L5: First City in Space (1996) - full transcript

YOUNG GIRL:
Torch?

Torch, where are you?

Are you hiding on me?

Torch?

CHIEKO: Near the end
of the 21st century,

my mother and father
and scores of others

left the Earth for a new home.

GIRL: Torch!

CHIEKO: Several years later,
I was born here in L5,

the first city in space.

[SQUAWKING]



The garden
was always my favorite place.

You're a pretty bird.

People said it reminded
them of Earth.

Of course,

I had never actually
been there,

but I could imagine
how beautiful it must be.

Want to make
a wish, Torch?

It's lovely here too,
living among the stars.

Our city is the gateway
to the solar system.

It's home to 10,000 people.

They came here

to follow their dreams
of exploration

and expansion to new worlds.

It takes about five days
to get here from Earth



on the transfer shuttle.

It's routine now,
but it wasn't always so easy.

COMPUTERIZED VOICE:
Transport data recall.

CHIEKO: The journey began
over a century ago

when our ancestors
took the first small steps

away from their home planet.

They faced
an enormous challenge then:

how to escape the gravity

that held them pinned
to the ground.

They had to design a ship
powerful enough

to lift them into space
and then return them safely

through the searing heat
of the atmosphere

back down to Earth.

There was no fusion power
in those days.

The early technology

used more than
two million pounds of fuel

to launch a small crew
and a few days' supplies

into orbit.

ASTRONAUT:
Hey, Houston,

I wish you could see
the view we see

on monitor two.

CHIEKO:
For the first time in
their history,

Earth dwellers saw their home
from the outside.

ASTRONAUT:
It's an incredible
sight, isn't it?

CHIEKO:
Perhaps it was then,

as they gazed upon
its fragile beauty,

they began to see

that instead of competing
with one another,

they could unite

and explore the wonders
of the solar system together.

The first wonder
they discovered

was zero gravity.

Suddenly, people were thrust
into a world

with no up or down.

They had to learn

a completely new way
of living and working

inside their spaceships.

[COSMONAUTS SPEAKING RUSSIAN]

Then the Russians
built a space station

called Mir.

[COSMONAUTS SPEAKING RUSSIAN]

Some early cosmonauts
stayed inside this tiny outpost

for over 400 days.

The actual living space
was only 30 feet long.

Imagine spending a year
in such a small place.

[COSMONAUTS SPEAKING RUSSIAN]

As the millennium began,

the first cautious steps
away from Earth

turned into strides.

Several different countries
working together

designed
a much larger space station.

The parts were made on Earth,
ferried up on spacecraft,

and assembled in orbit.

It took seven years to build.

The people that lived here

were the first to really adapt
to a continuous life in space.

It wasn't long
before they were ready

to travel to another planet.

[ELECTRICAL CRACKLING
AND MECHANICAL WHIRRING]

Finally, we reached
the outer planets.

[CRACKLING AND WHIRRING
CONTINUE]

We always sent robot scouts
into new territory first.

They were the builders
and caretakers

of our outposts.

It was the great dream
that people would soon follow

and settle
the outer solar system.

To do that,
we would need a port in space.

It would have to be a place

with very little pull
from gravity

so that ships could come and go
with ease.

And so it was that L5,

a point on the moon's orbit
around the Earth,

was chosen.

Then a master plan
was drawn up,

a grand design
for the first city in space.

Of course, people were used to
Earth's gravity.

To provide something similar,
the living area on L5

would be built
in a mile-wide wing

which rotates once every
minute.

The centrifugal force
from the spin

would produce
artificial gravity.

The whole city
would be connected

by a continuous main street
running around the outside rim.

The farms and animals
would be housed

in different layers
around the inner ring.

Life would depend

upon a continuously recycled
supply of air and water.

The spinning outer rings
would be connected

by four giant spokes

to a stationary zero-gravity
hub in the center.

This was the entrance
to our port

where spacecraft dock.

The entire perimeter
of the structure

would be encased
in 10 million tons of moon rock

to protect us
from cosmic radiation.

A giant mirror
would float nearby

to bathe the city
in reflected light.

At last, after nearly 30 years,
our city was complete.

With each transport from Earth,
new citizens arrived.

We captured an asteroid

to mine its metals and fuels
for our growing fleet of ships.

