John Williams consulted NASA about the science of E.T.

[Edmilson 8,920]

Apologies if this has been posted before, but I thought it was an interesting story.

 

John Williams Consulted NASA When He Had Doubts About the Science of ‘E.T.’
The legendary composer found out that kids would have to pedal their bikes at 17,500 miles per hour in order to fly past the moon.

 

Quote

John Williams won his fourth Oscar for his work on “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” and his whimsical music played an undeniably large role in creating the movie magic that turned the film into a childhood favorite for so many cinephiles. But the film still left Williams with some questions that movie magic couldn’t answer.

In a conversation with Steven Spielberg at an American Cinematheque event titled “Spielberg/Williams: 50 Years of Music and Movies,” Williams revealed that “E.T.” is his favorite movie that Spielberg has directed.

“It’s tough to say, because I think ‘Saving Private Ryan’ is the best Second World War story ever made,” Williams said. “But I think ‘E.T.’ might be Steven’s masterpiece. It’s almost a perfect film.”

But the 90-year-old composer is not completely sold on the physics of one of its most famous scenes. Williams went on to explain that he has always been confused about how fast Elliott and his friends would have to be pedaling their bicycles in order to fly past the moon.

“The speed of the bicycles that lift up over the moon… that’s always bothered me a little bit, especially when I’m conducting it,” he said. “I’m always thinking to myself, what is the escape velocity? How fast do you have to be going to be able to lift it out of gravity? I never knew what that was, but it was on my mind.”

After decades of pondering the question, Williams eventually took matters into his own hands. When NASA awarded him its Exceptional Public Achievement Medal in 2022, he took the opportunity to consult an astronaut about the science of “E.T.”

“Last year I went to the Kennedy Center to do something musically and NASA decided to give me an award,” he said. “The man presenting it to me was an astronaut, and in a quiet moment I said to him, ‘What is escape velocity?’ And he said, ‘It’s 17,500 miles an hour. What happens is you get on a spaceship, and it takes eight minutes to get from zero to 17,500 miles per hour.'”

Williams continued: “He said, ‘For eight minutes we’re in the cabin, we’re shaking like crazy, it’s deafening and disorienting. Then you finally get up, you reach 17.5, and suddenly everything stops and there’s no gravity and it’s completely quiet. He said we have a minute of silence before we start our procedures once we break from gravity. And we look at the Earth and we play ‘Star Wars.””

 

Source: https://www.indiewire.com/2023/01/john-williams-et-science-questions-nasa-1234800095/

[ciarlese 272]

I think he mentioned that himself during the Milan concert.

[Jurassic Shark 13,158]

Um... someone should tell JW they're just flying on Earth with the moon in the background. 

[Marian Schedenig 9,042]

3 hours ago, ciarlese said:

I think he mentioned that himself during the Milan concert.

 

Vienna, too (or was it Berlin?) - which makes me wonder if the timing works out with the claim that he asked a NASA astronaut in 2022. Berlin was in 2021, but Vienna II was in March 2022. When exactly was Williams at NASA?

[Luke Skywalker 1,939]

I dont remember that anecdote from berlin, saturday concert at least

[Joni Wiljami 1,212]

Me neither

[Marian Schedenig 9,042]

1 hour ago, Luke Skywalker said:

I dont remember that anecdote from berlin, saturday concert at least

 

I've definitely heard him say it live; I feel like it was even one of those things I've heard him say twice. Could have been on both the Vienna II dates, or possibly Berlin Thursday & Vienna II, or at least one of the two. (Unless it was already at Vienna I, but I figured it wouldn't have been that far back).

[Darth Mulder 154]

17 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Um... someone should tell JW they're just flying on Earth with the moon in the background. 

 

I don't understand it either. What did he mean? 

[Jurassic Shark 13,158]

5 minutes ago, Darth Mulder said:

 

I don't understand it either. What did he mean? 

 

He didn't pay enough attention during that scene.

[BB-8 3,936]

23 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

I've definitely heard him say it live; I feel like it was even one of those things I've heard him say twice. Could have been on both the Vienna II dates, or possibly Berlin Thursday & Vienna II, or at least one of the two. (Unless it was already at Vienna I, but I figured it wouldn't have been that far back).

Did he perhaps reflect on the esxape velocity of a bicycle during last year's podium interview (before the Jurassic Park live screening)?

