Hang On! Trailer for "Gravity" Previews Spacewalk Disaster Film

By Nancy Atkinson - May 10, 2013 02:21 PM UTC | Missions

Yikes! The trailer for an upcoming film "Gravity" is absolutely terrifying. This movie won't hit theaters until October 4, 2013, so we can expect to see more trailers after this first 'teaser." We do know it is directed by Alfonso Cuarón and stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. But with an

emergency spacewalk

likely taking place tomorrow at the International Space Station, the timing of the release of this trailer is just a bit eerie.

Bullock plays a medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (Clooney) in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, the space station is damaged, leaving the two astronauts completely alone and tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness.

Watch the teaser below:

The word on the street is that NASA was not consulted at all for this film, so we can only hope for a hint of reality (i.e., let hope it's not another "Armageddon.") But from the trailer, it seems to follow the recipe for any space disaster film: go into space, have the mission go awry, bring in the heroes to save the day. Guesses on thumbs up or down?

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com