Overview

From the earliest voyagers who navigated by starlight to the discovery of habitable planets by astronomers, Rock Bottom Riser examines the all-encompassing encounters of an island world at sea. As lava continues to flow from the earth’s core on the island of Hawaii—posing an imminent danger—a crisis mounts. Astronomers plan to build the world’s largest telescope on Hawaii’s most sacred and revered mountain, Mauna Kea. Based on ancient Polynesian navigation, the arrival of Christian missionaries, and the observatory’s ability to capture the origins of the universe, Rock Bottom Riser surveys the influence of settler colonialism, the search for intelligent life, and the discovery of new worlds as we peer into our own planet’s existence.

Top Cast

N

Nainoa Thompson

Self - Master Navigator

Moses Goods

Henry Opukahaia

R

Rubellite Johnson

Self - Historian

Avi Loeb

Self - Astronomer

K

Kalepa Baybayon

Self - Master Navigator

Dwayne Johnson

Self

F

Franck Marchis

Self - Astronomer

D

David Maille

Self - Hawaiian Activist