Impact (2008 TV mini-series)

&nbsp Impact is a 2008 ABC mini-series about a meteor shower which eventually sends the moon on a collision course with Earth. The two-part mini-series premiered June 21 and 28 on ABC, and also debuted on the pay television network SuperChannel on February 14 and 15.

Plot
During a meteor shower said to be the most spectacular in 10,000 years, the remains of a brown dwarf hidden by the meteor field strikes the Moon. Fragments of the asteroid and of the Moon itself penetrate Earth's atmosphere and make impact. The initial damage is minimal, though significant physical damage to the lunar surface can be seen from Earth. Experts believe that the Moon has stabilized into a slightly closer orbit. Then strange anomalies begin to manifest themselves on Earth, including cell phone disruptions, unusual static discharges and odd tidal behavior. The world's leading scientists, including Alex Kittner, Maddie Rhodes, and Roland Emerson, begin piecing together evidence that suggests the moon's properties have been permanently altered because the asteroid that hit the Moon was actually a fragment of a brown dwarf; the fragment is highly magnetized and more massive than the Earth despite being only 19 kilometers across, and it is still inside the moon. When the Moon's new, more elliptical orbit brings it closer to Earth, electromagnetic surges begin affecting the surface, causing people, vehicles, and other objects to levitate at random, worldwide. Alex, Maddie, Roland and the rest of their team soon discover that the Moon's new orbit will cause it to collide with the Earth in 39 days, completely destroying the planet. After a failed attempt by the United States to destroy the Moon with nuclear weapons, the three scientists plan an international mission to the Moon, where astronauts must construct a device to magnetize the Moon's core, causing it to disgorge the embedded brown dwarf fragment, eliminating the magnetic effects and restoring the Moon to a stable orbit. Because of their unique expertise, Alex and Roland must join an American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut on the mission, which is expected to be a one-way trip. Roland's pregnant fiancée, Martine Altmann, was travelling across Germany on a train that levitated and derailed. She and an American, Bob Pierce, are able to lead the survivors to a military convoy, and Bob convinces the soldiers to allow Martine to ride to Roland's location. She and Roland are immediately married. Alex's children are left in the care of their late mother's father. When they attempt to drive cross-country to reunite with Alex, their car levitates and crashes. After a confrontation with a man hoarding resources at a convenience store, the children's grandfather suffers a fatal heart attack. The other man originally plans to leave alone, but has a change of heart and brings the children to Washington, DC. Alex is already in space, but he had asked Maddie, with whom he once had a romantic relationship, to make sure his children remained safe. He is able to tell his children "goodbye" over a video feed. On the Moon, the electromagnetic machine is assembled. Roland and the astronaut, Courtney, travel in a rover to locate a fissure in the lunar surface. The rover crashes deep inside the fissure and Courtney falls to her death. Roland is unharmed but trapped inside the fissure and unable to rejoin the spacecraft. He demands that the cosmonaut, Sergei, launch the module so that he and Alex can be saved. The device is activated, causing a large explosion on the Moon, which kills Roland. The Moon splits in two as the brown dwarf fragment flies into the Sun. The orbit of the lunar debris is stable. Sergei and Alex make radio contact, revealing that they escaped the Moon before the explosion. Back on Earth, Alex is reunited with his children and with Maddie.

Scientific Reaction
The "Impact" miniseries received little comment from the scientific community due to its lack of realism, incorrect use of terminology, and basic misunderstanding of the law of gravity.

Main cast

 * David James Elliott as Alex Kittner
 * Natasha Henstridge as Maddie Rhodes
 * Benjamin Sadler as Roland Emerson
 * Steven Culp as President Edward Taylor
 * James Cromwell as Alex's father-in-law
 * Florentine Lahme as Martina Altmann

Filming locations

 * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada — Central Park, University of Victoria, Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (CNRC)
 * Berlin, Germany