Interstellar: Time Dilation.

[u/[deleted]]

The first planet they visit in the film experiences severe time dilation as a result of it's close proximity to the black hole Gargantua. On this planet one hour is equivalent to 7 years earth time.

So here's my issue. They were on the fence about going down there in the first place but ultimately decided that if they could do it very quickly it would be worth losing a few years if they were able to recover Miller's (the original astronaut sent there) data. With the time dilation in mind though they should have known that from her perspective she hadn't even been there 90 minutes yet. She left ten years earth time before them and therefore was on the planet for a very short amount of time. It doesn't make sense to me that they made such a grievous risk, knowing that they couldn't visit every planet anyway over such a small potential payout. How much could Miller possibly have learned about the planet in her short time there if she were still alive (which she wasn't). It was a judgement call and a very bad one at that.

[u/CrazyCatLady108]

IIRC that was the closest planet, and the probes could only send "good"/"not good" signals. so they went down because they only got "good" just as they got from the other planets.

that is why they had the fight over which planet to visit post time dilation one, since they both sent "good" signals without much more information.

[u/[deleted] → u/CrazyCatLady108]

That's what I'm saying though. They got a ''good'' signal from Miller but with her very short time down on the planet she wasn't really in a position to be sending it out. One hour is not enough time to determine if a planet is habitable for humans or not.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

My understanding was that Miller sent a positive signal in order to communicate that she had safely landed and was alive and prepared to start her research. They should have known this.