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Collision Earth (2011) movie poster

Timeline

Collision Earth (2011) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Release, runtime and language
2011 · 86 mins · English
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Directed by
Paul Ziller
Starring
Jessica Parker Kennedy, Kirk Acevedo, Chad Krowchuk, Andrew Airlie, Catherine Lough Haggquist, Diane Farr

When Planets Collide A huge solar flare blasts Mercury out of it’s orbit and provides it with an intense magnetic field and it’s on collision course for Earth.

Drama Action Cast, crew & box office
On this page (5)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 Events in order (12)
  3. 3 Timeline questions answered
  4. 4 Movie threads
  5. 5 Every angle
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12 events in order · contains spoilers

Collision Earth Timeline: Events in Chronological Order

Every key event of Collision Earth (2011) in order, scene by scene, with when and where it takes place. Use it to untangle flashbacks, time jumps and parallel storylines, to refresh your memory before the sequel or to find the exact scene you are thinking of.

  1. Solar flare disrupts Mercury landing

    During orbital insertion, a sudden solar flare erupts from the Sun and magnetizes Mercury. The Nautilus barely escapes the initial blast, but its engines fail and the ship is drawn into the magnetized field. Mercury fractures yet remains intact, and its altered trajectory sets it on a collision course with Earth.

    When
    During orbital insertion, 2029
    Where
    Orbit around Mercury

  2. Earth scientist introduces Project Seven

    James Preston stands in a university auditorium and explains how unpredictable space hazards—asteroids, solar flares, comets—can be. He then describes Project Seven, a planetary defense system designed to intervene in such events. After the lecture, mission ops confirms they have lost contact with Nautilus.

    When
    Immediately after lecture, 2029
    Where
    University auditorium, Earth

  3. Power outage and magnetic wave hits Earth

    Preston hurries home to reach mission ops, but contact is patchy and the power goes out. He calls Jennifer Kelly at Sphere, desperate for any fix, but the line cuts out as a magnetic pulse sweeps the planet. Satellites are damaged and metal objects are unpredictably repelled, signaling a wider threat.

    When
    Same day, 2029
    Where
    Preston's house, Earth

  4. Nautilus drifts, Lee dead; oxygen restored

    The Nautilus drifts in space with low oxygen and damaged navigation and communications. Marshall Donnington and Victoria Preston survive; Lee is dead, his body burned. The crew stabilizes oxygen levels and begins repairs to navigate and reestablish comms.

    When
    Soon after the flare event
    Where
    Nautilus, space near Mercury

  5. Sphere computes Mercury-Earth miss distance

    The Sphere facility in the Seattle area crunches the data and reports that Mercury will miss Earth by about 500,000 miles. The calculation reduces the urgency but confirms a dangerous near-miss scenario. The team uses the information to calibrate their next moves.

    When
    Hours after flare
    Where
    Sphere facility, Seattle area

  6. Nautilus repairs and seeks Earth contact

    Crew members fix the oxygen system and begin repairs to navigation and communication. With oxygen stabilized, they push to reestablish contact with Earth and coordinate a response to the looming threat. The ship gradually regains modest operational capability.

    When
    Within a day of flare
    Where
    Nautilus, space

  7. Earth contact relayed via pirate radio

    Victoria fixes the comms enough to reach a pirate radio station run by two North Bay University seniors in Oregon. Nautilus then connects to Christopher Weaver and Brooke Adamson, but the signal is lost again as the situation deteriorates. The relay offers a fragile foothold for Earth-Nautilus communication.

    When
    Shortly after reconnection attempts
    Where
    Sphere relay and North Bay pirate radio, Oregon

  8. Magnetar moment reveals magnetized debris

    Preston’s friend Matthew Keyes explains that the sun briefly became a magnetar, a burst that magnetized Mercury’s fragments. Magnetized debris begins entering Earth’s atmosphere, and Preston retrieves a meteorite he can confirm is magnetized. The evidence confirms a planetary-scale magnetic threat is real.

    When
    Day of magnetar event
    Where
    Earth, observations

  9. Brooke and Christopher reach Sphere; Preston's house

    Brooke and Christopher reach Sphere to reinforce the effort, but guards don’t believe their urgency. Victoria sends them toward Preston’s house in Pacific Grove, where Preston arrives and communicates with Victoria; they use Preston’s radio to verify a personal connection and legitimacy.

    When
    Later that day
    Where
    Sphere (south of Seattle) and Pacific Grove

  10. Rex's plan and access取得

    Inside Sphere, Edward Rex decides to pursue Operation Recourse instead of Project Seven and orders a recalculation of Mercury’s path. Preston discreetly steals Rex’s security badge to access restricted areas and learns the Project Seven plan first-hand. Brooke and Christopher arrive at Preston’s residence and the team begins to coordinate a response.

    When
    Shortly after Preston’s arrival
    Where
    Sphere; Preston's house, Pacific Grove

  11. Plan to tow Project Seven into position

    Preston learns that the Project Seven guidance is damaged and that a bold plan is needed. Matthew Keyes suggests using Nautilus to tug the energy field between planets to reroute the defense. Preston heads to a fallback facility to retrieve top-secret files, while Brooke and Christopher race to join him in their effort.

    When
    As the countdown begins
    Where
    Fallback facility; Pacific Grove roads

  12. Energy field activated; Mercury diverted

    Victoria docks with Project Seven and guides it toward Mercury, activating the energy field and moving Mercury away from Earth. The life-support strain is intense, but Victoria repairs it within 15 minutes. Rex’s missiles are drawn off course by Mercury’s magnetism and fail to reach the planet, and the final shot shows Mercury moving away as asteroid debris forms rings around Earth.

    When
    Moments before impact window closes; 18 hours after initial alert
    Where
    Nautilus and space around Mercury; Earth orbit

Last updated: October 14, 2025 at 04:07

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Timeline questions answered

Collision Earth Timeline Explained: Your Questions Answered

When does it happen, and why in that order? The questions people ask about the chronology of Collision Earth (2011): time jumps, flashbacks, cause and effect between scenes and the correct order of events, each answered with spoilers.

Q1

Why does Mercury get pushed toward Earth after the solar flare?

A powerful solar flare erupts during Nautilus's orbital insertion around Mercury, magnetizing the planet and fracturing its surface. Mercury's intense magnetism keeps its fragments bound together while simultaneously pulling it off its original orbit, setting it on a direct collision course with Earth.

Foreshadowing: Earlier in the film, James Preston discusses the unpredictability of solar flares as a cosmic threat during his university lecture.

  • solar flare
  • mercury orbit
  • magnetic field
  • planetary collision
Q2

What is Project Seven and how does it work?

Project Seven is a planetary defense system designed to protect Earth from celestial threats like asteroids and solar flares. It consists of an energy field that can be positioned to deflect or redirect incoming planetary objects. The team ultimately uses Project Seven to create a magnetic shield that pushes Mercury away from Earth.

  • project seven
  • defense system
  • energy field
  • planetary protection
Q3

Why does the 500,000 mile miss distance matter if Mercury still hits Earth?

Sphere calculates that Mercury will miss Earth by about 500,000 miles, which initially seems like a narrow escape. However, Mercury's magnetism continues to draw it closer, and the magnetized debris still poses a catastrophic threat, making the margin dangerously insufficient for Earth's survival.

  • 500000 miles
  • mercury trajectory
  • sphere facility
  • near miss
Q4

What happens to Lee Tahon on the Nautilus?

Lee Tahon, the pilot of the Nautilus, dies during the solar flare incident. His remains are found burned in the wreckage of the ship, leaving only Marshall Donnington and Victoria Preston as surviving crew members.

Foreshadowing: The Nautilus is severely damaged during the solar flare, with engines failing and the ship being pulled into the magnetized field.

  • lee tahon
  • nautilus crew
  • death
  • solar flare damage
Q5

How does the team plan to use Project Seven to divert Mercury?

The team devises a plan to tether Project Seven to the front of Mercury and use the planet's own magnetic forces to drag the energy field outward, thereby redirecting Mercury's path away from Earth. Victoria docks with Project Seven and guides it toward Mercury, then undocks as the shield activates to push the planet off course.

  • tether
  • mercury diversion
  • energy field
  • magnetic forces
Q6

What is the magnetar moment and how does it affect Earth?

Matthew Keyes reveals that the Sun briefly reached magnetar intensity for one millisecond during the solar event. This magnetizes Mercury's fragments, causing magnetized debris to begin raining toward Earth as a new kind of meteor shower, adding an additional layer of threat beyond the planetary collision.

Foreshadowing: This explains why metal objects on Earth are drawn toward the sky during the magnetic pulse.

  • magnetar
  • sun intensity
  • magnetized debris
  • meteor shower
Q7

Why do the characters steal a police car to reach the fallback facility?

The team needs to reach a critical fallback facility housing top-secret files and the Project Seven activation codes. With time running out and conventional transportation failing due to the magnetic disturbances, they steal a police officer's car, which leads to a crash that leaves Brooke severely injured.

