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From: patcl@tekecs.UUCP (Pat Clancy)
Newsgroups: net.movies,net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Re: 2010 letdown (semi-SPOILER)
Message-ID: <4227@tekecs.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 16-Dec-84 15:53:12 EST
Article-I.D.: tekecs.4227
Posted: Sun Dec 16 15:53:12 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 18-Dec-84 02:21:18 EST
Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville OR
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Xref: watmath net.movies:5255 net.sf-lovers:5398



>Whats wrong with Air Braking!!! The "marshmellow" was the metalized 
>balloon that was deployed before the maneuver and ejected after they had
>slowed down. The effect looked exactly as I would have expected it to look.

The marshmellow analogy should perhaps have included an explanation.
The thing that ruined it for me was the trail of smoke left by the
Leonov's passage through Jupitor atmosphere. Smoke is particulate
matter which results from a chemical combustion process; ie.,
something's burning up. The only thing that could have been burning
in this case was the balloon, but it seemed to (and had to) survive
intact.  Certainly the heating of the hydrogen/helium atmosphere would
not have produced smoke. The space shuttle doesn't produce
a smoke trail when it reenters, even in an oxygen atmosphere.
Therefore, the reason the smoke trail is there is that someone
in the special effects dept. thought it would look more dramatic that
way, and to hell with reality. This is the same line of reasoning
that gives us blasting noises from rockets igniting in space.
To me it looked like a burning marshmellow, rather than a superheating
spaceship.

One or two people have stated that velcro on the shoes would explain
why the actors appeared to be moving around normally in 0 g. Certainly
we've all seen enough TV from the shuttle to know that people
do not move and appear the same in 0 g as they do in 1 g, no matter
how well their feet are anchored. This was one of the more inexcusable
screw-ups by Mr. Hyames, part of the overall sloppiness and
TV-series quality which pervade the film.

Pat Clancy, Tektronix
{ucbvax,decvax,ihnp4,allegra,uw-beaver,hplabs}!tektronix!tekecs!patcl