THE LAST METEOR - a wip introduction
2, 4: The Wild Blue Yonder (Werner Herzog, 2005) // 5: “The Parable of the Sower”, Octavia Butler // 6: High Life (Claire Denis, 2018) // 8: Solaris (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972) // 1, 3, 7: original
✷ genre science fiction / speculative fiction
✷ warnings depictions of mental illness / horror elements / death
✷ status planning + drafting
✷ summary
In the near/distant future, when NASA has been all but defunded and private enterprise has taken over space travel, the International Space Union, a merger of all viable space programs, is sending a suicide mission (gracefully not called that in front of high command) into space.
There are six women, and generations upon generations of frozen embryos. So, the job is simple, to stay alive in a state of the art space ship, do repairs, raise children. Raise the children to be able to care for children. Do this until you reach Alpha Centauri.
This is a generational saga about leaving home, creating home, the surrealism of the great emptiness of space, and what secrets can be kept on a small craft hurtling through the dark. What does family look like in such an artificial setting? What does motherhood mean to these women?
The first six women are all named after one or a combination of past female astronauts: Yelena V. Kondakova, Judith Resnik, Liu Yang, Mae Jemison, Claudie Haigneré, Kalpana Chawla, and Yi So-yeon.
✷ characters
Yelena Resnik [ Commander, Representing Russia ]
Liu Zhang [ Communications, Representing China ]
Mae Johnson [ Pilot, Representing the USA ]
Claudie Moreau [ Education Specialist, Representing the EU ]
Kalpana Rawal [ Flight Engineer, Representing India ]
Suk So-yeon [ Flight Doctor, Representing Korea ]
✷ themes found family dynamics / parenthood / the science of space travel / elements of the surreal / queer + trans identity / betrayal + forgiveness
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