Prometheus: Science fiction vs science fact

Ridley Scott's sci-fi epic 'Prometheus' throws up a lot of questions. Is it a prequel to 'Alien'? What are David's (Michael Fassbender) motives? But most importantly, will we all be visiting far-flung planets in twenty years time?

Well, we flew out to the SIRIUS* astronaut training facility in Boston to chat to some boffins about the technology featured in 'Prometheus' and they told us the differences between science fiction and science fact.

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Is Cryosleep possible?

Cryosleep is the sci-fi idea of "sleeping" or "hibernating" for long periods of time in a controlled environment. Janna Kaplan, MS, SIRIUS Program Lead and Senior Scientist revealed that "you CAN induce suspended animation of cryosleep"!

Before you start booking your tickets to Pluto, Kaplan dampened the mood saying it isn't possible for humans to do this yet. She explained that "you can't take human tissue below freezing and revive it, organs and eggs yes, but not the complete whole body."

The professor then told us the grizzly truth about the cryosleep process, should it ever become a reality. She said, "when one would consider putting someone in to cryolseep you would not just freeze them as is, you would go through cleansing procedures, they would not have stuff in their stomachs."

Are skinny space suits in fashion?

The crew of Prometheus are kitted out in much more svelte gear than the clumsy white gilet-like outfits you see on real-life space men. Would they even help in space?

Well, Kaplan says that "because there was no gravity difference on the planet, the suits just needed to protect from whatever elements are in the atmosphere (and to give them a dramatic feel!)."

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Apparently, the crew could have done without them on that planet but the expert confessed that they looked "much prettier" with the suits.

She continued: "In real life the space suits are pressurised so they are inflated. But space suits like these [in 'Prometheus'] are already in the works. Prototypes of space suits at the moment are body-contoured."

Will we ever have androids doing the washing up?

According to Kaplin the life-like aspect of the 'Prometheus' android (Michael Fassbender) is extremely plausible claiming that "that's the easiest part". The tricky bit is the "movement control of robots" (ie. Making it actually move properly).

Fellow boffin Paul DiZio PhD threw a spanner into the works, announcing: "What's more likely to evolve is the cyborg technology on earth where humans and machines become so integrated."

"That is happening — machine augmentation of humans is happening at an incredible rate. People are swallowing nano-technology and getting things embedded. So the decision isn't going to be 'do humans create artificial intelligence?', the decision is going to be 'do cyborgs create a totally non-human being?'"

Scary stuff...

Are the mapping drones real?

In the film these 'mapping drones' are the red floating balls that fly off, scan the area and produce an accurate map of the surrounding area.

According to Joel Ventura PhD they already exist! He claims that the military has developed machines "fitted with cameras to fly in to areas and look for threats". Although not as impressive as the ones in the film, we are well on our way to making them.

Kaplin chips in to say that she can "definitely" see them becoming reality. She confirms the existence of military prototypes (although not so flashy) and claims "that technology I see developing."

So when can we go to space?

Janna: "The definite things that are happening and will be available in the next two years are private, commercial space flights. The industry is deliberately slowing it down because of the recession and so the market isn't ready yet. But within two years, once there are more people that want to buy the services, the services will be ready."

'Prometheus' is released on Blu-ray 3D Collector's Edition, Blu-ray and DVD on 8 October from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

*SIRIUS Astronaut Training, and The Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory at Brandeis University, USA

Edited by Edward Bovingdon