For All Mankind (2019–…): Season 2, Episode 1 - Every Little Thing - full transcript
They say that the United States
has had its day in the sun,
that our nation has passed its zenith.
They expect you to tell your children
that the American people no longer
have the will to cope with their problems,
that the future will be one of sacrifice
and few opportunities.
My fellow citizens,
I utterly reject that view.
We must go forth from here
united, determined
that what a great general said
a few years ago is true:
"There is no substitute for victory."
Three, two, one...
Further escalating tensions
in the ongoing space race.
Another violation
of the International Space Treaty.
...another Soviet military
satellite yesterday
provoked a strong response...
I will faithfully execute the office
of president of the United States.
...Reagan administration announced
that it was withdrawing
the United States...
The first test-tube baby
was born today in the United Kingdom.
Roman Polanski was arrested at the
Canadian border while trying to escape.
Brezhnev said the decision
not to invade Afghanistan
was part of a broader refocusing
of resources in the ongoing space race.
The meltdown was prevented by
technology first developed for Jamestown.
...nighttime raid by the US
military took the Iranians by surprise.
...leaders of the Polish
Solidarity Trade Union
were arrested in Gdansk today.
President Reagan refusing to
bail out the Chrysler Corporation.
The US hockey team failed to
overcome the heavily favored Soviets.
...surprisingly close race,
President Reagan appears to have won
a second term by defeating Senator...
John Lennon narrowly escaped death
when a would-be assassin's bullet
missed its...
John Paul II was shot
and killed today in Saint Peter's Square.
Leonid Brezhnev,
leader of the Soviet Union, has died.
Yuri Andropov will become
the next premier of the Soviet Union.
...a wedding gift from the queen,
Her Royal Highness,
Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall,
is welcomed by the crowd.
NASA announced that the first
space shuttle will be named Enterprise
in honor of the fictional starship
in the television series, Star Trek.
I believe that our nation
is in great danger,
and that danger grows greater
with each passing day.
Soviet strategic missiles are larger,
more numerous and more powerful
than those of the United States.
If we desire peace, the way
to achieve it is through our strength.
We are today,
the last best hope of man on Earth.
We who have thrown the windows
of our souls open to the sun.
The eyes of all people are upon us
as they look to the heavens,
to the highest hill in the sky,
where we have built a city that will
bring the light of freedom to the world.
Not another party, please.
They already gave me
a birthday party up here last week,
and they're giving me
a surprise going-away party next week.
That's not much of a surprise.
It's tough to keep a secret up here.
Look, Senator Tower is
on the Appropriations Committee.
I know.
And I think this party
was his personal idea.
His chief of staff said
he handwrote the invitation.
Come on,
at least you know it'll have a great bar.
Okay. But tell them it has to be
a welcome home party,
not, I repeat, not a birthday party.
I don't wanna see any more signs
or banners or tiki mugs
with the big 4-0 painted on them.
They did the whole luau thing?
Tradition.
I'm sure I can talk them into it.
I think it's more about celebrating the
new job than your rapidly advancing years.
Thank you for that.
Aren't you gonna suit up?
Cutting it pretty close.
I'm staying inside this time.
Really?
Two weeks of darkness,
and you don't wanna see the sun come up?
I've seen it.
More times than I can remember.
The next base commander
went out with them,
and I wanted him to get a chance to bond
before I hand the keys over next week.
So, while everyone else
is out enjoying the show,
I'll have the whole base
pretty much to myself
for what will probably be
the very last time.
And I intend to enjoy every minute of it.
Then I won't keep you.
Love you.
Love you too.
Ten minutes. Mark.
I have a watch, Wubbo.
I don't need you to be timekeeper
just 'cause you don't have
anything interesting to do.
I have plenty to do.
Currently, I'm maneuvering the rover for
the best position to capture the sunrise.
I swear to God, Wubbo.
You spend more time
looking through that camera
than you do actually looking at the moon.
But I will be shooting
something special today.
No human has ever seen the sunrise
through the glorious twin peaks
of the western rim of Shackleton.
Be sure to tell
all the gals back in Amsterdam
that Apollo 37 named
those glorious twin peaks
Lenny and Squiggy.
I'll not be mentioning that.
This is Jamestown actual.
Okay, people, ten seconds.
Ten seconds... mark.
Enjoy the show, everyone.
Oh, shit!
Yeah, baby.
Awesome.
-Wubbo.
-Yes?
Stop staring at that screen,
turn around and enjoy the view.
Rise up this mornin'
Smiled with the risin' sun
Three little birds
Perched by my doorstep
Singin' sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true
Sayin', This is my message
To you-oo-oo
-Singin', Don't worry
-Don't worry
About a thing
'Cause every little thing
Is gonna be all right
-Singin', Don't worry
-Don't worry
About a thing
Emma.
Good morning, Ms. Madison.
Morning. Messages?
One from your cousin, Adlai.
Your aunt Hildy got through her surgery
without any complications
and is expected to make a full recovery.
I sent flowers and a note
and arranged a little extra treat
from the hospital kitchen.
Aunt Hildy won't eat anything
without bacon in it.
They're gonna disguise
some turkey bacon for her.
Good luck with that. What else?
Various things. Nothing that can't wait.
Okay, let's go around the world.
Skylab is starting shift two.
Their plan of the day is devoted
to more solar observations
with the Apollo Telescope Mount.
Astronaut Campbell is still
nursing a cold, poor thing.
Be sure she's giving the flight surgeon
hourly updates.
She'll dodge it if we let her.
She is a wily one.
The orbiter, Kon-Tiki,
remains docked at Skylab,
but she's scheduled for reentry
and landing this afternoon in Florida.
Unless you can work your magic.
Pretty sure I can swing that one.
The bigger problem is getting him
to agree to these polar launches.
Did you get--
Great.
-Where is he?
