New documentary "Spacedrop" takes viewers to simulated space quarantine – TechCrunch

"The first Asian Jew in the false space," was how Josh Burstein introduced himself when we hopped on the phone earlier this week.

The fake space in question is the Hawai Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS), where NASA has been periodically isolate teams of astronauts to study how they react to the stress of space exploration – and or Burstein was stationed last year

. He is now releasing a special 37-minute documentary about this experience, entitled "Spacedrop".

The special lives up to its motto: "How to space the quarantine." For two weeks, Burstein and an international team of scientists led by Michaela Musilova he treated a habitat on the slopes of Mauna Loa as if it were a true habitat on the Moon or on Mars, spending most of his time indoors and did not going out to explore the landscape beyond its walls only after donning a breathing apparatus that approaches a real space suit.

And yes, the film spends a few minutes on the parallels between a simulated space quarantine and our current world of stay imposed by the coronavirus.

Burstein recognized that the situations are very different: on the one hand, HI-SEAS was a much shorter quarantine. And although he spent both on the special and in our interview talking about the incredible feeling of going out after the forties and "listening to the spokes of a motorcycle, see the green color, everything is back in Technicolor ", it seems unlikely that the rest we will get an equally fast and satisfactory return to normality.

"We are not going out of quarantine," he said. "It's going to be slower burning."

Still, he believes there are lessons that people can learn from their experience, such as the importance of "successfully managing expectations." And he hopes that "Spacedrop" will help illustrate the importance of space exploration, even in times of global crisis, and as we head towards what is likely to be a global recession.

After all, he noted that space education and research is not only about "bumping into Boba Fett", but that it also has real benefits for science and technology on Earth. And one of the main themes of the documentary is international cooperation.

"The only thing Democrats and Republicans agree on is that space is large," said Burstein, adding that the International Space Station is the only place "where Americans and Russians are in constant collaboration and have a solid relationship. "

And although it is a documentary (a word that Burstein avoided in our interview), it is far from serious or boring. Instead, there are a lot of jokes about cabin fever, body odor and the disappointing state of the kitchen space.

After all, Burstein, a non-scientist, non-astronaut, whose CV This includes stays with the Obama campaign and, as Charlie Sheen's social media manager, he is admirably realistic about his own role in mission. He happily describes himself as a "Red shirt," And the special makes sure to emphasize that his first job in a space suit is to take out the trash.

How was Burstein invited to participate? He said he "called NASA cold" and convinced them to let him join him and film the experiment. After all, communication and education are an important part of space exploration.

As for whether he would consider a trip to the Moon or to real Mars, he said he wanted to, but maybe not on those first missions: "He would really take a trip of pleasure on the Moon and would eat at Sbarro at the moon base. " . food court. "

"Spacedrop" is coming to Amazon Prime Video soon, and in the meantime live on vimeo.