Wrath of Khan, Now With Science Content

Tonight I went to the Coolidge Corner theater to see Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan as part of their Science on Screen series. I was debating going as I could almost recite the film, but it began with a talk by Dr. Jeffrey A. Hoffman, an MIT professor and former astronaut. And I hadn't seen it on a big screen in twenty years. And it was free for Coolidge Members.

The lecture took a little bit to find it's point, but once he spoke about his experiences in space--what liftoff felt like, the views from windows, zero-g, and difference between holding onto the ship during a spacewalk vs letting go for a moment and floating free--everyone was hooked. He said the rocket fires for 8 minutes and 30-45 seconds to lift the shuttle into orbit and described reentry as riding on a meteor. He said a transporter would be much easier. Hoffman was one of the astronauts that repaired the Hubble Space Telescope.

The movie was of course good and it was a lot of fun to see it in a theater filled with geeks. Lots of laughter (mostly at Shatner) and cheers (mostly at Montalban). I didn't know "Khaaan" had become such an internet phenomenon to the extent that someone would get a license plate of it.