-Deep in the rabbit hole.
DOD COM just completed their ASAT test
over the Pacific missile range.
General Bradford is probably getting
preliminary test results... right now.
Okay. Let's hope this works.
Perfect.
Keep going.
Columbia remains on station
in lunar orbit,
scheduled to return home to Earth
next week
with the Jamestown crew rotating home.
Beagle was scheduled
to roll out to pad 39C today,
but there's a report on some issues
in her main engine turbopumps
which might delay her launch date
by a week or two.
Great.
Discovery, Enterprise and Endeavour
are still in turnaround on the West Coast,
while Atlantis, Victoria and Constitution
are still in OMDP in Palmdale.
What about Pathfinder's
thermal tile inspection report?
We're expecting the official report
by digital mail by end of day,
but the word is
she passed with flying colors.
Jamestown reports
making a new geological claim
on a site 30 kilometers from the base,
labeled "site 357/Bravo."
Early data suggests there could be
significant deposits of lithium.
Wouldn't that be nice.
Have they notified the Soviets?
Yes, ma'am. There's a hard copy
of the official notice in your in-box
and a ghost copy in your d-mail.
Be sure notice of the claim
is transmitted to the State Department
for delivery to the Soviet embassy.
There's a new procedure.
State wants to deliver a formal hard copy
of mining claims
directly to the Soviet ambassador now.
-I'm sure that'll speed things up.
-Yeah.
And as a reminder, the celebration
at Shackleton tomorrow morning, our time,
in case you want to watch the festivities.
-Has it really been two weeks?
-Yes, ma'am.
-They're pretty excited up there.
-Always are. Wish me luck.
-Morning.
-Morning.
I can get you a better printer.
Yeah, can you get the Pentagon
to approve it in less than a year?
No, but I can have a new one
installed this afternoon.
Brand-new, like, still in the box.
Must be nice
to have your own revenue stream.
Well, capitalism, it works.
How'd the test go?
Thirty pages of data,
all to say we missed.
It's bad luck.
But the day does have its bright points.
Army-Air Force tickets
at the 50-yard line.
What'd you do,
get Emma to rob the White House?
She's an old second-story gal
from way back.
Wow. Thanks. Really.
What's it gonna cost me?
They're a gift.
But if you wanted to make Emma feel
like her efforts were appreciated,
you might consider allowing the Kon-Tiki
to land at Edwards tonight.
And maybe also free up some space for a
couple of polar launches from Vandenberg.
Well, I can clear the Kon-Tiki
to land at Edwards,
but you know the Pentagon
really doesn't like
having unsecured vehicles
and crews at Vandenberg.
Come on, Nelson.
I've got orbiters
double-parked at Edwards,
and you've got three open launch windows
before the next military shuttle's
even scheduled.
Come on.
I'll tell the crews to wear blindfolds
so they don't see anything
they're not supposed to.
I'm sorry.
I wish I could, but everyone's still
on edge after what happened in Berlin.
Berlin was almost a year ago.
It hasn't gotten any better, and in
some ways it's gotten worse. So, sorry.
Okay.
-It was worth a try.
-Yeah. There you go.
No. They're a gift.
I hear the Falcons might be
headed to a bowl game this year.
From your lips to God's ears.
And, hey...
I owe you one.
You certainly do.
Okay, keep going.
-What else?
-Yes, ma'am.
The profit and loss statement
for the last quarter is on your desk,
along with projections
on the new licensing revenue
from the microgravity
silicon growth patents.
And I got a d-mail from
Administrator Paine's office
asking if you and the general
are available for dinner tonight.
Dinner? What's he up to?
I think he's gonna press you
on that Pathfinder thing again.
He's relentless.
Where? Please not Mama's Porch.
Afraid so.
He's got a thing about that chili.
My hair's gonna
smell like chili for a week.
-Good morning, Ms. Madison.
-Morning, ma'am.
Gary. Helena.
-God, she hates me.
-You think everyone hates you.
Not everyone. Just management.
If that were true,
you wouldn't be in the program.
Sometimes the system screws up.
Sounds like garden-variety paranoia to me.
I just know when people are out to get me.
That changes today, right?
Right.
I can't hear you, Captain.
Right.
Today you are not just
a miserable Air Force bus driver
dreaming of flying in space like
the marine aviators you secretly worship.
Today you will achieve your goal.
And you will not take no for an answer.
Well, he never says no.
He just leans in real close and says,
"I'll let you know when you're ready."
The admiral is a tough old squid,
and he'll be impressed by your courage.
They say he hates redheads.
-Yeah, that's just a rumor.
-The rumors are always true.
Go in there and get your ticket punched.
Or you can keep riding backup and water
my plants when I'm on Skylab next month.
He's not that bad, Gary. Really.
He freaks me out.
Go.
Come.
Hey, Chief. You got a minute?
Can't you see I'm on the green
at the ninth hole at Pebble Beach?
Oh, right.
-Okay, I can come back in a little bit.
-I'm on the carpet in my office.
Right. Right.
What can I do for you, Mr. Piscotty?
Well, sir...
I wanted to talk to you about my...
my career.
Your career? That's a mighty big subject
for a Thursday morning.
Yes, sir.
I mean, not my whole career.
I was hoping to discuss with you--
Yeah, yeah, you want a prime crew slot.
Yes, sir...
on Pathfinder.
On Pathfinder?
Wow. That's ambitious.
You think you're ready to be prime crew
on the maiden voyage
of America's next-generation shuttle?
Yes, sir.
The vehicle that will redefine
space travel as we know it
and propel this country to Mars
and beyond?
Yes, sir.
I like ambition in a pilot.
You're gonna be one hell of an astronaut.
Thank you, sir.
I'll let you know when you're ready.
I've been here three years now, sir.
