to support the planned “space tourist” flights of Virgin Galactic. The nearest town is Truth or Consequences, New Mexico where Pat and I stayed at a funky old hot springs resort that was being rehabbed as a destination spot.

Spaceport America, located in the New Mexico desert.

We were able to go to the set and watch the tedious process that is movie making. Many, many shots of the same scene from different angles. The official title was The Space Between Us.

By now I knew the Director (Chelsom) and Richard Lewis quite well. They seemed genuinely appreciative that I was spending so much time trying to help make the film realistic. One of the elements I contributed was the eventual use of the Sierra Nevada “Dream Chaser” a winged space vehicle which has now been selected for eventual cargo resupply flights to the Space Station as SpaceX is doing already.

In addition to consulting compensation, they even invented a character, “Scott Hubbard”, who was a reporter for “Space Times” and appears briefly at the beginning of the movie.

I continued to help Richard through the filming, then into editing and even marketing – arranging for special screenings for NASA staff.

I can say that it was quite a unique experience – with some echoes of developing and launching a real space mission.

Pat and I at a special viewing of The Space Between Us.