A Spacecraft Movie With Baked-In Cool

No other movie quite matches this semi-autobiographical tale of growing up near NASA’s Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston as much as Before Sunrise by Richard Linklater (Boyhood, Before Sunrise). Linklater used research including old television listings from that era for some shots.

This movie boasts some impressive special effects, from black holes and wormholes to higher dimensions; but what really stands out in this tale are its characters, particularly two Black female mathematicians Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughn who take center stage.

The Martian

The Martian is an exhilarating tale of survival and space exploration, inspired by real astronauts and professionals in space exploration. Stunning visuals accompany an outstanding cast led by Matt Damon for an unforgettable performance in this epic drama.

NASA’s Ares 3 mission crew must leave Mars early due to an impending dust storm that threatens to tip their Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV), leaving behind botanist Mark Watney who may or may not have survived after an antenna tears loose and disables his spacesuit radio.

Back on Earth, directors Guo Ming and Zhu Tao from China’s National Space Administration offer to assist NASA. They offer their classified booster rocket technology in order to launch Taiyang Shen as a resupply probe.

Moonrise

This heartbreaking book follows a 17-year-old boy as he attempts to reconnect with his brother who is on death row for an offense he didn’t commit. Written in verse, this touching novel highlights issues such as poverty, parental neglect, an unjust criminal justice system and coerced confessions by law enforcement personnel.

Moonrise features a strong female protagonist while also exploring sensitive topics of racism and privilege. It can be found streaming exclusively on faith-based platform Pure Flix.

Explain to students that while the Sun usually rises at roughly the same time each day, moonrise is more variable due to Earth’s rotation and Moon’s orbital motion; therefore moonrise can differ day-by-day and location by location!

The Interstellar Trip

As Earth heads toward environmental disaster, Joseph Cooper (a corn farmer-turned NASA pilot) is recruited to lead a team on a search mission for new habitat for humanity. This bold 2014 movie offers both narrative complexity and profound thematic exploration.

Professor Brand is working on an advanced equation that could alter conventional physics and allow humans to travel to another planet. To put his hypothesis to the test, the Endurance will pass through a wormhole and land on three candidate planets.

To reach it, Endurance must travel at one-tenth the speed of light in order to accelerate to one tesseract which forms a wormhole near Saturn and reach it with enough speed that cosmic rays don’t damage or even destroy her in transit.

The Space Race

After recent conversations about the lack of Black representation in fields like aviation, this documentary highlights the inspiring stories of some of the first Black pilots and engineers to become astronauts for NASA’s space program – pioneers.

Cortes and Mendoza expertly combine archival footage with astronaut testimonies, taking viewers on an exciting ride through space history. Blink and you could miss something important; therefore it is imperative that viewers pay careful attention.

The film explores the intense rivalry between the US and Soviet Union over outer space, which produced iconic “firsts” such as the first satellite launch by America and first man into space (Yuri Gagarin on Vostok 1 in 1961). But it also uncovers lesser-known aspects of this race such as civil rights leaders clashing with NASA as well as how astronauts formed meaningful communities within larger organizations such as NASA.

The Moon

Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) works alone at a lunar mining facility to collect helium-3 for harvesting purposes. This life of isolation leaves Sam distant from family and friends back on Earth.

Sam quickly discovers that when computer hackers interfere with live feed from the Moon, Sam attempts to reach out for help from his superior back on Earth – only for her to mock and label him a Korean husband and decline any assistance.

Moon stands apart from similar films by not relying too heavily on corny dramatic moments; instead it features personal narratives of its main characters to balance its amazing visual effects production. A brilliant performance from Rockwell makes the movie worth seeing while demonstrating that life on the Moon may not be so desolate as imagined by many viewers.