Qualified as orbiter pilot, LSAM pilot,
lunar prospector, robotic arms specialist,
and astro-astronomer.
Been CAPCOM on five shuttle moon flights
and two orbital repairs.
Been backup on six crew.
And my performance evaluation
is consistently in the 95th percentile.
I've done everything
this program has asked of me.
And so far, the closest I've been to space
is standing on top of the gantry
on pad 39A.
Why can't I get a flight?
I don't like redheads.
Everyone knows that.
When do I get my shot?
Just trust me when I tell you
that when you're ready...
I'll let you know.
Now, I think it'd be a great idea
for you to take your foot off my ball.
Thank you.
You can close the door behind ya.
With the development of new and
exciting technologies like solar panels,
NASA's making real contributions
back here on Earth.
Even now, new electric vehicles
made possible by batteries
originally designed for the lunar rover
are beginning to hit the road
not only on the moon,
but right here in the good old US of A.
And with that,
I'll be happy to answer your questions.
Yes, sir?
How y'all go to the bathroom in space?
Let me tell you, without gravity,
they gotta use air suction to make sure
things go in the right direction.
So you could say when you take a crap
in space, the shit really hits the fan.
Yes.
I'm sure you get this all the time,
but would you mind telling us the story
of how you saved that poor girl
who broke her arm on the moon?
It had been a rough week
on the old Jamestown base.
And it was different in those days.
The base was just a single room.
Barely enough space for three people
to live and work together.
Not like the palace they got up there now.
No, it was the pioneer days.
We were the settlers,
and the Russians, they were the Indians.
It wasn't an easy place to live,
and a lot of things went wrong.
Was a lot of turmoil.
And sometimes the--
sometimes the best of plans
falls apart on ya.
Best equipment fails.
Even the best people.
Sometimes it all just falls apart on ya.
Anyway...
it was the middle of the night.
I rolled out of my rack
before I was even awake.
Come.
Hey, Ed. You got a minute?
Spaghetti night. I know.
How about I walk you to your car?
Then I'm all ears.
Look, the president has some concerns
about Pathfinder.
Look, you don't need my approval.
Payload's outside my lane
unless it affects crew or crew selection.
I know, but the White House wants this
to be a unanimous decision
on the part of NASA.
You mean they don't want the press to say
that they decided
to do a little saber-rattling
over the objections of the experts at JSC.
Come on, Ed, work with me here.
We're gonna arm it eventually.
Why not test that capability
on the first flight?
We need to send a message to the Soviets.
They're about to test their own shuttle.
But we're already testing
our second-generation shuttle.
Margo's just protecting her turf.
She's worried that the second
we put weapons on Pathfinder
that it'll become a military asset
and outside her jurisdiction.
She's not wrong.
I go to the Pentagon
a lot more than I'd like to these days,
and I guarantee you,
the Joint Chiefs up there,
they would love to add Pathfinder
to their little fleet out at Vandenberg.
Even if that were true,
there will be plenty of new shuttles
for everyone... eventually.
Look, I'm having dinner with Margo
and the general tonight.
If I can turn Margo around to support
putting ordnance on Pathfinder,
are you in?
Look, if you can turn Margo Madison around
over a bowl of chili,
then who am I to stand in your way?
Is that your car?
You like it?
No more gas stations.
Just plug it in
and get 60 miles on a single charge.
-Well, you do love your toys.
-It's not a toy.
It's the future.
Yeah, well, how fast does it go?
Fast enough. Sixty-five.
That's a toy.
Speed limit's 55.
For some people.
-...twenty-five, twenty-six--
-Hey, babe.
Hi, sweetie.
-So, guess what.
-What?
With the money I made
from last month's receipts
plus the dividends from the LPH Investment
Fund you didn't want me to invest in...
Keep beating that dead horse.
I'm gonna be able to pay off the second
mortgage on the house next month.
-Full year ahead of schedule.
-Wow.
Hell of a job, honey.
Congratulations.
Thank you. I deserve it.
Yes, you do.
Deserve every bit of it.
I gotta admit, I was skeptical.
I know. Trust me, I'll remind you
of that for the rest of your life.
Of that, I'm sure.
-Make a hole.
-Sorry.
Great. Let's just...
-Thank you.
-I've been thinking about this all day.
All right. Let's see.
Bobby put too much oregano in that.
He thinks he's improving it.
Better not be improving the garlic bread.
Tell ya that.
Where's the cheese?
Right here.
No, the cheese.
You know what he wants.
Come on, Dad. This is real Parmesan,
not those plastic shavings
in the green container you call cheese.
It's good enough for the customers.
Not anymore.
Now it's fresh-grated every day.
I gotta use a spoon?
I can't even shake it over the spaghetti?
I know, it's pretty tough.
You want me to show you how?
Just--
-Mom, can you pass the bread?
-Sure.
Hey, did you get a chance
to look at those college catalogs?
She means did you get a chance
to look at the new catalog
from William & Mary
with that big pond on the cover.
Not a pond, it is a lake. Lake Matoaka.
And it was created by the colonists
in the 18th century,
and it's one of the most beautiful places
on the East Coast.
So fancy.
No, not yet, but I will.
Well, don't worry about it. No pressure.
Wherever you choose to go
is completely your decision.
William & Mary has one of the best
English programs in the entire country,
not to mention,
a wonderful theater program.
Wait, theater? You're talking about
studying theater now?
I don't know. Maybe.
It was just a random thought.
No, no.
Engineering, physics, computer science.
That's the future.
You got good enough grades to write
your own ticket to wherever you wanna go.
But we're not gonna push any particular
course of study or college, are we, Dad?
No, we're not. We're absolutely not.
Could you pass me the salt?
I think it's over there
by that William & Mary alumni mug.
You should pursue anything that you want.
All right, you find your passion.
Yeah. Find the real cheese
while you're at it.
-Ed.
