Ad Astra

Trivia: When Roy McBride is reviewing a top-secret message regarding his father and the LIMA mission, the message filename is "6EQUJ5," which is a very obscure easter egg in the movie. The filename 6EQUJ5 refers to the real-life "WOW Signal," a deep space radio signal received by the Big Ear radio telescope at Ohio State University in 1977. The alpha-numeric designation "6EQUJ5" was a printed readout of the signal's duration and intensity. This signal lasted 72 seconds and was 20 times stronger than background radio noise, causing a surprised astronomer to circle the printed 6EQUJ5 readout in red ink and make the handwritten notation "WOW!" in the margin. While the signal was an anomalous one-time event that was never repeated, and there is still no proof that 6EQUJ5 was alien in origin, it has stimulated debate about extraterrestrial radio signals for decades. Ironically, the movie "Ad Astra" concludes that there are no alien radio signals and that we really are alone in the universe.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: The tear Brad Pitt sheds when talking to his father towards the end is real. He told the director: "You gotta replace my tear, that's not how it works in zero-gravity", but the director preferred the genuine tear over a CGI replacement.

Trivia: The title is Latin and translates to "to the stars". The title credits fade that wording in English into the title.

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Mistakes

Factual error: Pitt and the other astronauts fight at zero gravity during the take off. However, they are under acceleration, so they wouldn't be able to move.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: It's a bit confusing but the initial launch acceleration seems to have been short, acceleration stops, they float. Then the captain shouts to get back in their seats 'We're staging." A quick cut of a first stage booster falling away, then there's a sudden and momentary impulse, which kills the female astronaut when she hits the bottom of the chamber head first. Then there's no acceleration and they float and fight. So not obvious error.

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Quotes

Roy McBride: The zero G and the extended duration of the journey is affecting me both physically and mentally. I am alone. Something I always believed I preferred. I am alone. But I confess it's wearing on me. I am alone. I am alone.

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Questions

Question: Tommy Lee Jones killed his crew 16 years ago, but the corpses are still inside the ship, some of them without signs of decomposition! Is not it stinky living with rotten bodies? Why are they still on board?

Answer: He killed the crew by shutting down the life support. The vacuum would prevent them from decomposing. Since he was now a single person, he would not need to regain access to the entire ship.

But one corpse's head was deformed, presumably rotten, while the others were intact. Why is there a difference?

Answer: He also mentions that his last few loyal crew members recently attempted to return home. This is what damaged the reactor and caused the surges. It is likely that these are the crew Brad Pitt encounters.

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