NASA is sending a monster camera to
take pictures... of one of the largest and most capable cameras in
the Solar System.
NASA, the IMAX Corporation and Warner Bros. Pictures have announced
that IMAX 3-D cameras will return to space to document one of
NASA's most complex space shuttle operations -- the final servicing
mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. The IMAX 3-D cameras will
launch aboard space shuttle Atlantis, which is scheduled to lift
off May 11. Astronauts will use the cameras to film five spacewalks
needed to repair and upgrade Hubble. The IMAX footage will be
combined with breathtaking detailed images of distant galaxies from
Hubble in the upcoming IMAX and Warner Bros. Pictures
co-production, "Hubble 3D," set for release in spring 2010.
"We have worked with IMAX on past Hubble missions and are
excited about working with them again on the current Hubble
mission. The Hubble Space Telescope continues to dazzle us with the
splendor of our universe, and after the mission we look forward to
many more years of awe-inspiring imagery," said Bob Jacobs, NASA's
acting assistant administrator for public affairs at NASA
Headquarters in Washington. "IMAX has developed innovative 3-D
image capture and projection technology that creates a large-scale,
immersive educational experience in which those of us on the ground
are no longer passive observers of spaceflight, we're active
participants."
The IMAX team has trained Atlantis' crew at NASA's Johnson Space
Center in Houston to operate the cameras. One will be mounted
outside the crew cabin in the shuttle's cargo bay to capture IMAX
3-D images of the historic final servicing mission. The commander
and pilot will double as filmmakers as two teams of spacewalking
astronauts -- working in tandem with the shuttle's robotic arm --
perform some of the most challenging work ever undertaken in space
as they replace and refurbish many of the telescope's precision
instruments.
"It's been said that the IMAX experience is the next best thing
to being in space, and with IMAX 3-D, the audience really is
there," producer and director Toni Myers said. "Fifteen years ago,
we made a film about space exploration that included Hubble, when
it started sending back the first images. Today, we have Hubble's
entire phenomenal legacy of data to explore. With IMAX 3-D, we can
transport people to galaxies that are 13 billion light years away
-- back to the edge of time. Real star travel is here at last."
Through the world's most immersive cinematic experience, "Hubble
3D" will give audiences a front row seat as the story unfolds. It
will reveal the cosmos as never before, allowing viewers of all
ages to explore the grandeur of the nebulae and galaxies, the birth
and death of stars, and some of the greatest mysteries of our
celestial surroundings, all in IMAX 3-D.
IMAX's longstanding partnership with NASA has enabled millions
of people to travel into space through a series of award-winning
IMAX films. The IMAX 3-D camera made its first voyage into space in
2001 for the production of "Space Station 3D." The "Hubble 3D" film
will mark Warner Bros. Pictures' first venture into space.