Our dream
of settling the outer planets

was soon to be realized.

[CHILDREN SQUEALING IN DELIGHT]

Inside the city's
protective skin,

the population flourished
and grew.

By the time I was seven,
there were 10,000 of us here.

We modeled our neighborhood
after small towns on Earth.

[KIDS LAUGHING]

There were sensors everywhere
which could detect

any sign of contamination
or imbalance in the air supply.

Most days, my mother would come
by the playground

on her way home from work.

She was a doctor

and had been one of the first
people selected to come here.

Eric.

See you soon.
How's your hand?

CHIEKO:
She seemed to be friends

with just about everybody.

Can you...?

Good stuff!

CHIEKO: Her father--
my grandfather--

was a pioneer founder of L5.

Oh, Chieko!

What's this, Mom?

Well, it was supposed
to be a surprise,

but you're a little
too fast for me.

Do you like it?

I love it. Thank you.

You're welcome.

[WHISTLING]

CHIEKO:
My father was
a flight commander,

an engineer.

He'd explored almost all
of the inner planets,

and now he was designing
an expedition

to the Neptune system.

When we wasn't working,

you could almost always
find him at home
in the kitchen.

Every kitchen at L5

had a built-in
hydroponic garden.

[BEEPING]

The big farms on the inner ring
were hydroponic too,

though sometimes
we used moon soil.

What can I do
now, Nancy?

You can help me
collect the cucumbers.

CHIEKO: In many ways,
it was just like Earth here.

We grew all kinds
of fruits and vegetables

as they do,

but in space, we could control

the amount of sunlight
and the seasons

so that everything was
available all year round.

I loved to grow things.

Back then, I wanted
to be a farmer.

[CHICKENS CLUCKING,
GOATS BLEATING]

Here on level two,

all of the farms fit
into only 150 acres.

We raised the usual animals,
but not very many cows.

They took up too much space.

Hi, Alice. Hi, Andy.

Come on.

Good girl.

[BEEPING]

[CHICKS PEEPING]

Hi, duckies.

CHIEKO:
Of course,

I visited Earth farms
on virtual trips,

but still, I often wondered
what it would really be like

to lie in a field
and watch the clouds roll by.

I knew all about Earth's giant
oceans and rivers,

but it was hard to imagine
so much water.

Every drop of ours had to be
imported and recycled.

L5 was a world
of perfect harmony and balance.

Then everything changed.

MAN: I've been doing
some calculations...

CHIEKO:
It began one day

when I went to visit
my grandfather at his lab.

I was surprised
to see my father there too.

FATHER: The amount of fuel
it would take

to lift the water...

CHIEKO: I'll never forget
what I heard.

Our life-support systems
had reached their limit.

Unless more water
could be found soon,

there wouldn't be enough
to sustain us all.

I have something
to show you, Mori.

CHIEKO: My grandfather
was L5's senior scientist.

He'd been searching
for a solution to our dilemma.

COMPUTERIZED VOICE:
Comet velocity--

22.3 kilometers per second.

You know,
this just might work.

It's an ideal size.

We wouldn't have
to change the orbit very much.

COMPUTERIZED VOICE:
Hinckley's diameter

is 5.72 kilometers.

CHIEKO:
Almost 500 million miles

away from us,

a comet was approaching
Jupiter.

The tumbling mass at its core

was actually
a giant reservoir of water.

All right...
this is Jupiter.

This is the path
of the comet.

If we were to put a rocket
on the comet

and divert it
towards Earth,

it would pass L5
every few years

and supply us

with all the water
we would ever need.

Still, it would take
a powerful rocket

to change the direction
that much.

No, no, no,
not at all.

Jupiter's gravity
has more power

than any rocket
we could ever dream of,

and I have the data
from a hundred years ago

to prove it.

Chieko,
lend me a hand here.

Come and help me
explain something

to your father...

CHIEKO:
My grandfather

had led the first expeditions
to the moons of Jupiter

many years before.

Now that my father

had succeeded him
as flight commander,

Grandpa had turned
his attention

to the study of comets.

What is it?

GRANDFATHER:
Now, this is Jupiter

as it was seen

by a spacecraft
called Galileo

100 years ago.

CHIEKO:: Is that
another comet?

Indeed it is.

A comet called
Shoemaker-Levy 9

was passing nearby.

