Space Junk 3D Movie to Release in IMAX

Poster for the upcoming movie (Credits: Melrae Pictures).

Space Junk 3D will begin appearing in IMAX theaters on January 13, 2012. The 38 minute film provides a stereoscopic view of orbital debris, exploring its causes and potential solutions.

The movie comes at a highly topical moment, with the Phobos Grunt probe expected to reenter Earth’s atmosphere within the next few weeks rounding out a series of debris-related events that ended 2011. “It isn’t a coincidence that media headlines of falling debris are growing just as we launch this film,” explains Don Kessler, retired head of NASA’s Orbital Debris Office who appears in the film. “As we started researching this story we found that most scientists agree we’ve reached this tipping point where orbital debris will continue to grow exponentially if we don’t address the problem.”

With the tag line “What goes up doesn’t always come down,” Space Junk 3D explores the Kessler Syndrome,  Don Kessler’s 1978 prediction that the near Earth space environment would reach a density of debris that would self-perpetuate via debris collisions, even with no further launches adding to the problem. Kessler, commonly known as “the Father of Space Debris,” is an Honorary Member of the IAASS and recipient of the IAASS “Jerome Lederer” Space Safety Pioneer Award 2008.

Although Space Junk 3D is a factual documentary, space debris has become a subject of attention even in Hollywood. Later this year the fictional drama Gravity will explore the scenario of astronauts stranded in space after their craft experiences an on-orbit space junk collision.

The Space Junk 3D is narrated by Tom Wilkinson, produced by Melissa Butts and Kimberly Rowe, and released by Melrae Pictures.

Below is a trailer for the upcoming film: