Crowdfund A Space Exploration Trailer To Play Before Star Trek Into Darkness

By David Wharton | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

After the insane success of the Veronica Mars movie Kickstarter, the concept of crowdfunding has leapt back into the public eye. Most of the stories these past few weeks have been centered around which other beloved but cancelled TV shows could be resurrected, but crowdfunding isn’t limited only to entertainment. It can just as easily be used for more important things, such as attempting to inspire a whole new generation to become passionate about space exploration.

That’s the goal of the “We Are the Explorers” project at IndieGoGo. The goal is to raise enough money to air an edited version of the following NASA trailer in movie theaters across the country, beginning with the premiere of Star Trek Into Darkness. Utilizing the voice talents of the legendary Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime from Transformers), the video is designed to call out to the adventurous spirits of kids who may one day shape the path of our continued expansion into and exploration of space. I’ll admit it: this old space junkie got a little choked up. Here’s the full version of the trailer, which would be edited down to a 30-second spot for theaters.

As with most crowdfunding projects, this one has a target goal — $33,000 — and different levels of goodies you’ll get in exchange for your donation. They’re currently sitting at around $14,000 as of this posting, with 35 days remaining. The target goal is the amount they need to place the trailer in over 50 theaters for eight weeks, and if they go over that goal, the extra money will be used to put it in even more markets.

There are a ton of crowdfunding projects out there competing for your pledges, but this one is more noble than most. At a time when science is often dismissed or viewed with suspicion by a disturbing percentage of our population, it’s all the more important to get kids not only interested in science, but passionate about it. This trailer strives to do that by appealing to our inborn desire to explore, and the sense of wonder than comes from understanding just how amazing our universe is.