NASA’s Connection To Transformers: Dark Of The Moon

Thanks to NASA, Transformers: Dark Of The Moon director Michael Bay had a place to hang out and film the blockbuster movie.

Bay and his crew, including lead actors Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whitely and Josh Duhamel, came to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to film part of the movie. According to NASA, Bay and co. practically moved in for a week in October of last year to film part of the movie.

The crew filmed at Launch Pad 39A, where at the time Discovery was being held before its final launch. It also filmed in Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and an Orbiter Processing Facility and at the Space Station Processing Facility.

According to film producer, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, using Kennedy as backdrop for the film was a natural since it is about science fiction.

The idea of the space program always was how to get in contact with others, so we've brought the Transformers to the shuttle, said di Bonaventura. The Kennedy Space Center has always been this sort of mythical thing, I think, for me. You imagine it out there and then you come here and you realize how many people are working here and what this kind of endeavor entails.

During the filming, there were various casting calls, costuming and catering tents as well as high-performance cars and trucks. Many NASA employees, like Test Director (NTD) Mike Cianelli got to appear in the film. Employees were rewarded with a sneak peak of the movie of the movie in IMAX at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

It was fun to see the production and then to see the end product, Cianelli said.

The feature film is the third of the franchise, all of which have more than $500 million. The last movie, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was the second highest grossing movie in 2009. The third installment will have a storyline that includes traveling to the moon, including usage of the first moon landing from Apollo 11.

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