[EXPLOSION]

What happened?

Jupiter's gravity
is so powerful

it broke
the comet apart

and sucked the pieces
into its atmosphere.

Now, if this force
was strong enough

to pull Shoemaker-Levy
off course...

MORI: Then we could use
some of that power

to change the orbit
of our comet.

Precisely.

So you see,
Mori,

Jupiter will do most
of the work for us.

All we need to do

is attach a small rocket
to the comet

to get it there.

What do you think?

CHIEKO:
So began the first attempt

to capture a comet.

COMPUTERIZED VOICE:
Transport at 1.3 A.U.

CHIEKO: A robot rocket
was launched from L5.

When it found the comet,
it would attach itself

and wait for the command
to fire.

Four months later,
the critical time had come.

The rocket
had now reached the comet.

They had sent the command
to fire.

We should have seen
a vector change by now.

COMPUTERIZED VOICE:
Malfunction. Negative berth.

There's no power.

There's no motion
at all.

Plasma traps are okay.

Pressure's fine.

I don't get it.

Let's run the
ignition simulation.

That may tell us
something.

COMPUTERIZED VOICE:
Autosequence start.

See, there's nothing
that could shake loose.

COMPUTERIZED VOICE:
Negative berth.

Wait a second.

[WHOOSH]

Could be
the nozzle.

CHIEKO:
A chunk of debris

was jammed
in the rocket's exhaust.

Unless they could clear it
and fire the rocket,

the comet would continue
on its path,

forever lost.

Shut down
by one speck of dirt.

Not necessarily.

What do you
propose we do?

I could go and fix it.

You can't be serious.

No one has ever even thought
about landing on a comet.

Why not?

Icould be there
in two months,

clean everything up,

and you'd still be in time
for the course correction.

CHIEKO:
And so my father began

to prepare for
the mission of his life.

I was too young to grasp

how dangerous
his mission really was.

I was busy playing
with my friends on Earth.

COMPUTERIZED VOICE:
Earth call for Chieko.

GIRL: Hi, Chieko.

Pips. What's up?

Not much.
What you doing?

CHIEKO:
Sometimes I would visit them,

and sometimes they'd come here.

Let's go
somewhere else today.

Like where?

Um... I don't know.

We could go
to the zoo.

I've got an idea.

Meet me on channel 29, okay?

Okay,
see you there.

[SPEAKERPHONE DISCONNECTS]

CHIEKO:
With virtual travel,

we could meet
anywhere we wanted.

Once you'd scanned in
your destination,

you could bring in your friends
to explore it with you.

[WHOOSH]

[CHILDREN LAUGHING]

Frosty's
looking good.

Brilliant, Chieko.

I got Chas, Matty,
and Kristen to come too.

Hey, Chieko.

How do you like it?

Wow! I love it.

Look what I found.

It's fantastic.

Yippee!

This is so fun.

Let's play hide-and-seek.

Yeah.

Bet you can't catch me.

ALL:
Bet we can.

Ready or not, here we come.

Here I am.

Where'd she go?

Catch me.

Got you.

Oh, goody.

How'd you do that?

I know. Let's play
knights and dragons.

Yeah, what should I be?

Yeah, great idea.

I'm going to be the queen.

Aren't these great?

Do I look good?

How do I look?

Don't I look beautiful?

What's wrong?

Sorry, guys, I got to go.

See you.

Bye.

Bye, Chieko.

[WHOOSH]

MORI: Did I say
something wrong?

MOTHER: No.

What is it, then?

Nothing.

Tell me
what's the matter.

You know perfectly well
what's the matter.

Come on, Jenny.

It's no different
from my last six flights.

There's nothing
to worry about.

You know
as well as I do

nobody's ever done this
before.

You have no idea
what could happen.

Well, I know what
will happen if I don't go.

We can just chuck everything
we've been trying to do here

and go back home
to Earth.

You know that's not
what I meant.

[WATER RUNNING]

It's about time.

Mom's been
calling you.

What about a story?

Would you like that?

Why don't you hop
into your jammies

and do your teeth?

Daddy will come
and tuck you in, okay?

CHIEKO:
I'd never heard my parents talk
that way before.

I didn't understand
what my father had meant

when he said
"go back home to Earth."