  • police car
  • fallback facility
  • stolen vehicle
  • chase
Q8

How does Victoria manage to dock with Project Seven?

Victoria Preston takes command of the situation, docking with Project Seven and manually guiding it toward Mercury despite intense life-support strain. She repairs the systems within 15 minutes while the magnetized environment threatens the entire operation, successfully positioning the energy field to divert Mercury.

Foreshadowing: The crew's repairs to the Nautilus's navigation and communication systems earlier enable this critical docking maneuver.

  • victoria preston
  • dock
  • project seven
  • mercury approach
Q9

Why don't Rex's missiles work against Mercury?

Rex attempts to use missiles to alter Mercury's trajectory, but they are drawn off course by Mercury's powerful magnetism and fail to reach the planet. This failure forces the team to rely entirely on the Project Seven energy field approach.

  • rex missiles
  • mercury magnetism
  • deflection failure
  • operation recourse
Q10

What is the strange halo that forms around Mercury at the end?

After Project Seven successfully diverts Mercury, the planet's magnetized debris forms a visible ring or halo around it - a cinematic visualization of the metal and ash particles caught in Mercury's magnetic field as it moves away from Earth, creating a visually striking moment as Earth escapes catastrophe.

Foreshadowing: The magnetar moment earlier magnetized Mercury's fragments, setting up this visual payoff.

  • mercury halo
  • debris ring
  • magnetized fragments
  • visual effect

Movie threads

More Movies Like Collision Earth, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes Collision Earth tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Planetary disaster movies like Collision Earth

Teams race against a cosmic clock to prevent the extinction of humanity. Find more movies like Collision Earth where humanity faces an extinction-level event. These similar science fiction stories feature tense races against time, scientific teams improvising desperate plans, and the high-stakes drama of survival against cosmic threats.

  • tense
  • urgent
  • awe-inspiring
  • desperate
  • hopeful
  • high-stakes
  • Tone: tense, urgent, awe-inspiring
  • Pacing: fast, relentless
Why these movies?

The story pattern: Narratives in this thread typically follow a linear, countdown structure. A global or cosmic threat is identified, and a diverse team of scientists, military personnel, and leaders must devise and execute a complex, high-risk plan against overwhelming odds. The journey is punctuated by setbacks, sacrifices, and moments of brilliant improvisation.

Why they belong together: Movies are grouped here for their shared core premise of a planetary-scale disaster, their high-tension, fast-paced tone, and their focus on a team-based, scientific response to an apocalyptic scenario. The central appeal is the race against an unstoppable force.

Collision Earth movie poster

Collision Earth

2011
Impact movie poster

Impact

1000
Alien Siege movie poster

Alien Siege

2005
Path of Destruction movie poster

Path of Destruction

2005
Armageddon movie poster

Armageddon

1998
Doomsday Prophecy movie poster

Doomsday Prophecy

2011
Stonehenge Apocalypse movie poster

Stonehenge Apocalypse

2010
The Lost Missile movie poster

The Lost Missile

1958

Sci-fi movies with bittersweet endings like Collision Earth

The world is saved, but the cost of survival leaves a profound mark. If you liked the ending of Collision Earth, explore similar sci-fi and disaster movies where the heroes save the day but at a great personal or collective cost. These stories balance thrilling action with a poignant, thoughtful conclusion.

  • bittersweet
  • tense
  • hopeful
  • sacrifice
  • solemn
  • thoughtful
  • Tone: tense, bittersweet, hopeful
  • Pacing: fast, character-driven
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative journey builds towards a climactic, high-risk solution to a major crisis. While the primary threat is neutralized, the resolution is often achieved through sacrifice—of lives, ideals, or a previous way of life. The ending acknowledges the victory while honestly weighing its heavy price, leaving characters and the audience with a sense of tempered relief.

Why they belong together: This thread groups movies based on their distinctive emotional mix, combining high-tension thrills with an ending that is hopeful yet somber. The shared element is the acknowledgment that even in victory, some things are irrevocably lost, adding depth to the action-oriented plot.

Brave New World movie poster

Brave New World

1998
Battle Beyond the Stars movie poster

Battle Beyond the Stars

1980
Star Appeal movie poster

Star Appeal

2005
Time Chasers movie poster

Time Chasers

1994
The Phantom Planet movie poster

The Phantom Planet

1961
Astronaut: The Last Push movie poster

Astronaut: The Last Push

2012
Endangered Species movie poster

Endangered Species

2002
AE: Apocalypse Earth movie poster

AE: Apocalypse Earth

2013

Every angle

Collision Earth (2011) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about Collision Earth in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

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