Carolyn Porco To Keep 'Star Trek XI' Real

NASA's Imaging Science team leader to advise graphics technicians and lend credibility to Star Trek XI.

As reported by The Arizona Daily Star, J.J. Abrams called Carolyn Porco. He spoke to her about his thoughts on science fiction films. "He mentioned the movie '2001: A Space Odyssey,'" said Porco. "Since '2001' is my all-time favorite sci-fi film, it made me think this guy thinks like me. I was 'in' at that point."

She was a fan of the original series when it first aired. "I was one of the originals," she explained. "I watched Captain Kirk back in the '60s. I used to actually take my younger brothers to 'Star Trek' conventions. I watched Picard and the first 'Star Trek' movie, 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture.' I've seen 'The Wrath of Khan.'"

Porco described what she expected to do on Star Trek XI. "I'll probably be working with them creating astronomical scenes, planetary scenes, whatever there's going to be," she said. "I doubt there will be very much shooting down inane things like phasers. I'm going to be the planetary policewoman. That's what I'll try to be. I'll be consulting, but in the end it's Abrams' decision what he takes and what he doesn't of my advice."

She had praise for those working on Star Trek XI. "From what I can see, this is a sincere group of people trying to get it right. From what I've seen, the idea is to make this movie different. Of course, it's still gonna be 'Star Trek.'"

When asked if she was worried about tarnishing her reputation, Porco said, "You know how these things go. If you do something right, another person gets the credit. Do something wrong and you get the credit. In the end, Abrams makes the decision. It would be lovely to get some of the real solar system phenomena on the big screen. You can't really expect reality. You couldn't realistically depict objects as they would be observed at ten astronomical units away from the sun because our eyes are not evolved to work under those conditions. So, you have to violate something to begin with."

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