Conference 7.286::space

    IMAX cameras use 70mm film but move it through the camera horizontally
    rather than vertically which makes for huge frames which can then
    be projected on huge screens. There were some problems with the
    torque generated  by the camera when it started up in orbit, if
    I recall correctly. The film moves at a fairly high frames/sec rate
    too.
    
    I saw a couple of IMAX presentations at the National Air & Space
    Museum about 5 years ago and  they were very impressive. Unfortunately,
    the closest I have come to 'The Dream is Alive' so far is the calendar
    (and even that looks impressive).
    
    Is the NASM the closest IMAX to the Boston area?
    
    gary

    There is an IMAX theater at the American Museum of Natural History
    in New York City. I saw "The Dream is Alive" there last around last
    Thanksgiving. At least at that time, the program changed frequently,
    so you would have a good chance of seeing it.
    
    --Dan

The Museum of Science in Cambridge has a new wing under construction - it
includes an IMAX theater.  I don't remember the opening date, bu I believe it's
sometime in late fall/early winter.

    I just came back from the NASM - the movie is SPECTACULAR, and should
    not be missed...
    
    [Now I KNOW I want to see a launch in person...]
    
    - dave

If you want to be impressed - check out the theater at the Space Museum outside 
of the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.  They have a 
tremendous (I'm not sure what to call it officially) theater where the images 
are projected over the heads of the audience on a rounded dome (the roof of the 
theater).  The audience is more or less lying on their backs in *VERY* 
comfortable seats.  When I was there, they played a movie called "Hail, 
Columbia", which essentially took you through Columbia'a first flight, from 
liftoff to landing, from a 50-yard distant standpoint.

My rating: ***** stars!

Dan

    NASMs first IMAX film, "To Fly" is now available from the Smithsonian
    gift catalog on videotape, so I imagine that "The Dream is Alive"
    will follow at some point. Not that a TV is an IMAX substitute,
    but I get to the living room more often than the IMAX theatre.
    
    (I saw "The Dream is Alive at the Museum of Natural History in New
    York last December. Go see it somewhere!)
    
    See note 30 for more on Shuttle movies.
    
    						-Brian
    

Re: .5

I am pretty sure the film system the projects through a fisheye lens onto 
the inside of a dome is called Omnimax.  I saw this in Seattle a number of 
years ago - film shot flying over some Hawaiian island and it was amazing - 
the illusion of actually flying in the aircraft was incredible.  Also they 
had some film of Mt St Helens shot inside the crater some time after the 
explosive eruption.

jb

    re: The IMAX and OMNIMAX systems are both based on the same technique
    	of projecting via fish-eye lense to a screen which is concave...
    	The IMAX was developed in Canada (I don't know if the OMNIMAX
        is a synonym or is a competing technique). I was at EXPO'86
    	in Vancouver at the end of June and saw one of the IMAX shows
    	there...it is a most impressing experience, places your eye
    	right where the camera lense is, with peripheral vision even!
    
    	As far as getting a VCR tape of an IMAX presentation, I would
    	think that the results would be disappointing. Although the
   	presentation via IMAX will "blow your mind" even with mediocre
    	photography/subject matter, the same presentation on "the Toob"
    	would still come out mediocre.
    
    				DATman

    	The Space Theater, Balboa park in San Diego also has "The
    	Dream is Alive"

I just got back from a vacation in Denver (if there can be such a thing),
where I saw "The Dream is Alive".  I definitely recommend it to anybody
that can get to the appropriate IMAX theatre.  I would say that it is
worth the drive up from CX for those of you that work there.

The only disappointing thing about the show was that I expected an hour
and five minutes of IMAX shot in space.  Instead, we got a 5 minute
Ford IMAX commercial (still interesting), 25 minutes of slides, narrative,
and music, and 35 minutes of IMAX shot in space and on Earth.  Still,
it was worth waiting for that 35 minutes of film.  Especially impressive
is the footage of shuttles lifting off.  Bring your ear protectors, it's
very reallistic.

I called the Boston Museum of Science.  They are building an
Omnimax theatre.  Omnimax takes the same film as IMAX but uses a
different projector and lens system.  The film is projected on a
hemisphere that is tilted a little from the horizontal.  The
seats lean way back and become parallel to the base of the
hemisphere. The screen takes up almost the entire field of view.

The museum expects to have the theater operational in February
1987 and to have it open to the public in March.  They said that
they have not made a final decision on the initial film shown but
that it will probably be The Dream is Alive.  I plan to get a
family membership between now and then.  With two adults and two
children above 5 it at least used to be cheaper than paying to go
twice.  Also there usually are special times for members only.
Although I forgot to ask I expect there will be for the theater
opening. 

I saw the first shuttle launch from about 8 miles away.  I have
also seen The Dream is Alive at the Air and Space museum in
Washington in IMAX.  You get a much better view from the film
than from the real thing at 8 miles.  However the real thing is a
very impressive and emotional experience.  (The shuttle gets up
pretty high before you hear/feel it from 8 miles.)

