People may cast a wary eye skyward after experiencing Moonfall, the thrilling new science fiction disaster film, at the Tennessee Aquarium IMAX Theater.
Premiering on the theater’s six-story screen on Thursday, Feb. 3, Moonfall is the latest apocalyptic production by director and disaster-film savant Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, 2012). After a mysterious event causes the Moon to fall out of orbit and onto an inexorable crash course with Earth, humanity has just weeks to avert disaster.
Retired astronaut Jo Fowler (Halle Berry) may have the key to preventing planetary annihilation, but only a former colleague, Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson), and a conspiracy theorist, KC Houseman (John Bradley), believe in her plan. Once their desperate Hail Mary mission breaks through the atmosphere, however, new developments suggest there may be darker, unexpected facets — a darker side? — to the Moon and the impending calamity.
The stakes are certainly enormous in this disaster flick, and there’s no better place to take in such an over-the-top premise than on the most colossal screen in Chattanooga.
Even some NASA Moon experts couldn’t resist being a little starstruck by the social media conversations surrounding Moonfall. They used their Twitter voice (@NASAMoon) to playfully tag the film’s team (@MoonfallFilm) in a series of Tweets that reassured everyone that the Moon’s orbit is stable. The NASA Moon team used the opportunity to pass along some lunar facts while the Moonfall team playfully added to the “lunarcy” by replying with scenes from the film.
Moonfall will screen daily at the IMAX 3D Theater from Feb. 3 until the following Thursday, Feb. 10.
To learn more or to purchase tickets for Moonfall, visit tnaqua.org/imax.
Did you know?
- Orbiting the Earth at slightly less than one-quarter of a million miles, the Moon’s gravity tugs at our planet, causing predictable rises and falls in sea levels known as tides. (And to a lesser degree, measurable changes in lakes.)
- Starfish in the Gulf of Mexico are surrounded by an “underwater snowstorm” when the annual coral spawning occurs in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. This event occurs 7-10 days after the full moon in August each year.
- According to NASA, the Moon is the fifth largest of the 200+ moons orbiting planets in our solar system.
- Explore a virtual moon on the NASA Science Solar System Exploration webpage: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/earths-moon/overview/