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BLAST! Telescope Documentary Premieres Tuesday

Posted by timothy on from the really-want-to-see-this dept.

Xandu writes "A documentary film about the BLAST balloon-borne telescope is about to premiere at the Toronto Hot Docs film festival. BLAST is a submillimeter telescope that floats on a balloon 37km in the air while observing the earliest star-formation and earliest galaxies. Its two science flights have been covered on Slashdot, the first from Kiruna, Sweden and the second from McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Virtually all the software used on BLAST is open source, and the kst display program has been discussed here as well. If you live in or near Toronto, it's showing twice, Tuesday evening and Saturday afternoon. The film contrasts the science with the human element and hardships endured while working in such exotic locations. Naturally, the movie trailer is online."

10 comments

  1. For those of us who are QuickTime impaired... by vertinox · · Score: 1

    (Or if their site gets Slashdotted)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEQSqmKc7XI

    --
    "I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
    -Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
    1. Re:For those of us who are QuickTime impaired... by Xandu · · Score: 1

      Actually, that link is to the old trailer (actually, it's too long to be called a trailer, so ummm, call it promotional footage). Anyways, why not check out both (new trailer)

      PS - I did bug the filmmakers about their lack of other options (over quicktime alone), and although they agreed to put up something else, they put it really low on their priority list.

      --


      --Xandu
    2. Re:For those of us who are QuickTime impaired... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      A Documentary that covers space balloons in general, and has a longish segment on the first BLAST launch was on Discovery Channel, and a torrent can be found here

  2. Amazing by aliquis · · Score: 1

    A well written, reference filled, non-duplicate, informative Slashdot article! It even has links to old Slashdot articles covering the same subject! Absolutely amazing!

  3. Typo by gomiam · · Score: 1

    It's two science flights ...

    It's "its", not "it's".

    1. Re:Typo by Xandu · · Score: 1

      That's what I get for not fully checking the preview. Thanks for being my own personal grammar Nazi.

      --


      --Xandu
    2. Re:Typo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You just have to dump cold water onto this guy's enthusiasts, don't you.

  4. Mod Parent DOWN by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't click on the parent link. It's seriously malicious. Do not follow.