RocketMan (also written as Rocket Man) is a 1997 American comic science fiction film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Caravan Pictures, and distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. Directed by Stuart Gillard, it stars Harland Williams, Jessica Lundy, William Sadler, and Jeffrey DeMunn.
The film was released on October 10, 1997. It received negative reviews from critics and grossed $15.4 million.
Contents
Plot
NASA is training for the first human mission to Mars, which will involve the spacecraft Aries. Because of a supposed glitch in the computer navigation system, NASA looks for the original programmer of the software to understand why it seems to be broken. Fred Z. Randall, the eccentric and clumsy programmer who wrote the software, meets Paul Wick, the flight director of the Mars mission; William "Wild Bill" Overbeck, the commander of the Mars mission; and astronaut Gary Hackman, the computer specialist. Fred looks at the software and discovers that the problem actually stems from a mathematical error made by Gary. After a display of hard-headed stubbornness, Gary is hit in the head by a model of the Pilgrim 1 Mars lander, suffering a skull fracture. NASA decides to replace him instead of delaying the mission. Fred is brought to NASA to see whether he has what it takes to be an astronaut. He goes through a series of exercises and does well, even going so far as to break every record that Overbeck had set. In the end, Fred gets the job.
