NASA released a statement in honor of "Gravity's" success at this year's Oscars.
The movie, which follows the struggles of two astronauts out in space, won a number Academy Awards mainly for its cinematography and score.
"NASA congratulates everyone involved with producing the movie "Gravity" for all of the Oscar wins, especially Alfonso Cuarón for winning "Best Director" at the 86th Academy Awards Ceremony held on March 2, 2014," the NASA news release stated.
In the movie two astronauts stubble to survive after flying debris destroy their spacecraft.
Although this scenario makes for gripping Hollywood entertainment,, NASA actively works to protect its astronauts and vehicles from the dangers portrayed in the movie, the release stated.
Extensive training and a protective coating on the outside of the space station work to prevent this scenario from ever being played out in real life.
On Sept. 16 astronaut Cady Coleman discussed the role with Sandra Bullock while aboard the ISS. She showed Bullock that she could propel herself across the room with only a piece of hair.
"I told her that I had long hair, and if you pulled a hair out and pushed it against something, you could move yourself across the space station," Coleman said, the news release reported. "That's how little force it takes."
The release discussed how free water in the movie formed spheres, according to NASA this is a true phenomenon; the spheres are caused by surface tension. Coleman worked on a study aboard the ISS that looked into why this occurred.
Studies on fire in space (which occurred in the move) are also taking place aboard the ISS. The film also showed the current ISS effort to see how plants grow in space.
I was pleased to have the movie show something that we actually do on the space station," Coleman said. "Up in space, we are forced to grow things in an alternative way. Just growing them in the dirt is not always the most logistically feasible option. In trying to understand those lessons, we learn how to minimize resources and still grow something."
Coleman was pleased with the film's outcome.
"Our planet sits in a neighborhood within the universe, and we are all space explorers," she said. "I think space movies, in general, bring that message home to us. Whether we live with our feet on the planet or whether we live on the space station, we are all space travelers and we are a people of space exploration."
