Audience received an insider’s view of space from astronaut and former president of the Canadian Space Agency, Steve MacLean, following Gravity screening.
The Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) Graduate Student Associate (GSA) presented a screening of the Oscar-winning film Gravity for IQC and University of Waterloo students.
He noted that the visual and sound effects were what made the film for him – the same effects that won the film a host of Oscars. Most realistic in the film for him were the two minutes worth of 110 decibels inside his helmet while he sat behind the pilot and the Northern Lights and star fields.
MacLean shared some of the “Hollywood” elements of the film. He noted the rigorous training and testing required for an Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) or space walk - not just anyone can do a spacewalk. The physics of firing the jet packs to move forwards and backwards in space, readjusting to gravity, and landing were interestingly interpreted according to MacLean. As well, getting back into earth’s atmosphere is really a “miracle of physics.”
Recently returning to the academic atmosphere as an associate member of IQC, MacLean’s research will focus on the development of attosecond lasers. This type of laser would produce shorter and more powerful pulses of light, allowing for images as precise as the space between atoms to be captured.