FILM · 2019 · USA
Ad Astra
20 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
20 Interesting Facts About Ad Astra
Interesting Facts (14)
- #001
Clifford McBride says he has cataracts and has difficulty seeing. Cataracts are one of the predicted health problems associated with prolonged exposure to solar radiation in space.
- #002
- #003
At 19:25, Tommy Lee Jones is seen wearing the same spacesuit he wore in the film Space Cowboys (2000). The only difference is that the two patches on the chest were digitally altered to match the Space Comm suits in Ad Astra.
- #004
After giving his briefing, Roy recounts his father's story while walking down a corridor decorated with NASA astronaut portraits and biographies. His father H. Clifford McBride's biography (listing his birth date as September 25, 2031 and the Project Lima date as December 28, 2079) appears alongside other real NASA astronauts: Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon; Bruce McCandless II, the first astronaut to fly the Manned Maneuvering Unit; Eileen Collins, the first female Shuttle commander; Mae C. Jemison; Winston Scott; and Scott Kelly.
- #005
The narration was not in the original script and was added only while the film was in post-production. Much, if not most, of the voiceover was written by Oscar-winning screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (who, ironically, notoriously mocked this kind of voiceover in the screenplay for Adaptation (2002)).
- #006
The proposed engine Roy's ship uses to reach Neptune is a theoretical electric propulsion engine. This explains how the vehicle can travel to Neptune without needing fuel, since the fuel is provided by solar panels.
- #007
While traveling from Mars to Neptune, the planets Jupiter and Saturn are mentioned, but no one mentions Uranus. However, since the planets are rarely aligned relative to the Sun, they would not necessarily have to pass it, especially if these planets were on opposite sides of the Sun. Moreover, without any preparation or coincidence, passing by Jupiter and Saturn on the way to Neptune would be quite unusual.
- #008
This is the first collaboration between Brad Pitt and James Gray. They planned to work together on The Lost City of Z (2016), but Pitt left the project due to scheduling conflicts. He stayed on board as executive producer.
- #009
The Moonbase tablets have close/minimize/hide buttons in their user interface that resemble the phases of the Moon.
- #010
Near the Moon base, a "Vegas Vic" neon cowboy sign can be seen next to a hotel sign.
- #011
When the Cepheus lifts off from Mars for the top-secret search-and-destroy mission, stowaway McBride and the official crew move as if they are in zero gravity. Acceleration is only accounted for after the rocket jettisons its first stage and docks, and one of the crew floats freely and later slams into the rear pressure bulkhead's pressure door as the vehicle continues its acceleration profile under second-stage thrust.
- #012
Former astronaut Garrett Reisman and aerospace engineer Robert J. Yowell served as technical advisers.
- #013
Jamie Kennedy's role was cut from the final film, but he appears briefly with Brad Pitt in the final IMAX trailer.
- #014
Much like his character in Space Cowboys (2000), Tommy Lee Jones's character in Ad Astra is a lone astronaut in space who is confronted with his own death.
Production Story (1)
- #015
According to James Gray, Natasha Lyonne lives in the same building as him and invited him to dinner while the film was in production. When he explained the film he was working on, she insisted on being part of it, and Gray offered her a brief role in the film.
Behind the Scenes (1)
- #016
Unlike many contemporary films that used CGI to depict the spacecraft and the vast environment, director James Gray chose to use practical effects such as models and props for the exterior shots of the spacecraft. He also decided to use still images to depict the planets' surfaces instead of using CGI for the planets. The same technique was used in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
Deeper Meaning (2)
- #017
When Roy examines the Top Secret message given to him by Colonel Pruitt, the file name is shown as 6EQUJ5. Astronomy enthusiasts will immediately recognize this as the character string representing the so-called "Wow!" signal heard by a radio telescope listening in the direction of the Sagittarius constellation in 1977. In real life, the Wow! signal, which resembled what might be expected from an extraterrestrial intelligent source, was never explained and was never heard again.
- #018
The Moon-Mars ship is named Cepheus, after a constellation in the northern sky, which in turn takes its name from the king of Aethiopia in Greek mythology. Actress Ruth Negga (Helen Lantos) was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Career & Awards (2)
- #019
Ad Astra is set in 2119-2120, 100 years after its release date. Below, Roy McBride's narration is assumed to be more reliable than the inconsistent recollections of events he tells others. On the wall panel describing his father's career, Project Lima is stated to have begun on December 28, 2079, and Roy says he was 16 when his father left, so he was probably born in 2063. Brad Pitt was born in December 1963, so the dates appear to have been chosen so that the character is born exactly 100 years after the actor's birth. Roy was 29 when his father disappeared, and his last (public) message is said to have arrived 27 years ago, making Roy 56 at the start of the film, which would be Brad Pitt's age for much of 2020. However, H. Clifford McBride is 15 years "older" than Tommy Lee Jones, making him nearly 90 when Roy reaches Neptune.
- #020
The video playing as Roy McBride passes the bodies at Lima Base shows the Nicholas Brothers performing "I've Got A Gal In Kalamazoo." This may be from their feature film "Orchestra Wives," a 1942 musical drama. The song they performed was nominated for the Best Music, Original Song Oscar. From the 1930s to the 1950s, the Nicholas Brothers were a biological brothers' entertainment group specializing in "flash dancing" and were known as the best tap dancers of their time. They also performed the famous "Jumpin' Jive" dance with Cab Calloway and His Orchestra in the 1942 film "Stormy Weather."
Related pages
- The Martian — Ad Astra comes up in the facts on that page
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- IMDb
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work