Geek Trivia: What Was The First Sci-Fi Film Shot In Space?

Apogee of Fear Station Crisis Planet Z Stellarium geek-trivia-what-was-the-first-scifi-film-shot-in-space photo 1

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Answer: Apogee of Fear

There have been countless Sci-Fi films that have been set in space but none of them have the distinction of being actually filmed in space. None that is, but Apogee of Fear.

Apogee of Fear is the product of Richard Garriott (seen in the photo at right) a British game developer and entrepreneur. Garriott is also the sixth person to fly in space as a space tourist. During October of 2008 he spent 10 days aboard the international space station. This alone wouldn’t serve to make him particularly notable but during his 10 days aboard the space station he managed to pack in the filming of a Sci-Fi film.

Prior to his departure for the space station Garriott worked with Tracy Hickman, a fantasy novelist best known for his role in co-creating the wildly popular Dragonlance universe. Garriott hired Hickman to write a screenplay for a short Sci-Fi film set aboard the international space station (and to later help edit it when Garriott returned from space).

Filming took place on the ground (the film starts with terrestrial interactions between the characters) and then the remainder of the filming takes place aboard the space station. The film stars astronauts Yuri Lonchakov, Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff, and Richard Garriott. Although the film has never been released for distribution it has been shown in select venues (such as at a small screening during Dragon*Con 2011). Garriott never secured permission from NASA to film aboard the station which led to a bit of a legal log jam when it came to publicly releasing the film. According to NASA representatives they are currently working with Garriott to get the video released in a timely manner in the effort of promotion good will and interest in the space program.

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