BaconIsMyBFF

3rd Dec 2018

Gravity (2013)

Question: On the Russian vessel, shortly after Ryan boards via the airlock, there's a readout in English concerning oxygen. Shouldn't the readout, and indeed virtually everything on that ship, be written in Russian?

Answer: The International Space Station is serviced and manned by representatives from several countries. It stands to reason that because of this, instructions for spacecraft and equipment would be printed in several languages. As the movie shows, in the case of an emergency it would not make sense to have spacecraft and equipment be effectively "locked out" to those who don't speak a particular language when that problem can be easily solved by printing instructions in multiple languages.

BaconIsMyBFF

This is similar to how the airline industry works internationally. All pilots, crew, air traffickers, etc, regardless of what country, speak in English. It is the international language.

raywest

7th Sep 2017

Gravity (2013)

Question: Are Bullock's reactions to all the situations she encounters logical, considering she is a trained astronaut? For instance: she repeatedly noticed that she is running out of oxygen, but she still keeps talking, screaming and hyperventilating. The first thing you have to do is to get your breath under control, but she keep talking and screaming all the way... Would a person like Bullock get through all the NASA psychological tests?

Answer: Dr. Stone isn't an experienced astronaut. She is on her 1st mission, a mission that is continually disastrous and claims the lives of two people. Her panic, even considering her training, is more than justified.

BaconIsMyBFF

"Her panic even considering her training is more than justified" I wouldn't be so sure about that. Jack Swegiert, and Fred Haise were not experienced astronauts either during the Apollo 13 accident, but they managed to remain calm, and not panic given the psychological tests they went through.

That's true but nobody died during Apollo 13, communication with Houston was not severed, the astronauts were not alone, etc. It's a different situation. Given the circumstances of her specific mission, primarily the fact two men died on the mission and she was left alone with no help, her panic does not seem to me to be unrealistic.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: While she is a specialist who was cleared to be on the mission, she noted that she received only 6 months of prior minimal training and was mediocre-she noted crashing the simulations, getting sick during training, etc. not to mention having past trauma involving her daughter. Their allowing her to proceed was more about opening space to civilians and possibly for public relations purposes than about her being an astronaut.

Erik M.

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