Homemade Documentaries
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Organizing interviews in the Pittsburgh area
🕑 Added 2025-04-20 17:55:33 +0000 UTCHello, Patrons! Just a quick note here -- I've reached out to several CMU (Carnegie Mellon University) and UPitt professors in the fields of planetary science, stellar science, and biological systems and have requested interviews, outlining our upcoming film and laying out what I'd like to accomplish with it. I already got some really positive responses, so we will have some bespoke "talking head" audio, which I am really excited for!
As a "Prequel" to the Voyager film and essentially identical in spirit, "NASA's Mariner Missions" is going to be a soothing primer on the inner solar system, a perfect counterpart to Voyager's primer on the outer solar system. I'll be asking about topics such as LHB, grand tack, abiogenesis, panspermia, etc. We're going to really dive deep into the rocky worlds of our cosmic backyard. Plus I want to go straight to the field professionals and squash any misconceptions I may have.
We'll be talking a little bit about exoplanets, 'biosignatures' and K2-18b, though largely in the service of contextualizing our own solar system and contrasting it from what we observe elsewhere (primarily "Hot Jupiters" around dim stars) largely as a result of technological limitations, but also trying to get to somewhat of a existential point: Just how rare are we?
I'm not sure just HOW deep yet I want to drive the whole "life in the universe" point, but I always keep a quote in my back pocket, I love it so much it has never left my head since the moment I read it several years ago.
"Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe, or we are not. Both are equally terrifying." -- Arthur C. Clarke
Comments
Kevin Cromarty
Have you considered going for it and reaching out to NDT? There’s a “request an interview” link on his website which says for media only, but I’d say you easily qualify. Share your portfolio of documentaries, the subjects you’d like to cover with him. He can only say no, but he could say yes :)
Homemade Documentaries
Oh heck yes! I’ll be in touch.
Matthew McGinnis
Hi Jackson - just wanted to let you know I’m a resident of Huntsville, AL - Home to NASA Marshall Spaceflight Center and the US Space and Rocket Center. If you’re ever up for it, I’d be happy to try and set up a tour of the Space and Rocket. Center + they do bus tours of Marshall. I also have some contacts at NASA and might be able to get some interesting meetings set up. Let me know! We’d be happy to provide you transportation/lodging for a weekend if you’d like! Obviously - this would be less oriented toward planetary science but still there is much to experience in the Rocket City. DM me if ever interested!
