Part of Science on Screen 2023
Ground control has been receiving mysterious transmissions from the three remaining residents of the Solaris space station. When cosmonaut and psychologist Kris Kelvin is dispatched to investigate, he experiences the same strange phenomena that afflict the Solaris crew, sending him on a voyage into the darkest recesses of his consciousness. With SOLARIS, an adaptation of master Polish sci-fi writer Stanisław Lem’s novel of the same name, the legendary Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky created a brilliantly original science-fiction epic that challenges our conceptions about love, truth and humanity itself.
“Routinely called Tarkovsky's reply to Kubrick's 2001…. But Kubrick's film is outward, charting man's next step in the universe, while Tarkovsky's is inward, asking about the nature and reality of the human personality.” —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Pre-recorded introduction topic:
“Deep Space Habitats and NASA’s Five Hazards of Human Spaceflight”
About the speaker:
Tracie Prater is the Technical Manager in the Habitation Systems Development Office at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), where she helps manage formulation activities for future space habitats and commercial partnerships. She is also part of the systems engineering and integration team for Mars Transit Habitat. Previously she was an engineer in the Materials and Processes Laboratory at NASA MSFC, where she supported advanced manufacturing research, in-space manufacturing, and the Centennial Challenges Program. She has a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Vanderbilt University.