Tony 

        There is a new IMAX film that has just come out, called "On the
        Wing". It is now at the NASM, and will soon open in other cities.

        Amongst its features is the Quetzalcoaltus Northropi (QN), the
        radio control model of a pterodactyl built by Paul McCready. It
        was built for this film, but recently crashed at a public display. 

    I was also lucky enough to see "The Dream is Alive" in the new
    science museum in Paris this summer. They have a special building
    where the film was shown, like a big silver ball. The system used
    was OMNIMAX, and you have the screen all around you when you are
    in there. I think it was a great experience, specially the lift
    of and one sceen where they put the camera in the escape basket
    and sendt it down from the top of the launch tower. It felt just
    like beeing there yourself. I saw it in mid june, and I think that
    it was the second last show.
    
    Svein
    

    I just got next year's schedule from the Boston Museum of Science.
    "The Dream is Alive" is scheduled for the opening of the Omnimax
    Theater in March 1987, subject to completion of the construction
    work on time.
    
    				Mike

    I'll be in Washington DC the week after Labor Day.  Does anyone
    know if the film is showing at the Air & Space Museum?
    

It was a couple of months ago.  Call them to make sure.  I'm sure
that Washington information will have the number.  :-)

		Tony

Last Friday I took my parents to Britain's National Museum of Photography,
which has one of the few IMAX theatres in Europe.  The intention was to let 
them see an IMAX film, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that "The 
Dream is Alive" was one of two films currently showing.  My parents were 
both very impressed by the film, although my mother did admit to closing 
her eyes at a few points - including the end of the slide-wire sequence.

At the start of the show, there was very thoughtfully a text frame
displayed, although I did not note the exact wording it was approximately: 


			28 January 1986
			---------------

   On its 10th flight (and 25th shuttle mission) the shuttle Challenger
   exploded shortly after launch, causing the death of all 7 crew
   members. 

   In recognition of the participation of Judith Resnik and Michael
   Smith in sequences of the film "The Dream is Alive", the National
   Museum of Photography and IMAX Systems Corporation dedicate this
   performance to the memory of the crew of Challenger. 


After this, and before the IMAX film there was a 10 minute multi-image
presentation called "Countdown to the Dream" which had been produced here
in England.  It gave a brief history of rockets and space exploration,
starting with war rockets used in the Napoleonic Wars, Goddard's
experiments, the German V2 and then Sputnik, Explorer, the American
Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs and the various Soviet manned programs.
There was also a section on unmanned planetary exploration.  It ended with
a quote from John Young, made after the first Shuttle flight "I think the
dream is alive again". 

I suppose that is where the title was taken from.


For anyone who is in or visiting Britain, the National Museum of 
Photography is located at Bradford, West Yorkshire.  I am not sure how much
longer it will be showing The Dream is Alive, it is certainly NOT showing 
it after the end of September.  The Museum generally has the European 
premieres of IMAX films, The Dream is Alive was first shown here in October
1985. 

Jeremy Barker - Reading, England

    I believe a friend of mine told me he had seen "The Dream is Alive"
    at the Air and Space Museum within the last couple of weeks.
    
    							-Brian
    

    Incredible!  It is currently playing at the Air and Space Museum
    at the Smithsonian.  I would have watched it about a dozen times
    if I didn't have my wife and kid along!
    
    Seriously, though, the film makes an incredible impact.  Several
    times I had to dry my eyes due to the beauty of the scenes and
    the poignancy (?) that several of the crew members featured in
    the film died on the Challenger.
    
    It is a MUST SEE movie.  Five stars, at least.  I only wish it
    had lasted longer.
    

    It opens at the Boston Museum of Science at the end of March.  I
    just got the notice in the member's newsletter.  (I get two passes
    since we have a family membership :-) )
    
    						Mike
    

    	On Saturday I went to the OMNI theater at the Museum of Science
    in Boston, MA.
    
    	All I can say is, if you want to have at least a fair idea of
    what it is like to be in space (and still stay on Earth), then go
    see the film, THE DREAM IS ALIVE!  I guarantee you will be impressed
    unlike any seeing any film in a movie theater before - it is so
    realistic, there are a few scenes where you swear you are going
    to crash into something or fall headlong out of your seat!
                                     
    	Larry
    

The Dream is Alive is playing at the Boston Museum of Science Mugar Omni
Theater from now until Sept 4.  I believe there is one showing per day at
5pm.

						Mike

Article: 2478
From: jbh55289@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Josh Hopkins)
Newsgroups: sci.space.policy
Subject: Preview of "Destiny in Space"
Date: 2 Jun 1994 21:41:23 GMT
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
 
While at the International Space Development Conference last weekend
we got a chance to see some of the unedited footage that will be going
into the next IMAX film, "Destiny in Space."  This film will be using
footage shot from the SPAS free flying payload on the shuttle ATCS
mission a while back.  It is spectacular. 
 