-Dad, you're such an old man sometimes.
-Come on.
-Look. It doesn't melt right. Look.
Just mix it in. It will.
-Try it. It's delicious.
-It's crumb--
All right, we have returned.
Hey, I think she's on next.
Hit the light. Turn it up.
Sure. Okay.
You know, the new TVs,
they have remotes and they come in color.
Can you imagine that?
Yeah, well, some things
shouldn't change, ever.
My first guest
has flown three times in space,
logging over 4,000 hours in orbit.
But her most famous mission was Apollo 25
when she risked her own life
to rescue astronaut Molly Cobb.
Do you remember that?
It's always a pleasure to have her on
the show. American hero, Tracy Stevens.
Wow, what is she wearing?
Not much.
Great to see ya.
Thank you. It's great to be back.
How many outfits
does she have at this point?
I understand you're just getting back from
vacation in South America. Is that right?
That's right. We were in Rio mostly
and then hopped over
to Aruba for a few days
and then a last-minute visit to Vegas
before coming to beautiful
downtown Burbank to see y'all.
Highlight of your vacation, I'm sure.
I bet Ronnie and Nancy
are watching this in bed right now.
Yeah, in their pj's and their TV trays.
So I have to ask,
is that a new ring on your finger?
Yes.
And does it mean something special?
It does. When Sam and I
were in Vegas, we got married.
Congratulations. Wow.
That's great. Good for you.
Oh, my God.
Guys, can you grab a close-up of this?
Oh, goodness.
What the hell, Trace.
How long have you and Sam...
Just up and get married
without even a phone call?
We can say his name, right?
Sure. Everyone knows who Sam Cleveland is.
Oh, right.
You mean because he's as rich as J.R.?
What?
She left a message
on the machine yesterday.
She didn't say she was getting married.
She kinda sounded loopy?
So I didn't think it was important,
Mom just being Mom.
Left a message on the machine.
Jesus H. Christ.
You met after your last mission?
I'm gonna go play Atari.
That's right. I came back
from helping to repair the...
Hey, Jimmy, wait.
How do you feel about this?
We met and hit it off.
Your mom getting remarried
to Sam Cleveland?
It was funny, actually. See, Sam had...
I don't know.
It's what she wants to do, I guess.
So, how long have you been engaged?
The truth is we were never engaged.
-Hello?
-You weren't?
-Yeah.
-So it was a total surprise.
That's right. Spontaneous,
spur-of-the-moment,
whatever you wanna call it.
-Yeah.
-You watching this shit?
You mean about Mrs. Tracy Cleveland?
Did you know about this?
Hell no.
Yeah. We were in Aruba like I said...
-You okay?
-Yeah. No, I don't know.
I'll take a break.
Shit, I mean, I knew it was gonna
happen eventually, but--
-Been there, done that, sure.
-Yeah.
-This time, he seemed...
-Well, she's his problem now.
You want some company?
Maybe knock back a few?
Maybe more than a few?
Nah, appreciate it. I'll be fine.
Okay.
So we go out to this private little beach,
and I tell you, Johnny,
it was the most beautiful sunset
I've ever seen in my life.
I'm not kidding. I'm not kidding.
The sun was just setting,
and the light was shining on the water in
these just brilliant blues and turquoise,
and I looked down,
and next thing I know Sam is on one knee.
And I think to myself,
"Oh, goodness gracious.
What is wrong with this man's leg?"
But I start to get what's going on.
And before I can even take a breath,
he's got this ring in his hand and--
Panamanian strongman Omar Torrijos,
whose Democratic Revolutionary Party
recently declared its allegiance to
Marxist-Leninist principles and ideology,
has issued a strong demand
that the United States hand over control
of the canal to the people of Panama,
a demand that Secretary of State
George Shultz rebuffed today
in equally strong language.
Houston, Skylab.
Ready to begin
solar coronagraph observations.
Hey, morning, Skylab.
We got a new CAPCOM on now
with a new crew.
Lab coats in the back room are eager
and waiting for your solar telemetry data.
Is that you, Bill?
You're up bright and early.
Must have drawn
the short straw this morning.
Actually, I tried to
draw an inside straight last night,
ended up swapping out
morning duty for an extra 50.
That sounds like an American
poker reference to me, Bill.
And I look forward to you explaining
all the rules to me in between ATM passes.
It's easier to show you in person.
Maybe you could join our little game
next time you're back in the world.
That sounds grand.
But I hope you don't think I am, as you
Americans would say, an easy mark.
Never crossed my mind, Doreen.
Bring your paycheck.
Okay. I am at the ATM panel.
Starting a run.
Seeing some X-ray emission.
And the particle count is rising.
Image intensity count is exceeding 30.
Fifty.
Wait a minute.
There is a large, a very large
prominence extending out into the corona.
Looks like a major solar flare, but it's
bigger than anything I've ever seen.
Houston, the prominence is at least
100,000 kilometers long already,
and I'm reading
a shower of proton radiation.
Solar flare that size,
there's a good chance
we're gonna have interference
across the broadcast spectrum.
Let's alert the FCC
and get them ready for that.
Flight, JPL just lost contact
with the Mariner 14 probe.
There was a surge in proton radiation
and then zip. Like, it got fried.
Mariner 14 is just inside
the orbit of Mercury.
So it can't be related to the flare.
It's too fast.
Those plasma clouds
never move that quickly.
Maybe, or maybe we've just
never seen them move that fast.
Get management in here.
Singin' sweet songs
-Of melodies pure and true
-Pure and true
Sayin'
"This is my message to you-oo-oo"
-Singin', Don't worry
-Don't worry
About a thing
'Cause every little thing
Is gonna be all right
-Singin', Don't worry
-Don't worry
About a thing
Coronal mass ejection verified.
This is a major solar event.
It's well into S5, bigger than
anything recorded in our observations.
