The Hunt For Planet B ( 2021 | USA | 93 minutes | Nathaniel Kahn)
If you have plans for Halloween cancel them… or at least make sure to leave time to watch the launch of the James Webb telescope. If that sentence doesn’t excite or even interest you, it will after you watch The Hunt for Planet B.
It has become grossly clear that our planet may not be able to survive us. If it does, then it’s because it kicked us off or took out our entire species. We’re slowly draining its resources and life force and soon we won’t be able to reverse it. To be blunt, we need to find another planet to spread out the human race or we’ll destroy this one and all of us with it. The ultimate goal of the James Webb telescope is to find life on another planet, find an inhabitable planet for humans, or even better: both. The Hunt for Planet B explores the journey from concept to completion of this telescope and how it can change the world, the universe, as we know it. So powerful it can pick up the heat signature of a bee on the moon, this telescope will fly past the moon and beyond to seek out both life and viable planets beyond any measure that we’ve even attempted before.
I’m a complete and utter science nerd and if I hadn’t decided to leave Mechanical Engineering in college, I would at least be in NASA’s orbit if not working with teams there directly (I would have made it happen). Women in science are becoming more and more the norm, but at NASA it still tends to be male-dominated. However, the Webb Telescope project has a lot of powerful and intelligent women at the helm both in research and engineering. This doc makes a point of revealing their importance not only to NASA at large but to this launch as well. I see the passion and excitement I had in school in every scientist interviewed and it makes me giddy. The sheer genius that is captured throughout the feature boggles my mind, and I cannot wait until 10/31/21 when this sucker is launched into the sky. The long and short of this film is to bring you into the world of the teams building the Webb telescope, its massive capabilities, and what that could mean for our future. If you’re a nerd for space, then this documentary was made for you.
The Hunt for Planet B premiered at SXSW in the Documentary Features Spotlight section; it is currently seeking distribution. (Cover image via SXSW)