[Disco Stu 15,501]

Did he consult scientists about the science of Heartbeeps?

[Jurassic Shark 13,158]

Or Stepmom?

[Marian Schedenig 9,042]

13 minutes ago, BB-8 said:

Did he perhaps reflect on the esxape velocity of a bicycle during last year's podium interview (before the Jurassic Park live screening)?

 

I meant: I remember being there in the room when he said it. So it could only have been Vienna or Berlin (it wasn't Tanglewood, and I haven't seen him live elsewhere). It included him saying that he consulted scientists and citing the number (and stuttering or mis-pronouncing "escape velocity").

[Darth Mulder 154]

22 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

He didn't pay enough attention during that scene.

 

Is John Williams really such a genius as we think? 

[Jurassic Shark 13,158]

11 minutes ago, Darth Mulder said:

 

Is John Williams really such a genius as we think? 

 

Well, he doesn't watch the movies he's scored.

[karelm 3,076]

He talks about it here:

 

The context was finding the rhythm and tempo of the scene, he looks for anything that can help him so started thinking about how fast the bike's would have to spin their wheels if it really went over the moon.

[BB-8 3,936]

3 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

I meant: I remember being there in the room when he said it. So it could only have been Vienna or Berlin (it wasn't Tanglewood, and I haven't seen him live elsewhere). It included him saying that he consulted scientists and citing the number (and stuttering or mis-pronouncing "escape velocity").

I have the same kind of vague memory. Perhaps Vienna 2, or Thursday in Berlin when he was very talkative. 

 

My memory is now overridden by Milan where he also went into such physical detail.

[Score 772]

22 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Um... someone should tell JW they're just flying on Earth with the moon in the background. 

 

"Oh. If I had realized that, I would have scored it differently!"

[BB-8 3,936]

On 14/01/2023 at 9:18 PM, Jurassic Shark said:

Um... someone should tell JW they're just flying on Earth with the moon in the background. 

And that it's actually the sun during the end sequence.

 

[Jurassic Shark 13,158]

12 minutes ago, BB-8 said:

And that it's actually the sun during the end sequence.

 

Geez, can't Steven get anything right?

[GerateWohl 5,040]

3 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Geez, can't Steven get anything right?

The music saved it anyway.

[Loert 2,673]

I know John Williams mentioned the whole escape velocity issue in a Q&A he did at UCLA (or USC?). It was a multi-part upload on Youtube but I can't seem to find it anymore. I remember it distinctly because I remember thinking "Dafuq?". Seriously, JW, stick to your day job...

[Jurassic Shark 13,158]

I'd like to know JW's escape velocity when Hanz sneaks up on him at job events. 

[BB-8 3,936]

Perhaps they are all Trekkies in disguise?

...always in search of scientific explanation....

 

[MikeH 787]

On 14/1/2023 at 2:18 PM, Jurassic Shark said:

Um... someone should tell JW they're just flying on Earth with the moon in the background. 

“Adventures on Moon!”

[Joni Wiljami 1,212]

Eh... it is not the speed that lifts up the bicycles. The powers of E.T.  lifted them up...😎

 

[Tom 5,137]

I think its Williams's oblique way of wondering why the boys have to peddle at all (and the story sounds funny).  

[Jurassic Shark 13,158]

7 hours ago, Tom said:

I think its Williams's oblique way of wondering why the boys have to peddle at all (and the story sounds funny).  

 

I guess they do it out of habit.

 

17 hours ago, BB-8 said:

And that it's actually the sun during the end sequence.

 

In that case I want a refund.

 

Alternatively, Steven could replace the sun with a gigantic walkie-talkie. 

[BB-8 3,936]

 

 

11 hours ago, MikeH said:

“Adventures on Moon!”

Adventures over Moon

[Jurassic Shark 13,158]

Adventures Past Sun

 

Anyway, here's the original "death star" reveal before Lucas tinkered with it.

 

 

[BB-8 3,936]

Adventures over Earth past Sun

[Marian Schedenig 9,042]

On 17/01/2023 at 1:03 AM, Tom said:

I think its Williams's oblique way of wondering why the boys have to peddle at all (and the story sounds funny).  

 

What are they peddling?

[Tom 5,137]

51 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

What are they peddling?

Reese's Pieces.