That's bigger than anything
recorded period.
Is that chili?
We're looking at
a few billion tons of solar material
being ejected into space
and heading this way.
Is it dangerous?
The Earth's magnetic field will filter out
most of the hard radiation,
so there's no danger to life on Earth,
but everyone outside of
Earth's atmosphere is at risk.
Like my people on Skylab?
Their orbit is relatively low,
but we need to get them into
a more heavily shielded part of Skylab.
Doreen, you're gonna need to take shelter.
Columbia is still in lunar orbit.
Their crew will have to do the same.
Charlie, get them to hunker down
in the hardened shelter on the mid-deck.
Likewise for Jamestown, we need them
to get into the base storm shelter ASAP.
-Copy, Flight.
-They'll be ready. They trained for this.
But they never trained
for anything this fast.
Coronal mass ejections usually take days
to travel from the sun to the moon.
But this isn't a CME.
This is hard proton radiation.
That's deadly, and it's traveling
at 30% the speed of light.
Which is really fricking fast.
Tell Jamestown to follow
emergency power protocols.
Scram the nuclear reactor,
switch to reserve power.
Copy.
-How long do they have until it hits?
-Less than 30 minutes.
Estimated time
to radiation limit exceedance: 27.
This is Jamestown actual
to all astronauts.
We've got a solar storm coming in,
and it's a hot one.
We've got 27 minutes to get to shelter.
Those of you who can make it
back to Jamestown in time,
you need to get moving now.
If you're too far away, you're
gonna have to find shelter in place.
Find somewhere dark and deep
and sit tight. This is gonna be a bad one.
Go, go, go!
Back to the rover.
Watch your oxygen rates.
Copy that.
Shaw, we're in emergency power protocols.
I need you to take your team
and scram the nuclear reactor.
Roger, Jamestown.
We'll hold the elec cycle for you.
Jamestown, this is Molly.
Wubbo and I are too far out
to make it back.
We're gonna shelter in place.
I'm packing up the rover now.
Copy that.
Ideally, you're gonna need three meters
of regolith between you and the radiation.
But anything is better than nothing
out there.
Good luck. And keep an eye
on your dosimeter badges.
Wubbo, what's your 20?
I'm heading back to base camp.
Probably about two kilometers away,
but it's difficult terrain,
so it will take me at least 15 minutes.
Yeah, same for me.
There's a lava tube right next
to base camp. I'll meet you inside.
Roger that.
Twenty-five minutes.
Mark.
Yes, sir, I will.
This is for Jamestown?
Okay.
I'll be back.
Just got off the horn with NORAD.
They're worried about
losing our early-warning satellites
over the Soviet Union.
Now, they're hardened against radiation
in case of a nuclear attack,
but no one knows how
they're gonna hold up in this situation.
Anything we can do to shield 'em?
If we had more time,
we could try to move them to lower orbits,
but for now, I think the best plan
is to ride it out and see what happens.
If we lose eyes on the USSR, we
have no warning if they decide to launch.
A first strike? Why?
Because of the storm?
That doesn't make any sense.
It's affecting both sides equally.
There's no advantage to either of us.
We can never know why or when the Soviets
might decide to launch a first strike.
That's why we have to have continuous eyes
on the Soviet ICBM fields.
If it makes you feel any better,
they're probably gonna lose
some of their satellites over the US too.
That doesn't make you feel better.
This is Bradford.
There's a strong possibility the Soviets
might lose eyes on North America.
Recommend go to DEFCON 3.
Understood.
Hold on. DEFCON 3?
That's two steps away from nuclear war.
This is a solar storm.
If the Soviets lose eyes on us,
they're gonna worry
that we might take advantage
of the situation and strike first.
And in that case,
they might decide to launch their missiles
to keep us from destroying them
on the ground.
That's crazy.
Let's hope so.
No, just depressurize.
We can refill the tanks later.
Copy that.
All right. Make it safe and lock it down.
Come on, time to go.
How long you think
the storm's gonna last, Chief?
Houston wants us to shelter
for at least three hours.
We're gonna need
an air freshener down there.
Okay. Come on, let's go, let's go,
let's go! Three minutes left. Move!
Okay, Wubbo, I'm outside the lava tube.
Wubbo, what's taking you so long?
Wubbo?
Wubbo. Wubbo Ockels, report.
Earth contact... three...
two... one.
Jamestown colony, this is Houston.
Do you read?
Jamestown, Houston. Do you read?
Wubbo.
Come on, Wubbo.
Wubby-Wubby-woo.
You're starting to scare me here.
Oh, shit.
Jamestown colony,
this is Houston. Do you read?
CAPCOM, you can stand down.
We're in the thick of it now.
There's no way we'll reach them
until the storm has passed.
What was the last head count?
Ten minutes ago, 14 were in the shelter
and three within visual sight of the base.
Don't worry. Ellen will get them inside
and buttoned up.
What about Molly and Wubbo?
Molly is a survivor.
Trust me. They'll be okay.
Three more satellites. Jesus.
White House is about to put out
a statement to the country
explaining the storm and that there might
be radio and television interruption soon,
but that everyone should be fine.
Be better if Reagan himself
got on TV and reassured people.
-He's good at that.
-He can't.
The president's on Air Force One.
Joint Chiefs decided to get him in the air
in case the Soviets try to make a move
during the satellite blackout.
We staying at DEFCON 3?
For now.
The storm is about to hit the moon.
Molly, this is Ellen.
The storm is seconds from impact.
All communication will be disrupted.
So you and Wubbo need to remain in place.
Repeat, remain in place until
you have received the all clear from me.
Good luck and Godspeed.
My God.
How much radiation can someone take?
It varies...
by gender, body weight, age,
a host of other factors.
But basically, a dose of ten millirems
is like getting a chest X-ray.
