# The Dream Is Alive > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Dream_Is_Alive > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Dream_Is_Alive.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dream_Is_Alive > Source revision: 1340471964 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) This article needs more citations. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "The Dream Is Alive" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message) 1985 American film The Dream Is Alive DVD cover Directed by Graeme Ferguson Written by Toni Trow Myers Produced by Graeme Ferguson Starring David Leestma Jon A. McBride George Nelson Sally Ride Kathryn Dwyer Sullivan James Van Hoften Narrated by Walter Cronkite Edited by Toni Trow Myers Music by Micky Erbe Maribeth Solomon Production company Threshold Corporation Distributed by IMAX Systems Corporation Release date June 1, 1985 (1985-06-01) Running time 37 minutes Country United States Language English Box office $70 million[1] ***The Dream is Alive*** is an American [IMAX](/source/IMAX) documentary film, released on June 1, 1985, about [NASA](/source/NASA)'s [Space Shuttle program](/source/Space_Shuttle_program). The film was narrated by [Walter Cronkite](/source/Walter_Cronkite), and directed by [Graeme Ferguson](/source/Graeme_Ferguson_(filmmaker)). ## Synopsis The documentary includes scenes from numerous shuttle missions, beginning with the dawn landing of [*Discovery*](/source/Space_Shuttle_Discovery) at [Kennedy Space Center](/source/Kennedy_Space_Center)'s [Shuttle Landing Facility](/source/Shuttle_Landing_Facility) upon the conclusion of [STS-51-A](/source/STS-51-A). A composite shot, the finished sequence is composed of footage from *Discovery*'s landing, radio transmissions from [*Challenger*](/source/Space_Shuttle_Challenger)'s 1984 landing on [STS-41-B](/source/STS-41-B) (the first mission to use the SLF runway), and runway approach footage filmed from a fixed-wing aircraft. Mission [STS-41-C](/source/STS-41-C), the 11th for the Shuttle program and the fifth for *[Challenger](/source/Space_Shuttle_Challenger)* is featured most heavily, beginning with the deployment of the [Long Duration Exposure Facility](/source/Long_Duration_Exposure_Facility) (LDEF) satellite. The capture and repair of the [Solar Max](/source/Solar_Maximum_Mission) satellite also receives a great deal of coverage, including a detailed overview of training for the mission in a [large pool](/source/Neutral_Buoyancy_Simulator) at NASA. This particular mission is of interest, as the first attempt at capturing the satellite failed, and a second attempt almost 12 hours later had to be made. That portion of the mission was a success, with the satellite being brought to the payload bay on the next attempt, and was repaired quickly by astronauts [James van Hoften](/source/James_van_Hoften) and [George Nelson](/source/George_Nelson_(astronaut)). Other STS 41-C mission activities included a student experiment located in a middeck locker to determine how honeybees make honeycomb cells in a microgravity environment. Other shuttle missions are interspersed during the feature with the STS-41-C footage. Highlights include: - [STS-41-D](/source/STS-41-D): The first launch of *[Discovery](/source/Space_Shuttle_Discovery)*, with footage of liftoff, the deployment of two of the three satellites on this mission, and special attention given to the novelty of the experimental [OAST-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=OAST-1&action=edit&redlink=1) [solar array](/source/Photovoltaic_module), which was a precursor to the [solar arrays](/source/Integrated_Truss_Structure#Solar_arrays) of the [International Space Station](/source/International_Space_Station). (These arrays were also a highly publicized portion of shuttle mission [STS-116](/source/STS-116), during which the astronauts made multiple—and eventually successful—attempts to fold the arrays for movement around the station.) Footage is also shown of *Discovery'*s landing and transport from its landing site at [Edwards Air Force Base](/source/Edwards_Air_Force_Base) to [Kennedy Space Center](/source/Kennedy_Space_Center) on the back of the [Shuttle Carrier Aircraft](/source/Shuttle_Carrier_Aircraft). - [STS-41-G](/source/STS-41-G): The sixth flight of *Challenger*, notable as the largest crew aboard the Shuttle at that time, the first time two women flew together on the Shuttle, and the first [spacewalk](/source/Spacewalk) by an [American](/source/United_States) woman, [Kathryn Dwyer Sullivan](/source/Kathryn_D._Sullivan). Footage of [Hurricane Josephine](/source/1984_Atlantic_hurricane_season#Hurricane_Josephine) is also shown. Additionally, a small amount of time is also dedicated to other aspects of the Space Shuttle program, including: - Other crew that work on the Shuttle; - The work of inspecting and replacing the Shuttle's [heat tiles](/source/Atmospheric_reentry#Thermal_soak); - [Training](/source/Astronaut_training) the astronauts must complete to prepare for missions; - [What the astronauts eat](/source/Space_food) on spaceflights; - How astronauts would bail out if an