It was as if the director just wanted to make a space / survival movie and so he did. But after it was completed it was decided: hey why not add in the element of human drama -- you know, for ratings, or to make it seem less shallow, I guess. No, a rewrite wasn't necessaryl just sprinkle in a few lines here and there about a baby dying (cause what's more dramatic than a baby dying?)and enjoying the cold, dark, desolate, lonely silence of space (hey, that sounds pretty bleak, amirite?!), and thus a back story was born. Oh and what an effective back story it was because at one point I think (at least I maybe might have thought. possibly.) that Bulluck's character (a horrible or perfect (?!) miscast,as this actress has no emotional depth just like the movie) had no will for survival -- but then again maybe she just was running out of oxygen and just didn't have the energy -- only to realize she wanted to live. I guess.

I wonder if flashbacks to life on Earth was considered to make the audience care about her personal life but later shunned because that might distract from how "visually stunning" this movie was.

ALl in all tho this wasn't a bad "space movie". I'd place it right below Wall - E and right above Starship Troopers.