Because the camera was on a free flying satellite, this is the first
large format film of the shuttle in space from outside.  There are
some great shots from a distance, as well as some upclose shots that
show all kinds of detail. Probably the most popular was a sequence which 
shows a pattern of six lights flying in formation slowly turn in to the 
shuttle as the sun rises in the background and everything lights up. 
 
We only saw part of the footage, and as I said it was unedited, so I
don't know how much of it will be in the released version.  The film
will also include footage of the Hubble repair which we didn't get to
see, as well as some material on the exploration of the planets. 
 
The film opens at the Simthsonian on July 22.  A few more theaters
will open it during the summer and the main release will be over
Thanksgiving.   If you live anywhere near a science museum (or other
IMAX theater) make plans to go. 
 
-- 
Josh Hopkins                                          jbh55289@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
 
          He who laughs last probably didn't get the joke.

Article: 20411
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
From: gmarfoe@eng.auburn.edu (Gerald G. Marfoe)
Subject: "Destiny In Space" IMAX Film Openings
Sender: usenet@mail.auburn.edu (Usenet Administrator)
Organization: Auburn University Engineering
Date: Wed, 29 Jun 1994 04:44:06 GMT
 
Hi folks, I thought that this was something that most people in this
newsgroup would be interested in, even if it is of a commercial
nature. If you've seen the IMAX movies "The Dream Is Alive" and "The
Blue Planet", you'll probably be interested in the new IMAX movie,
"Destiny In Space". From what I've read, the film contains footage
from the STS-51 (Discovery/ACTS/SPAS) and the STS-61 (Endeavour/HST
Servicing) missions last year, as well as computer-generated flyovers
of the Venus and Mars landscapes. 
 
I am not connected in any way with the IMAX Corporation, the Lockheed
Corporation or any of the museums or institutions listed below. 
 
The following information is from an ad in the Friday, June 24, 1994
USA Today. It features a montage of images set against a space
background - Astronaut Tom Akers with part of the "workbench"
apparatus to which various tools were attached during the STS-61
mission, the fully repaired Hubble Space Telescope, and the usual
image of the Earth featuring the hemisphere with Africa, the Indian
and South Atlantic Oceans and Antarctica - all placed above an image
of the Venus landscape created from the Magellan radar images of
Venus. Above the montage (in extra large print, with the title in a
font similar to the NASA-worm logo) are the words): 
 
                     WORLD PREMIERE ENGAGEMENT
 
                  PREPARE TO EXPLORE THE UNIVERSE.
 
                           D E S T I N Y
 
                           IN  S P A C E
 
                           Filmed in IMAX
 
                          A Presentation of
 The Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum and the
Lockheed Corporation in Cooperation with the National Aeronautics and
                        Space Administration.
 
                             NOW PLAYING
         The National Air and Space Museum's Langley Theater
                           Washington, D.C.
_________________________________________________________________________
(To the right of the main ad is a column with the opening dates for
the film at different IMAX or IMAX Dome Theaters.)
_________________________________________________________________________
 
Opening Soon at the Following IMAX and IMAX Dome Theaters:
 
Paramount's Great America, 
Santa Clara, CA - June 30, 1994
 
Kennedy Space Center, 
FL - July 16, 1994
 
U.S. Space and Rocket Center, 
Huntsville, AL - July 20, 1994
 
Space Center Houston, 
Houston, TX - September 15, 1994
 
Virginia Air and Space Center, 
Hampton, VA - October 1, 1994
 
Kansas Cosmosphere and Science Center, 
Hutchinson, KS - October 15, 1994
 
The Maritime Center, 
Norwalk, CT - October 28, 1994
 
California Museum of Science and Industry,
Los Angeles, CA - November 8, 1994
 
Maryland Science Center,
Baltimore, MD - November 11, 1994
 
Reuben H. Fleet Space Theater and Science Center,
San Diego, CA - November 15, 1994
 
Liberty Science Center,
Jersey City, NJ - November 18, 1994
 
The Franklin Institute,
Philadelphia, PA - November 25, 1994
 
Museum Center at Cincinnati Union Terminal,
Cincinnati, OH - November 19, 1994
 
The Space Center, 
Alamogordo, NM - November 25, 1994
 
Hastings Museum,
Hastings, NE - December 7, 1994
 
The Science Museum of Minnesota,
St. Paul, MN - January 13, 1995
 
Pacific Science Center,
Seattle, WA - March 23, 1995
 
Centro Cultural Tijuana,
Tijuana, Mexico - Spring 1995
 
Distributed Worldwide by IMAX Corporation.
_________________________________________________________________________
 
That's all the information that was provided in the ad - no opening
dates were given for the IMAX theaters in Denver or Atlanta.
 
Hope this helps,
 
Gerald Marfoe
gmarfoe@eng.auburn.edu
 
---
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Gerald G. Marfoe                 |"Mirabile visu. Mirabilia/Et itur ad astra
Internet: gmarfoe@eng.auburn.edu |... Suus cuique mos. Suum cuique.../
Auburn, AL 36830-5458            |Memento, terrigena./Memento, vita brevis."
                                 |- "Afer Ventus", Enya, "Shepherd Moons"
 

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