Part of Science On Screen® 2025
Tue, Mar 25 at 7:00pm: National Evening of Science on Screen® post-screening discussion with engineers Ian Maddox and Tracie Prater | BUY TICKETS
When a mysterious life-threatening event strikes Earth, astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) goes on a dangerous mission across an unforgiving solar system to uncover the truth about his missing father (Tommy Lee Jones) — and his doomed expedition that now, 30 years later, threatens the universe.
Overflowing with stunning cosmic visuals, a gorgeous Max Richter score and a deeply emotional core, director James Gray’s epic but intimate tale of one man’s journey through space in search of Answers was a minor flop at the box office on its initial release, but critical reappraisals in the years since have vindicated it as a humane masterpiece of 21st century science-fiction.
Science on Screen® is an initiative of the Coolidge Corner Theatre, with major support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
“AD ASTRA is beautiful, contemplative, and loaded with meaning — not an action movie, but one that leaves you with plenty to ponder.” —Alissa Wilkinson, Vox “The canniness of Gray’s procedure is matched by the boldness, even the recklessness, of the extremes to which he pushes it — along with his characters, his story, his emotions, and his techniques. The result is to turn AD ASTRA into an instant classic of intimate cinema — one that requires massive machinery and complex methods to create a cinematic simplicity that, for all the greatness of his earlier films, had eluded him until now.” —Richard Brody, New Yorker “Godard famously said that the way to criticize a film is to make another film, and through that lens, AD ASTRA plays like a critique of its blockbuster brethren — films that marshal the limitless budgets and resources of the studio system, all at the service of filmmakers with nothing whatsoever to say, or feel.” —Jason Bailey, Flavorwire
Topic: Technologies to Meet the Challenges of Deep Space Exploration
Speakers: Ian Maddox and Tracie Prater
About the Speakers:
Ian Maddox is an engineer at NASA with over 15 years of experience in human spaceflight. He has worked on every current program in the Artemis campaign and currently manages technology development efforts for a future crewed mission to Mars. Outside of work, he likes to cook, play Civilization VII, and hike in the Smokies. He has a master’s degree in systems engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
Tracie Prater has 13 years of experience in the aerospace industry, where she has supported efforts related to launch vehicle manufacturing, space habitation, in-space manufacturing, advanced materials, and crowdsourcing. She is a senior member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. In her free time, she enjoys reading, film, traveling, and SCUBA diving. She has a B.S. in physics from Eastern Kentucky University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Vanderbilt University.
