filming_location space station 3d
Top Gun is a 1986 American romantic military action drama film directed by Tony Scott , and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer , in association with Paramount Pictures . The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps , Jr ., and was inspired by an article titled " Top Guns " published in " ___MASK38___ " magazine three years earlier . The film stars Tom Cruise , Kelly McGillis , Val Kilmer , Anthony Edwards , and Tom Skerritt . Cruise plays Lieutenant Pete " Maverick " Mitchell , a young Naval aviator aboard the aircraft carrier . He and his Radar Intercept Officer ( RIO ) Nick " Goose " Bradshaw ( Edwards ) are given the chance to train at the Navy ' s Fighter Weapons School at Miramar in ___MASK16___ . The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated by the U . S . National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ), as part of the Space Shuttle program . Its official program name was " Space Transportation System ( STS )", taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft of which it was the only item funded for development . The first of four orbital test flights occurred in 1981 , leading to operational flights beginning in 1982 . Five complete Shuttle systems were built and used on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011 , launched from the ___MASK66___ ( KSC ) in ___MASK28___ . Operational missions launched numerous satellites , interplanetary probes , and the Hubble Space Telescope ( HST ); conducted science experiments in orbit ; and participated in construction and servicing of the International Space Station . The Shuttle fleet ' s total mission time was 1322 days , 19 hours , 21 minutes and 23 seconds . The International Space Station ( ISS ) is a space station , or a habitable artificial satellite , in low Earth orbit . Its first component launched into orbit in 1998 , and the ISS is now the largest artificial body in orbit and can often be seen with the naked eye from Earth . The ISS consists of pressurised modules , external trusses , solar arrays , and other components . ISS components have been launched by Russian Proton and Soyuz rockets , and American Space Shuttles . A documentary film is a nonfictional motion picture intended to some aspect of reality , primarily for the purposes of instruction , education , or maintaining a historical record . Such films were originally shot on film stock  the only medium available  but now include video and digital productions that can be either direct - to - video , made into a TV show , or released for screening in cinemas . " Documentary " has been described as a " filmmaking practice , a cinematic tradition , and mode of audience reception " that is continually evolving and is without clear boundaries . Space Station 3D ( simply known as Space Station in 2D format ) is a 2002 Canadian - American 3D short documentary film about the International Space Station written , produced , edited , and directed by Toni Myers . Narrated by Tom Cruise , it is the first IMAX 3D production filmed in space . A space station , also known as an orbital station or an orbital space station , is a spacecraft capable of supporting crewmembers , which is designed to remain in space ( most commonly as an artificial satellite in low Earth orbit ) for an extended period of time and for other spacecraft to dock . A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by lack of major propulsion or landing systems . Instead , other vehicles transport people and cargo to and from the station . three space stations are in orbit : the International Space Station , which is permanently manned , China ' s Tiangong - 1 ( defunct ) and Tiangong - ___MASK20___ ( launched ___MASK2___ September 2016 , not permanently manned ). Previous stations include the Almaz and Salyut series , Skylab , and most recently " Mir ". Thomas Cruise Mapother IV ( born July 3 , 1962 ), known professionally as Tom Cruise , is an American actor and producer . He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and has won three Golden Globe Awards . He started his career at age 19 in the film " Endless Love " ( 1981 ). After portraying supporting roles in " Taps " ( 1981 ) and " The Outsiders " ( 1983 ), his first leading role was in the romantic comedy " Risky Business ", released in August 1983 . Cruise became a full - fledged movie star after starring as Pete " Maverick " Mitchell in the action drama " Top Gun " ( 1986 ). One of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood , Cruise starred in several more successful films in the 1980s , including the dramas " The Color of Money " ( 1986 ), " Cocktail " ( 1988 ), " Rain Man " ( 1988 ), and " Born on the Fourth of July " ( 1989 ). Film stock is an analog medium that is used for recording motion pictures or animation . It is a strip or sheet of transparent plastic film base coated on one side with a gelatin emulsion containing microscopically small light - sensitive silver halide crystals . The sizes and other characteristics of the crystals determine the sensitivity , contrast and resolution of the film . The emulsion will gradually darken if left exposed to light , but the process is too slow and incomplete to be of any practical use . Instead , a very short exposure to the image formed by a camera lens is used to produce only a very slight chemical change , proportional to the amount of light absorbed by each crystal . This creates an invisible latent image in the emulsion , which can be chemically developed into a visible photograph . In addition to visible light , all films are sensitive to X - rays and high - energy particles . Most are at least slightly sensitive to invisible ultraviolet ( UV ) light . Some special - purpose films are sensitive into the infrared ( IR ) region of the ___MASK84___ .