Blast! December 12, 2009

In celebration of the International Year of Astronomy we will screen Blast! (2009, 53 min.) by Emmy winner Paul Devlin, follows the story of his brother, Mark Devlin PhD, as he leads a tenacious team of scientists hoping to figure out how all of the galaxies formed by launching a revolutionary new telescope under a NASA high-altitude balloon. Their adventure takes them from Arctic Sweden to Canada, where catastrophic failure forces the team to try all over again on the desolate ice in Antarctica.

Blast! Also examines the dedicated life of scientists. Their professional obsessions, personal and family sacrifices, and philosophical questioning all give emotional resonance to suspenseful scientific pursuit.