A thousand rems will kill you in an hour.
And exposures in between,
you're talking increasingly bigger
and bigger chances of developing cancer
over a period of time.
It becomes a numbers game.
Each astronaut wears a dosimeter badge.
It monitors their exposure to radiation
the whole time they're on the moon.
Your badge is green...
your body's clean.
Your badge is red...
You're dead?
It's not good.
Let's put it that way.
It's not good at all.
Wubbo.
Wubbo.
has had its day in the sun,
that our nation has passed its zenith.
They expect you to tell your children
that the American people no longer
have the will to cope with their problems,
that the future will be one of sacrifice
and few opportunities.
My fellow citizens,
I utterly reject that view.
We must go forth from here
united, determined
that what a great general said
a few years ago is true:
"There is no substitute for victory."
Three, two, one...
Further escalating tensions
in the ongoing space race.
Another violation
of the International Space Treaty.
...another Soviet military
satellite yesterday
provoked a strong response...
I will faithfully execute the office
of president of the United States.
...Reagan administration announced
that it was withdrawing
the United States...
The first test-tube baby
was born today in the United Kingdom.
Roman Polanski was arrested at the
Canadian border while trying to escape.
Brezhnev said the decision
not to invade Afghanistan
was part of a broader refocusing
of resources in the ongoing space race.
The meltdown was prevented by
technology first developed for Jamestown.
...nighttime raid by the US
military took the Iranians by surprise.
...leaders of the Polish
Solidarity Trade Union
were arrested in Gdansk today.
President Reagan refusing to
bail out the Chrysler Corporation.
The US hockey team failed to
overcome the heavily favored Soviets.
...surprisingly close race,
President Reagan appears to have won
a second term by defeating Senator...
John Lennon narrowly escaped death
when a would-be assassin's bullet
missed its...
John Paul II was shot
and killed today in Saint Peter's Square.
Leonid Brezhnev,
leader of the Soviet Union, has died.
Yuri Andropov will become
the next premier of the Soviet Union.
...a wedding gift from the queen,
Her Royal Highness,
Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall,
is welcomed by the crowd.
NASA announced that the first
space shuttle will be named Enterprise
in honor of the fictional starship
in the television series, Star Trek.
I believe that our nation
is in great danger,
and that danger grows greater
with each passing day.
Soviet strategic missiles are larger,
more numerous and more powerful
than those of the United States.
If we desire peace, the way
to achieve it is through our strength.
We are today,
the last best hope of man on Earth.
We who have thrown the windows
of our souls open to the sun.
The eyes of all people are upon us
as they look to the heavens,
to the highest hill in the sky,
where we have built a city that will
bring the light of freedom to the world.
Not another party, please.
They already gave me
a birthday party up here last week,
and they're giving me
a surprise going-away party next week.
That's not much of a surprise.
It's tough to keep a secret up here.
Look, Senator Tower is
on the Appropriations Committee.
I know.
And I think this party
was his personal idea.
His chief of staff said
he handwrote the invitation.
Come on,
at least you know it'll have a great bar.
Okay. But tell them it has to be
a welcome home party,
not, I repeat, not a birthday party.
I don't wanna see any more signs
or banners or tiki mugs
with the big 4-0 painted on them.
They did the whole luau thing?
Tradition.
I'm sure I can talk them into it.
I think it's more about celebrating the
new job than your rapidly advancing years.
Thank you for that.
Aren't you gonna suit up?
Cutting it pretty close.
I'm staying inside this time.
Really?
Two weeks of darkness,
and you don't wanna see the sun come up?
I've seen it.
More times than I can remember.
The next base commander
went out with them,
and I wanted him to get a chance to bond
before I hand the keys over next week.
So, while everyone else
is out enjoying the show,
I'll have the whole base
pretty much to myself
for what will probably be
the very last time.
And I intend to enjoy every minute of it.
Then I won't keep you.
Love you.
Love you too.
Ten minutes. Mark.
I have a watch, Wubbo.
I don't need you to be timekeeper
just 'cause you don't have
anything interesting to do.
I have plenty to do.
Currently, I'm maneuvering the rover for
the best position to capture the sunrise.
I swear to God, Wubbo.
You spend more time
looking through that camera
than you do actually looking at the moon.
But I will be shooting
something special today.
No human has ever seen the sunrise
through the glorious twin peaks
of the western rim of Shackleton.
Be sure to tell
all the gals back in Amsterdam
that Apollo 37 named
those glorious twin peaks
Lenny and Squiggy.
I'll not be mentioning that.
This is Jamestown actual.
Okay, people, ten seconds.
Ten seconds... mark.
Enjoy the show, everyone.
Oh, shit!
Yeah, baby.
Awesome.
-Wubbo.
-Yes?
Stop staring at that screen,
turn around and enjoy the view.
Rise up this mornin'
Smiled with the risin' sun
Three little birds
Perched by my doorstep
Singin' sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true
Sayin', This is my message
To you-oo-oo
-Singin', Don't worry
-Don't worry
About a thing
'Cause every little thing
Is gonna be all right
-Singin', Don't worry
-Don't worry
About a thing
Emma.
Good morning, Ms. Madison.
Morning. Messages?
One from your cousin, Adlai.
Your aunt Hildy got through her surgery
without any complications
and is expected to make a full recovery.
I sent flowers and a note
and arranged a little extra treat
from the hospital kitchen.
Aunt Hildy won't eat anything
without bacon in it.
They're gonna disguise
some turkey bacon for her.
Good luck with that. What else?
Various things. Nothing that can't wait.
Okay, let's go around the world.
Skylab is starting shift two.
Their plan of the day is devoted
to more solar observations
with the Apollo Telescope Mount.
Astronaut Campbell is still
nursing a cold, poor thing.
Be sure she's giving the flight surgeon
hourly updates.
She'll dodge it if we let her.
