Gravity film trip

On 14 November 2013, thirteen sixth form physicists from Bishop Heber High School experienced the effects of zero gravity, visited low Earth orbit, were part of a repair mission on the Hubble space telescope, and undertook re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. They observed aspects of mechanics which are not usually manifest on the Earth without delicate experiments become the overriding concerns of the astronauts in this unfamiliar environment.

Unfortunately financial constraints prevent us from taking our A-level students on a trip to space itself, but we were able to go to see the new film "Gravity" in 3D at the Vue cinema at Chehire Oaks, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as NASA astronauts, whose lives will depend on their understanding of Newton's laws of forces when disaster strikes and they are cut off from contact with mission control back on Earth.

"Gravity" has received considerable acclaim from both critics and audiences, not least for the effort which has been put into getting the physics of orbital dynamics correct. The astronaut Buzz Aldrin has praised "the portrayal of the reality of zero gravity". It tied in particularly well with the recent work the upper sixth have been doing on momentum concepts and gravitational fields. Without giving too much away, all of the students enjoyed the film, and in addition their physical intuition was developed. The occasional inaccuracies provided fuel for (sometimes heated) debate and conversation on the journey home and added context to lessons back at school.

Mr Norman.