I must be one of the few who didn't see the twist coming. But then again I've been reading some interstellar colony mission novels recently and all their journeys were for real!!
I must be one of the few who didn't see the twist coming. But then again I've been reading some interstellar colony mission novels recently and all their journeys were for real!!
Could you recommend a couple?.....(sorry I know its OT)
Surely that had to be the case all along. Interstellar travel in 1963? Come on....
There were ships theoretically capable of Interstellar travel designed in the 1950's/1960's using current materials, they were just never built (as far as we know ;-)).
The biggest design above is the "super" Orion design; at 8 million tonnes, it could easily be a city.[11] In interviews, the designers contemplated the large ship as a possible interstellar ark. This extreme design could be built with materials and techniques that could be obtained in 1958 or were anticipated to be available shortly after.
There were ships theoretically capable of Interstellar travel designed in the 1950's/1960's using current materials, they were just never built (as far as we know ;-)).
Could you recommend a couple?.....(sorry I know its OT)
For modern believable colonisation attempts, try starting with Stephen Baxter's Proxima. James Corey (writing duo) Expanse series goes interstellar in Book 4 Cibola Burn. You could start with that novel as it does briefly summarise what's gone on before.. There's two more to come. The series is being filmed for TV of course.
Yes, the writers state that Project Orion was the inspiration for the series.
When we first saw Ascension, it was captioned as an Orion class ship.
I recall watching a documentary about the Orion project and its eventual failure a few years ago. Though I have been aware of the theory for a lot longer - an Orion class ship featured in Larry Niven's novel "Footfall".
There were ships theoretically capable of Interstellar travel designed in the 1950's/1960's using current materials, they were just never built (as far as we know ;-)).
The cost would've been way too prohibitive for the United States, especially with them fighting proxy wars all over the world and spending billions on their own war in Vietnam not to mention the Apollo missions, and there's no way the USSR could afford it.
The cost would've been way too prohibitive for the United States, especially with them fighting proxy wars all over the world and spending billions on their own war in Vietnam not to mention the Apollo missions, and there's no way the USSR could afford it.
There was a tech commentator (it might have been James Burke) who noted that the cost of the american space programme during the 1960s was roughly the same amount of money as was spent on cosmetics during the same time.
One of the "attractions" of Orion-style spacecraft (leaving aside the small detail about the massive amount radioactivity they dump into the atmosphere) is that weight is no longer an issue. That means a lot of the expensive design needed to keep weight down becomes unnecessary.
To move a heavier vehicle, you just need more atomic bombs - and to pop 'em off faster.
Though once you've got out of Earth's gravity well (and getting to LEO means you're halfway to anywhere in the solar system - in energy terms), it's difficult to see how the craft could possibly have accelerated to a sufficient fraction of the SoL to get where they were going in less than thousands of years. And they would need to keep accelerating to sustain the gravity within the 'ship.
Though once you've got out of Earth's gravity well (and getting to LEO means you're halfway to anywhere in the solar system - in energy terms), it's difficult to see how the craft could possibly have accelerated to a sufficient fraction of the SoL to get where they were going in less than thousands of years. And they would need to keep accelerating to sustain the gravity within the 'ship.
I think they said the journey was expected to be around 100 years. Proxima Centauri is about 5 light years away, so (if I did the maths right) they'd need an average speed of around 33 million mph!
When we first saw Ascension, it was captioned as an Orion class ship.
I recall watching a documentary about the Orion project and its eventual failure a few years ago. Though I have been aware of the theory for a lot longer - an Orion class ship featured in Larry Niven's novel "Footfall".
Could call about Footfall. One of my favourite alien invasion novels.
Quite enjoyed the second episode despite all the flaws. I quite liked the idea of a man on the inside. It was hinted at before. I was quite interested how that situation came about.
The pyschic girl is interesting but doesn't quite make sense. She can clearly see enough to know the whole thing's a sham yet can't seem to quite join up all the dots and spill the beans to the ship's crew. The internal politics on the ship is watchable mainly because it involves lots of pretty young women, if not all rather pointless.
The one bad thing has to be this investigator woman. She's there to report on a top secret project - she's part of the loop. So why is she working with outsiders to investigate it like she's some sort of investigative journalist? It would be a bit like someone being asked to report independently on the Manhattan Project for Congress and then working with journalists who are wondering why so many top physicists have moved to Los Alamos. Doesn't make sense.
Enjoyed the second episode a lot more than the first one. Kind of reminds me when channel 4 made a show (can't remember what it's called) but they tried fooling real people they went to space.
Enjoyed the second episode a lot more than the first one. Kind of reminds me when channel 4 made a show (can't remember what it's called) but they tried fooling real people they went to space.
Comments
Bored by the end of ep 1, as the whole idea of it being "fake" was glaring to me from the first couple of minutes.
Will agree though that the set dressing was great, the only bit that lived up to expectations.
Guessed the twist about 5 mins before the end (must have been half asleep I guess.).
Will be interesing to see where it goes from here (now that the viewer is in on the secret).
Could you recommend a couple?.....(sorry I know its OT)
I don't know what version you were watching but it was shown over 85 minutes on Sky!
Surely that had to be the case all along. Interstellar travel in 1963? Come on....
It was very pretty to look at and was mostly quite a good idea. I don't think it would have worked for me without the twist (which did catch me out
I hadn't realised it was only three episodes though - it felt very unfinished.
There were ships theoretically capable of Interstellar travel designed in the 1950's/1960's using current materials, they were just never built (as far as we know ;-)).
Project Orion
When we first saw Ascension, it was captioned as an Orion class ship.
I recall watching a documentary about the Orion project and its eventual failure a few years ago. Though I have been aware of the theory for a lot longer - an Orion class ship featured in Larry Niven's novel "Footfall".
The cost would've been way too prohibitive for the United States, especially with them fighting proxy wars all over the world and spending billions on their own war in Vietnam not to mention the Apollo missions, and there's no way the USSR could afford it.
One of the "attractions" of Orion-style spacecraft (leaving aside the small detail about the massive amount radioactivity they dump into the atmosphere) is that weight is no longer an issue. That means a lot of the expensive design needed to keep weight down becomes unnecessary.
To move a heavier vehicle, you just need more atomic bombs - and to pop 'em off faster.
Though once you've got out of Earth's gravity well (and getting to LEO means you're halfway to anywhere in the solar system - in energy terms), it's difficult to see how the craft could possibly have accelerated to a sufficient fraction of the SoL to get where they were going in less than thousands of years. And they would need to keep accelerating to sustain the gravity within the 'ship.
I think they said the journey was expected to be around 100 years. Proxima Centauri is about 5 light years away, so (if I did the maths right) they'd need an average speed of around 33 million mph!
The pyschic girl is interesting but doesn't quite make sense. She can clearly see enough to know the whole thing's a sham yet can't seem to quite join up all the dots and spill the beans to the ship's crew. The internal politics on the ship is watchable mainly because it involves lots of pretty young women, if not all rather pointless.
The one bad thing has to be this investigator woman. She's there to report on a top secret project - she's part of the loop. So why is she working with outsiders to investigate it like she's some sort of investigative journalist? It would be a bit like someone being asked to report independently on the Manhattan Project for Congress and then working with journalists who are wondering why so many top physicists have moved to Los Alamos. Doesn't make sense.
No word yet on if a full series will be commissioned.
Ratings on the Sy Fy channel in the U.S were ok but not great.