MOVIE NEWS – The scientific accuracy of Interstellar is the subject of old debates, but so far, no astronaut has commented…

Interstellar is considered by many to be Christopher Nolan’s greatest masterpiece. Each of the acclaimed British director’s films has its own fan base, but Interstellar is probably the most watched and praised film in the online space. But is it scientifically accurate? In addition to his love of hands-on filmmaking, Nolan is also renowned for his attention to scientific detail. In order to capture exactly what a black hole would look like, he hired theoretical physicist Kip Thorne as a scientific consultant. But can the same be said about the portrayal of astronauts in the film?

To answer that question, real-life NASA astronaut Nicole Scott sat down with Insider to rate Interstellar’s scientific credibility. Scott was shown the scene where Matt Damon’s character tries to hijack the Endurance and blows up the airlock. “It’s a really dangerous thing to have that happen,” Nicole Scott commented on the scene. He was then shown Cooper’s mission to dock the small space shuttle Ranger to the rapidly rotating Endurance after the airlock exploded. In the scene, Cooper asks TARS to take over in case he passes out while trying to dock. Nicole Scott said:

“Blacking out from extreme forces is a common potential issue. We try to design the vehicle so that the load is limited on us, so that we can stay awake and not pass out. In this case, they were spinning super fast, and so that load was going to continue to grow on them. And, I like that he says to his computer assistant that he should take over if he passes out. It’s a real possibility, especially as he doesn’t have his helmet on. He’s not pumping air for himself to stay awake. The computer might actually do a better job than we as humans could. Because he’s reacting to the spin, he turns his head in the opposite way to help from passing out.”

Overall, based on the scenes shown to her, Nicole Scott gave Interstellar a 7/10.

“I think this clip was probably as realistic as you could get for the scenario they were portraying,” he continued. While Scott didn’t see a problem with Cooper’s handling of the spaceship in that scene, he found the extreme situation they were in to be the ultimate Hollywood magic.

Interstellar remains the epitome of modern science fiction

Christopher Nolan has the ability to make a lasting impression in any genre, and it’s influencing a whole new generation of filmmakers. The director raised the stakes in the thriller genre with the time-disturbed Inception, saved the Batman franchise with The Dark Knight, and with Oppenheimer, somehow made a more than 3-hour historical biopic endlessly tense and captivating. Interstellar is perhaps Nolan’s best genre film to date, not only as a film in its own right, but also because of its influence on the sci-fi genre.

Like superheroes, science fiction is going through an era where studios are obsessed with CGIing everything. However, Nolan’s commitment to practical effects shines in the film, making Cooper’s journey through a black hole as believable as possible. Interstellar helped bridge the gap between science and fiction again.

Source: YouTube