24
votes
Retired astronaut, fighter pilot, and engineer Chris Hadfield reviews aerospace movies and shows
Link information
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- Title
- Astronaut Chris Hadfield Reviews Aerospace Movies (Top Gun Maverick, GOTG & More) | Vanity Fair
- Authors
- Vanity Fair
- Duration
- 21:08
- Published
- Sep 27 2023
His comments on Top Gun Maverick cover my biggest, and really only, issue with that movie. I assumed that Maverick would have ejected fighter jet style at Mach 10 in which case he should have turned to jelly. I did not know that those vehicles would sometimes be built with an escape vehicle, I had thought that those were more of a rocket thing. Still wish they would have shown something about it though.
I had no idea about those escape pods things either. The only time I've seen one was in Goldeneye, but that was on a fictional helicopter and I'm pretty sure no helicopter in real life actually has such a system.
Hadfield's commentary was really informative in general though, and I'm also glad he didn't totally nitpick every little thing. That's one of the reasons Neil DeGrasse Tyson makes me cringe a bit. IMO he takes the "well, actually" a bit too far most times, but Hadfield thankfully seems to be able to suspend his disbelief somewhat so he can just enjoy movies even when they're scientifically inaccurate, unlike Tyson.
The KA-52 does have a pilot ejection system, but not in a pod. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1kr651en7g
The one part I can't get behind is his argument against the term "dark side" of the moon being wrong because the dark side changes with the lunar rotation.
Just because a "side" of something changes or is defined relative to something other than the surface doesn't mean you can't refer it as a side! If this were true, his preferred "other side" replacement would be no better, either.
He's referring to the use of "dark side" to refer to the side of the moon not visible from the Earth. Personally I prefer calling it the far side.
"Dark side" is an older term that simply means "we can't see it" just like "dark matter". The problematic side effect is that some folks got confused about the far side of the moon not being sunlit, which is not correct. That's why he doesn't like the term "dark side".
What you're describing would be best labeled as the "night side" of the moon, as in the part of the moon that's currently dark due to rotation away from the sun.
Yup. And it's going to be pretty hard to top his Space Oddity cover actually filmed in space. :P Even Bowie himself said it was "possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created".
He also wrote a pretty good cold war spy book
Also a ski instructor. Also, the title says "fighter pilot" but to be more accurate he was a test pilot, which is even more badass. He was flying unproven, experimental aircraft. He was the first person to fly the F22 Raptor. He was the first Canadian commander of the ISS, and was also commander of some underwater deep-sea research vessels.
Chris is an amazing person. Probably the most interesting person I've ever met. Full disclosure: he was a client of my IT company for years, and still reaches out to my friend and business partner for IT help.