She is a wily one.
The orbiter, Kon-Tiki,
remains docked at Skylab,
but she's scheduled for reentry
and landing this afternoon in Florida.
Unless you can work your magic.
Pretty sure I can swing that one.
The bigger problem is getting him
to agree to these polar launches.
Did you get--
Great.
-Where is he?
-Deep in the rabbit hole.
DOD COM just completed their ASAT test
over the Pacific missile range.
General Bradford is probably getting
preliminary test results... right now.
Okay. Let's hope this works.
Perfect.
Keep going.
Columbia remains on station
in lunar orbit,
scheduled to return home to Earth
next week
with the Jamestown crew rotating home.
Beagle was scheduled
to roll out to pad 39C today,
but there's a report on some issues
in her main engine turbopumps
which might delay her launch date
by a week or two.
Great.
Discovery, Enterprise and Endeavour
are still in turnaround on the West Coast,
while Atlantis, Victoria and Constitution
are still in OMDP in Palmdale.
What about Pathfinder's
thermal tile inspection report?
We're expecting the official report
by digital mail by end of day,
but the word is
she passed with flying colors.
Jamestown reports
making a new geological claim
on a site 30 kilometers from the base,
labeled "site 357/Bravo."
Early data suggests there could be
significant deposits of lithium.
Wouldn't that be nice.
Have they notified the Soviets?
Yes, ma'am. There's a hard copy
of the official notice in your in-box
and a ghost copy in your d-mail.
Be sure notice of the claim
is transmitted to the State Department
for delivery to the Soviet embassy.
There's a new procedure.
State wants to deliver a formal hard copy
of mining claims
directly to the Soviet ambassador now.
-I'm sure that'll speed things up.
-Yeah.
And as a reminder, the celebration
at Shackleton tomorrow morning, our time,
in case you want to watch the festivities.
-Has it really been two weeks?
-Yes, ma'am.
-They're pretty excited up there.
-Always are. Wish me luck.
-Morning.
-Morning.
I can get you a better printer.
Yeah, can you get the Pentagon
to approve it in less than a year?
No, but I can have a new one
installed this afternoon.
Brand-new, like, still in the box.
Must be nice
to have your own revenue stream.
Well, capitalism, it works.
How'd the test go?
Thirty pages of data,
all to say we missed.
It's bad luck.
But the day does have its bright points.
Army-Air Force tickets
at the 50-yard line.
What'd you do,
get Emma to rob the White House?
She's an old second-story gal
from way back.
Wow. Thanks. Really.
What's it gonna cost me?
They're a gift.
But if you wanted to make Emma feel
like her efforts were appreciated,
you might consider allowing the Kon-Tiki
to land at Edwards tonight.
And maybe also free up some space for a
couple of polar launches from Vandenberg.
Well, I can clear the Kon-Tiki
to land at Edwards,
but you know the Pentagon
really doesn't like
having unsecured vehicles
and crews at Vandenberg.
Come on, Nelson.
I've got orbiters
double-parked at Edwards,
and you've got three open launch windows
before the next military shuttle's
even scheduled.
Come on.
I'll tell the crews to wear blindfolds
so they don't see anything
they're not supposed to.
I'm sorry.
I wish I could, but everyone's still
on edge after what happened in Berlin.
Berlin was almost a year ago.
It hasn't gotten any better, and in
some ways it's gotten worse. So, sorry.
Okay.
-It was worth a try.
-Yeah. There you go.
No. They're a gift.
I hear the Falcons might be
headed to a bowl game this year.
From your lips to God's ears.
And, hey...
I owe you one.
You certainly do.
Okay, keep going.
-What else?
-Yes, ma'am.
The profit and loss statement
for the last quarter is on your desk,
along with projections
on the new licensing revenue
from the microgravity
silicon growth patents.
And I got a d-mail from
Administrator Paine's office
asking if you and the general
are available for dinner tonight.
Dinner? What's he up to?
I think he's gonna press you
on that Pathfinder thing again.
He's relentless.
Where? Please not Mama's Porch.
Afraid so.
He's got a thing about that chili.
My hair's gonna
smell like chili for a week.
-Good morning, Ms. Madison.
-Morning, ma'am.
Gary. Helena.
-God, she hates me.
-You think everyone hates you.
Not everyone. Just management.
If that were true,
you wouldn't be in the program.
Sometimes the system screws up.
Sounds like garden-variety paranoia to me.
I just know when people are out to get me.
That changes today, right?
Right.
I can't hear you, Captain.
Right.
Today you are not just
a miserable Air Force bus driver
dreaming of flying in space like
the marine aviators you secretly worship.
Today you will achieve your goal.
And you will not take no for an answer.
Well, he never says no.
He just leans in real close and says,
"I'll let you know when you're ready."
The admiral is a tough old squid,
and he'll be impressed by your courage.
They say he hates redheads.
-Yeah, that's just a rumor.
-The rumors are always true.
Go in there and get your ticket punched.
Or you can keep riding backup and water
my plants when I'm on Skylab next month.
He's not that bad, Gary. Really.
He freaks me out.
Go.
Come.
Hey, Chief. You got a minute?
Can't you see I'm on the green
at the ninth hole at Pebble Beach?
Oh, right.
-Okay, I can come back in a little bit.
-I'm on the carpet in my office.
Right. Right.
What can I do for you, Mr. Piscotty?
Well, sir...
I wanted to talk to you about my...
my career.
Your career? That's a mighty big subject
for a Thursday morning.
Yes, sir.
I mean, not my whole career.
I was hoping to discuss with you--
Yeah, yeah, you want a prime crew slot.
Yes, sir...
on Pathfinder.
On Pathfinder?
Wow. That's ambitious.
You think you're ready to be prime crew
on the maiden voyage
of America's next-generation shuttle?
Yes, sir.