Even if I did have lots
of friends and family there,

my home was here at L5,

and I had never, ever thought
of leaving it,

even for a planet
as beautiful as Earth.

I was beginning to think
you forgot all about me.

Night.

[BEEPING]

Now, what story
shall I tell you?

Shall we go to Io
or back to the whales?

Daddy?

Yeah?

What is it, Chieko?

You'll come back,
won't you?

I'm right here.

I'm not going
anywhere.

No, I mean, will you
come back from the comet?

Of course I will.

You know me.
Piece of cake.

And I'll bring you back
a real snowball.

Deal?

Deal.

Okay.

Now, once upon a time,
there was a big, blue whale,

and he swam and he swam
and he swam

until he reached
the magic...

[SHIP BLASTS OFF]

GRANDFATHER:
Mori, we're with you
all the way.

Good luck.

CHIEKO:
From the moment he left,

things just weren't the same
for me.

It would be weeks
before he reached the comet,

but at least we could talk
to him

before he moved
beyond the range

of realtime communication.

MORI:
No deltas to the flight plan.

Everything's nominal.

On time, on course.

[STATIC]

A little more solar activity
than we predicted,

but I don't think
it's anything to worry about.

I'll keep an eye on it.

How's Chieko?

Chieko's just fine.

MORI: I'm getting fat
on all those cookies she made.

I miss you.

I miss you too, Mori.

CHIEKO: My mother
put on a brave face for me.

[GOATS BLEATING]

We both tried in our own ways
to keep our spirits up,

but I couldn't help thinking
about my father

and how far away he was.

Bye-bye.

CHIEKO:
Grandpa was the only one

who really knew

how perilous my father's
journey had now become.

With each passing
day and night,

the solar storm
was intensifying.

If transmission was cut off

and my father's ship
malfunctioned,

we would never know.

At such a great distance,

a rescue team
might never reach him in time.

MORI: Closing at 10 meters
per second.

CHIEKO: I'll always remember
the day he landed.

We gathered together to watch.

MORI: 100 meters.

90...

80...

70...

60...

Ten meters...

Nine...

Eight...

Seven...

Six...

Five meters...

Three...

Two...

One.

I'm on it.

Yes!

COMPUTERIZED VOICE:
EMV pod separation maneuver

in five seconds...

four, three, two, one.

Mark.

EMV pod is clear.

[ALARM SOUNDING]

COMPUTERIZED VOICE:
Stabilizer malfunction.

Manual guidance system enabled.

MORI:
Okay, I'm going in.

MORI: I've located
the problem here.

I'll have to try
a manual disable.

Did you copy that?

A manual disable.

This engine is still armed.

COMPUTERIZED VOICE:
Warning.
Minimum safety distance.

Warning.

Propulsion system is armed.

Standing by
for your instructions.

COMPUTERIZED VOICE:
Detecting ionic interference.

Severe solar interference.

CHIEKO: Grandpa's worst fears
were coming true.

A massive solar flare erupted,
jamming all the transmissions.

[SIREN BEEPING]

Mori, this is L5.

We've had a loss
of signal and telemetry here.

Please advise your status.

CHIEKO: Then we lost contact
altogether.

We sent out call after call,
and then we waited...

and waited.

It seemed to be the longest day
of my life.

By nightfall, still nothing.

GRANDFATHER:
We are standing by.

[COMPUTERIZED VOICE
SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

[STATIC AND BUZZING]

Mori!

L5... ignition confirmed.

Mori, vector change confirms.

It's moving, Mori.

The comet is moving.

CHIEKO: Telemetry showed
the rocket had fired,

but there was no word
from my father.

[COMPUTERIZED VOICE
SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

MORI:
L5, are you there?

Well, I just made it
in the nick of time.

Looked like a beautiful bird.

Looks like I'll be home
for Chieko's birthday.

See you soon.

[LAUGHING]

CHIEKO:
I knew then

that we would never forget
this day.

The comet and its water
were ours

and the future of L5
looked bright.

[CHIEKO GIGGLES]

CHIEKO: 30 years have passed
since my story began.

Our robots have retrieved
yet another piece of the comet

and are bringing it home
to process

exactly as my grandfather
had planned.

Not long ago,
I was elected mayor of L5.

We have built
a second city here,

and our port in space
is now 20,000 strong.

Our dream has come true.

At last, we are citizens
of the solar system.