10 Things Movies Get Wrong About Space
Hate to break it to you, but Mars is NOT red!
As each year goes by, our knowledge of the great big vacuum of space and what it feels like to travel/exist in it grows more and more.
In the last 50 years alone, we've confirmed the existence of black holes, discovered the first planets outside of our solar system and even found out that Jupiter's moon Europa has an ocean on it!
Yet, despite most movie studios definitely having the resources to bring in a former astronaut or space expert, a large number of sci-fi flicks still seem to get certain details wrong when it comes to various aspects of space, space travel and other planets.
Of course, older space adventures can be forgiven as filmmakers simply may not have been aware of what we know now. However, even newer releases get their facts all wrong on occasion.
Sometimes this can be down to the truth just not looking impressive enough to find its way into a blockbuster movie. Yet, more often than not, these mistakes are down to people not doing their homework before green-lighting particular scenes in some of our favourite space features.
Houston, we've got a few problems...
10. Gigantic Explosions - Star Wars
It may look incredibly impressive when a TIE fighter guns down an X-Wing during an intense space dogfight. It's undoubtedly cool to see Star Destroyers burning in the heat of battle. And the sight of the Death Star being blown to smithereens is an iconic moment we'll always hold dear to our hearts.
But, that doesn't make any of those incidents factually correct.
Regardless of the fact these films take place in 'a galaxy far, far away', a space ship simply wouldn't explode in the way Star Wars suggests they would.
For a start, there's no oxygen in space, so there wouldn't be any combustion at all. On top of this, there's also no sound in space. That means the thunderous explosions we hear throughout the glorious Star Wars trilogy simply wouldn't be a possibility in real life.
Obviously the filmmakers behind the epic saga were more focused on creating as much drama as they could during each high octane space battle. Silent spaceships slowly breaking apart after being taken down wouldn't make for the same experience, I'll admit. But, it would definitely have been more accurate.