emergency occurred on the launch pad. ## *Challenger* disaster The film was produced and shot 15–18 months before the January 28, 1986, [*Challenger* disaster](/source/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster), and includes appearances by two astronauts who died in the explosion; [Francis Scobee](/source/Dick_Scobee) and [Judith Resnik](/source/Judith_Resnik). *Challenger* itself is featured prominently in the film. Many of the themes and tone of the documentary regarded the normalization of travel to space using the Shuttle while giving only passing mention to the dangers. The *Challenger* disaster would dramatically curtail this belief and subsequent experience would show that the shuttle would not make space travel more accessible or affordable. ## Release By 1992, *[Variety](/source/Variety_(magazine))* reported that the film had grossed $70 million since its debut translating to $17 million in film rentals in the United States and Canada, the biggest IMAX 70mm film to that date.[1] *The Dream Is Alive* was released on LaserDisc three times (twice in the US, once in Japan), DVD (pictured), and in high definition as a bonus feature on the *[Blue Planet](/source/Blue_Planet_(1990_film))* HD DVD and Blu-ray in 2007.[2] ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Variety_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Variety_1-1) Cohn, Lawrence (January 6, 1992). "Top 100 All-Time Film Rental Champs". *[Variety](/source/Variety_(magazine))*. p. 86. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Blu-ray.com](http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=164) May 2, 2007 (retrieved Jun 13, 2015) ## External links - [*The Dream Is Alive*](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089050/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) - [*The Dream Is Alive*](https://www.imax.com/movies/dream-alive) at [IMAX](/source/IMAX_Corporation) v t e Space Shuttle program Space Shuttle List of missions List of crews Components Orbiter Solid Rocket Booster External tank Main engine Orbital Maneuvering System Reaction control system Thermal protection system Booster separation motor Orbiters Enterprise Columbia Challenger Discovery Atlantis Endeavour Add-ons Spacelab (ESA) Canadarm (CSA) Extended Duration Orbiter Remote Controlled Orbiter Spacehab Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Sites Launch Complex 39 A B Space Launch Complex 6 Landing sites Shuttle Landing Facility Abort landing sites Operations and training Missions (canceled) Crews Mission timeline Mission Control Center Rollbacks Abort modes Rendezvous pitch maneuver Shuttle Mission Simulator Shuttle Training Aircraft Testing Inspiration (design) Pathfinder (simulator) MPTA (engine test article) Approach and Landing Tests Disasters Challenger disaster (report) Columbia disaster (report) Support Crawler-transporter Mate-Demate Device Mobile Launcher Platform NASA recovery ship Orbiter Processing Facility Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL) Shuttle Carrier Aircraft flights Shuttle Training Aircraft STS-3xx Special Deutschland-1 Getaway Special Journalist in Space Project Teacher in Space Project Shuttle-Mir Hitchhiker Space suits Extravehicular Mobility Unit Shuttle Ejection Escape Suit Launch Entry Suit Advanced Crew Escape Suit Experiments Freestar experiments Inflatable Antenna Experiment Spartan Packet Radio Experiment Shuttle pallet satellite Wake Shield Facility Derivatives Saturn-Shuttle Magnum Shuttle-Derived Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle Jupiter Shuttle-C Shuttle-Centaur Ares I IV V Liberty Space Launch System OmegA Replicas Independence Related Space Shuttle design process studied designs Inertial Upper Stage Payload Assist Module International Space Station Criticism Retirement Conroy Virtus Hail Columbia (1982 documentary) The Dream Is Alive (1985 documentary) Challenger (1990 film) Destiny in Space (1994 documentary) Columbia: The Tragic Loss (2004 documentary) Hubble (2010 documentary) The Challenger Disaster (2013 film) Challenger: The Final Flight (2020 documentary miniseries) Space Shuttle America Rendezvous: A Space Shuttle Simulation Space Shuttle Project Shuttle Space Shuttle: A Journey into Space Space Shuttle Mission 2007 Orbiter Space Flight Simulator When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions v t e Space Shuttle Challenger (OV-099) Flights STS-6 STS-7 STS-8 STS-41-B STS-41-C STS-41-G STS-51-B STS-51-F STS-61-A STS-51-L Status Out of service - Challenger disaster (destroyed) - January 28, 1986 (STS-51-L) Related Rogers Commission STS-61-F STS-61-M Challenger flag The Dream Is Alive (1985 documentary) Challenger (1990 film) When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions (2008 documentary miniseries) The Challenger Disaster (2013 film) Challenger: The Final Flight (2020 documentary miniseries) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Dream Is Alive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dream_Is_Alive) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dream_Is_Alive?action=history)). 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