"The Stuff of Heroes" which is available as a series on Disney +, "Away" which imagines the first mission to Mars on Netflix or even "Missions" on OCS which, before switching to a fantastic plot, features a crew European in the direction of the red planet… No doubt, these last days the conquest of space fascinates again the creators.
"This enthusiasm is due to the combination of several factors," emphasizes Olivier Sanguy, editor-in-chief of space news at the Cité de l'Espace in Toulouse.
First of all, the agencies, led by NASA, seized on social networks to communicate directly with the general public, which allowed people to reclaim space.
Platforms, like the cinema with
Seul sur Mars, First Man
or
Proxima
, have sensed this trend and exploited it.
Then there is a generational phenomenon: the creators or decision makers of today are people who were cradled either by Apollo or by the era of the space shuttle.
"
This is confirmed by Julien Lacombe, 41, director and co-writer of “Missions” on OCS: “The film
The Cloth of Heroes
, I must have seen it 45 times!
When I was growing up in the 1980s, there was new momentum around space thanks to the space shuttle and all the post-
Star Wars
sci-fi breeding ground
.
I was nourished by that and this fascination is found in the productions of the men and women of my generation.
"
Not so smooth astronauts
A prolific production which also finds its source in the very nature of the subject.
“Everything that has to do with the unknown fascinates.
Dreaming elsewhere is often the corollary of a world where things are not going very well, thinks Julien Lacombe.
Ours is quite anxious, this year obviously but for some time between global warming and the rise of nationalism.
Looking towards the stars is a promise of new territories.
"
Moreover, fiction makes it possible to stage personalities more colorful than in reality.
“Very generally, the astronauts represented on the screen always have problems which are improbable for real crews, continues the screenwriter and director.
Never would people with such exacerbated moods be selected for a real space mission.
"
"The Cloth of Heroes" looks back on the beginnings of the American space program.
/ National Geographic / Gene Page
On the inspiration side, with hindsight, the first space programs take on a new dimension.
“At the time, the astronaut was above all a standard bearer.
It was necessary to erase all the rough edges in the communication: they were presented as perfect and smooth men while they had big personalities, recalls the journalist Olivier Sanguy.
Over time, we rediscover anecdotes and bring to light a whole human side.
"
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Fiction finally makes it possible to take a step ahead of reality with the feminization of crews and an increasingly international aspect.
“For
Missions
, having a European team was a necessity for credibility, because a 100% French crew, no one would have believed it,” assures Julien Lacombe.
I imagine that for
Away (Editor's note: with an American, a Chinese, an Indian, a Russian and a Briton of Ghanaian origin)
it allows to speak to audiences all over the world.
As a screenwriter, this international side, where cultural differences are sources of opposition, is a blessing.
"
To fly into space
ON NETFLIX
"Away"
,
taken by Hilary Swank who leaves her family for a three-year space mission to Mars (10 episodes of 44 to 57 minutes each.)
“Space Force”
:
the revival of the American space program today, seen in a comic way with Steve Carell (10 episodes of 27 to 36 minutes each).
"The last flight of the Challenger shuttle":
documentary series on the 1986 disaster (4 episodes of 41 to 52 minutes each).
ON APPLE TV +
“For All Mankind”, a
series that reinvents history by imagining that the Russians beat the Americans on the Moon in 1969. The conquest of space is only reinforced, exacerbating the race between the two countries to conquer the satellite more sustainably of the Earth (10 episodes of 48 to 76 minutes each).
ON OCS
“Missions”,
a fantastic series in which the conquest of Mars turns into an expedition that questions humanity's place on Earth (2 seasons, 20 episodes of 19 to 26 minutes each).
ON DISNEY +
“The Stuff of Heroes”, a
series from the 1983 film and Tom Wolfe's book on the beginnings of the American space program (6 episodes out of 8, 45 to 53 minutes each). A true story also revisited by the documentary
“Behind the fabric of heroes”,
which is based on official and personal archives. Online November 20 (89 minutes).