18

In Capricorn One, the NASA mission control center maintains fluent communication with the spacecraft crew, which is especially obvious in the scene where the astronauts talk with their wives, even though the spacecraft was so far this would be impossible.

I would consider this just another logical glitch in the movie (which is full of them, IMHO), but the fact the signal from the spacecraft takes 21 minutes to reach Earth is repeatedly stressed in the movie just prior to these scenes. So I wonder, did I miss something? Is there any explanation, or is it really just an error?

5 Answers 5

10

The comment prior to the conversation with the astronauts´ wives (in the control center) clearly states that Capricorn 1 is just close enough to Earth to allow the fluent conversation. Only at the most distant point of the mission the conversation gaps reach 21 minutes. Thus, there seems to be no blooper nor plothole.

(I am much more worried about the Apollo mission technology used for a journey of at least a year. Could three astronauts just sit in the command module most of the time? I guess even the strongest personalities would have gone mad. There might have been a strong extended/additional stage of a modified Saturn rocket for the outward and return journey. If this stage was equipped with extra rooms, stores etc. it would appear more realistic than what we see in the movie.)

1
  • 1
    Watching the family conversation scene once again and paying special attention, it seems you are right! There is a single sentence by the TV commentator, stating “This is the first time the crew has been close enough to Earth to make normal conversation feasible.” Obviously, I did not notice it while watching the movie for the first time! (Even though the prior communications are still filmed in a way suggesting fluent conversation, but this might be explained as a film storytelling shortcut; there seem to be no true plotholes.)
    – Mormegil
    Nov 10, 2012 at 21:31
6

Sat down and watched this one (its all on this link) I can only conclude that this is a blooper. They say one thing and do the exact opposite few scenes later.

One could hope that this was a "hint" or "the vital evidence" that the mission was a hoax, but noone seems to notice it.

1
  • Not quite sure how this and the accepted answer have more votes than the CORRECT answer. It was part of the story, the technician who spots it is killed after bringing the main character into the story. What's worse is this poster claims to have watched it on a link and STILL thinks it's a blooper. Oct 3, 2016 at 17:28
5

This was in fact a plot device:

They also appear in a live TV broadcast talking to their wives in a normal dialogue - despite the fact that radio signals take at least several minutes to reach Earth from their location in space. The conspiracy is known to only a few officials, until alert technician Elliot Whitter (Robert Walden) notices that ground control receives the crew's television transmissions before the spacecraft telemetry arrives. Whitter mysteriously disappears before he can finish sharing his concerns with journalist friend Robert Caulfield (Elliott Gould). (Wikipedia)

1

At this point in the film the crew are supposed to have taken off from the surface of Mars and be on their return to Earth.

“This is Paul Cunningham, Capricorn Control. We are awaiting the start of the final television transmission from the Command Module on its return to Earth. This transmission is to be a conversation between the crew and their wives. This is the first time the crew has been close enough to Earth to make normal conversation possible.”

Bars of color crossed the large wall screen.

Capricorn One: Official (Ron Goulart) Novelisation

1
  • Although the explanation given by the public affairs person might have been accepted by most of the TV viewers, depending on where the capsule was at the time of the TV transmission there would have likely been many people watching who would have done some quick math in their head or on a calculator and realized that something wasn't right. Radio waves travel at 186,000 mph (300,000 km/h). The Moon is 250,000 miles away, which is 1.3 light seconds, so that creates a nearly 3 second delay in a conversation, which would be noticeable. 1,000,000 miles is a 10 second delay, etc. Dec 11, 2023 at 4:26
0

It is an error to allow the smooth flow of dialog. It is odd that they ram it down out throats in that way though.

It is rather like aliens in Star Trek speaking English because the translator translates the words ... but somehow their lips also perfectly match the English that it is being translated to rather than the alienese that they actually spoke.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .