He was alone in an airless, partially disabled ship, all communication with Earth cut off. There was not another human being within half a billion miles.
And yet, in one very real sense, he was not alone. Before he could be safe, he must be lonelier still.
Isolation. The secret sauce that makes horror movies so deliciously unnerving. Ninety-nine percent of the time, heroes are utterly alone. That isolation can be physical (a remote cabin, a snowbound hotel) , metaphysical (insanity , the afterlife), or both. But nothing compares to the isolation of space.
Rescue could be light years away. Running outside isn't an option. And what you're up against never has fewer than two mouths. Worse yet, space-based horror movies are among the most expensive to produce — meaning their writers and directors are a cut above direct-to-video. And the more talented your filmmaking adversaries, the more likely that the final frontier will become your final resting place.
"How will Man's subconscious mind react to his first experiences with space travel? Will he not suddenly be aware of his precarious situation, trapped in a tiny metal box, floating through the incomprehensible nothingness of space?"
— Dr. Heinz Haber, Disneyland, "Man in Space"
Q: What is the furthest one human being has ever been from every other living person? Were they lonely?
A: It's hard to know for sure! The most likely suspects are the six Apollo command module pilots who stayed in lunar orbit during a Moon landing: Mike Collins, Dick Gordon, Stu Roosa, Al Worden, Ken Mattingly, and Ron Evans. Each of these astronauts stayed alone in the command module while two other astronauts landed on the Moon. At the highest point in their orbit, they were about 3,585 kilometers from their fellow astronauts...
A: It's hard to know for sure! The most likely suspects are the six Apollo command module pilots who stayed in lunar orbit during a Moon landing: Mike Collins, Dick Gordon, Stu Roosa, Al Worden, Ken Mattingly, and Ron Evans. Each of these astronauts stayed alone in the command module while two other astronauts landed on the Moon. At the highest point in their orbit, they were about 3,585 kilometers from their fellow astronauts...
— from What If?, "Loneliest Human"
