Gravity
2015

Cinema Arts Centre Huntington, NY

with

David Oberhettinger

Chief Knowledge Officer, NASA/Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Gravity— Why do we explore?

An exploration of some major scientific themes such as: “Why do we explore?” and “Would it be less risky for robots, instead of humans, to do the exploring?”

Cinema Arts Centre Huntington, NY

Film Synopsis

A medical engineer and an astronaut work together to survive after an accident leaves them adrift in space.

Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a medical engineer on her first shuttle mission. Her commander is veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney), helming his last flight before retirement. During a routine spacewalk, disaster strikes; the shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky stranded with no link to Earth and no hope of rescue. As fear turns to panic, they realize that the only way home may be to venture further into space. Gravity received 10 Academy Award nominations, and won seven, including Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Visual Effects.

About the Speaker

David Oberhettinger serves as the Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) at the NASA/Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in addition to managing the JPL Engineering Standards Office and the JPL Spaceflight Engineering Research Program, and chairing the JPL Lessons Learned Committee. He has been involved in knowledge management and lessons learned capture at JPL for 25 years.