NASA tweets real "Gravity" photos as film wins Oscar
As the film "Gravity" took home seven Oscars -- the most of any film this year -- NASA cheered on the cast and crew by tweeting out photos of actual space missions.
In the film, Sandra Bullock and George Clooney play astronauts who are stranded in space after their space shuttle is damaged mid-orbit. Getting back to Earth becomes a solo mission for Bullock's character, Dr. Ryan Stone, after Clooney's Lieutenant Matt Kowalski sacrifices himself to give her a chance to live.
As she prepared for the role, Bullock consulted with astronaut Cady Coleman about life in space, according to one of the tweets. She earned a Best Actress nomination for her performance. Taking the role, she said in October, was her "best life decision."
Bullock and director Alfonso Cuaron, who took home the golden statuette for Best Director, visited CBS This Morning on Feb. 18 to talk about their film, which tied with "Her" for the L.A. critics' Best Film Prize in December. The film premiered in August at the Venice Film Festival.
NASA used the hashtag "#RealGravity" as it tweeted out more than a dozen photos. The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center also added its congratulations, posting photos to Flickr. There were shots of Coleman looking out the window of the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft during Expedition 27, astronaut Steven Smith working on the Hubble telescope in 1999, and astronauts free flying in space.
In one photo showing tools used in space, the agency wrote, "Almost as nice as #Oscar hardware we use hardware like this in #RealGravity... Congrats Gravity!"
Out of 10 nominations, "Gravity" won for Best Director, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Film Editing, and Best Visual Effects.