The vehicle that will redefine
space travel as we know it
and propel this country to Mars
and beyond?
Yes, sir.
I like ambition in a pilot.
You're gonna be one hell of an astronaut.
Thank you, sir.
I'll let you know when you're ready.
I've been here three years now, sir.
Qualified as orbiter pilot, LSAM pilot,
lunar prospector, robotic arms specialist,
and astro-astronomer.
Been CAPCOM on five shuttle moon flights
and two orbital repairs.
Been backup on six crew.
And my performance evaluation
is consistently in the 95th percentile.
I've done everything
this program has asked of me.
And so far, the closest I've been to space
is standing on top of the gantry
on pad 39A.
Why can't I get a flight?
I don't like redheads.
Everyone knows that.
When do I get my shot?
Just trust me when I tell you
that when you're ready...
I'll let you know.
Now, I think it'd be a great idea
for you to take your foot off my ball.
Thank you.
You can close the door behind ya.
With the development of new and
exciting technologies like solar panels,
NASA's making real contributions
back here on Earth.
Even now, new electric vehicles
made possible by batteries
originally designed for the lunar rover
are beginning to hit the road
not only on the moon,
but right here in the good old US of A.
And with that,
I'll be happy to answer your questions.
Yes, sir?
How y'all go to the bathroom in space?
Let me tell you, without gravity,
they gotta use air suction to make sure
things go in the right direction.
So you could say when you take a crap
in space, the shit really hits the fan.
Yes.
I'm sure you get this all the time,
but would you mind telling us the story
of how you saved that poor girl
who broke her arm on the moon?
It had been a rough week
on the old Jamestown base.
And it was different in those days.
The base was just a single room.
Barely enough space for three people
to live and work together.
Not like the palace they got up there now.
No, it was the pioneer days.
We were the settlers,
and the Russians, they were the Indians.
It wasn't an easy place to live,
and a lot of things went wrong.
Was a lot of turmoil.
And sometimes the--
sometimes the best of plans
falls apart on ya.
Best equipment fails.
Even the best people.
Sometimes it all just falls apart on ya.
Anyway...
it was the middle of the night.
I rolled out of my rack
before I was even awake.
Come.
Hey, Ed. You got a minute?
Spaghetti night. I know.
How about I walk you to your car?
Then I'm all ears.
Look, the president has some concerns
about Pathfinder.
Look, you don't need my approval.
Payload's outside my lane
unless it affects crew or crew selection.
I know, but the White House wants this
to be a unanimous decision
on the part of NASA.
You mean they don't want the press to say
that they decided
to do a little saber-rattling
over the objections of the experts at JSC.
Come on, Ed, work with me here.
We're gonna arm it eventually.
Why not test that capability
on the first flight?
We need to send a message to the Soviets.
They're about to test their own shuttle.
But we're already testing
our second-generation shuttle.
Margo's just protecting her turf.
She's worried that the second
we put weapons on Pathfinder
that it'll become a military asset
and outside her jurisdiction.
She's not wrong.
I go to the Pentagon
a lot more than I'd like to these days,
and I guarantee you,
the Joint Chiefs up there,
they would love to add Pathfinder
to their little fleet out at Vandenberg.
Even if that were true,
there will be plenty of new shuttles
for everyone... eventually.
Look, I'm having dinner with Margo
and the general tonight.
If I can turn Margo around to support
putting ordnance on Pathfinder,
are you in?
Look, if you can turn Margo Madison around
over a bowl of chili,
then who am I to stand in your way?
Is that your car?
You like it?
No more gas stations.
Just plug it in
and get 60 miles on a single charge.
-Well, you do love your toys.
-It's not a toy.
It's the future.
Yeah, well, how fast does it go?
Fast enough. Sixty-five.
That's a toy.
Speed limit's 55.
For some people.
-...twenty-five, twenty-six--
-Hey, babe.
Hi, sweetie.
-So, guess what.
-What?
With the money I made
from last month's receipts
plus the dividends from the LPH Investment
Fund you didn't want me to invest in...
Keep beating that dead horse.
I'm gonna be able to pay off the second
mortgage on the house next month.
-Full year ahead of schedule.
-Wow.
Hell of a job, honey.
Congratulations.
Thank you. I deserve it.
Yes, you do.
Deserve every bit of it.
I gotta admit, I was skeptical.
I know. Trust me, I'll remind you
of that for the rest of your life.
Of that, I'm sure.
-Make a hole.
-Sorry.
Great. Let's just...
-Thank you.
-I've been thinking about this all day.
All right. Let's see.
Bobby put too much oregano in that.
He thinks he's improving it.
Better not be improving the garlic bread.
Tell ya that.
Where's the cheese?
Right here.
No, the cheese.
You know what he wants.
Come on, Dad. This is real Parmesan,
not those plastic shavings
in the green container you call cheese.
It's good enough for the customers.
Not anymore.
Now it's fresh-grated every day.
I gotta use a spoon?
I can't even shake it over the spaghetti?
I know, it's pretty tough.
You want me to show you how?
Just--
-Mom, can you pass the bread?
-Sure.
Hey, did you get a chance
to look at those college catalogs?
She means did you get a chance
to look at the new catalog
from William & Mary
with that big pond on the cover.
Not a pond, it is a lake. Lake Matoaka.
And it was created by the colonists
in the 18th century,
and it's one of the most beautiful places
on the East Coast.
So fancy.
No, not yet, but I will.
Well, don't worry about it. No pressure.
Wherever you choose to go
is completely your decision.
William & Mary has one of the best
English programs in the entire country,
not to mention,
a wonderful theater program.
Wait, theater? You're talking about
studying theater now?
I don't know. Maybe.
It was just a random thought.
No, no.
Engineering, physics, computer science.
That's the future.
You got good enough grades to write
your own ticket to wherever you wanna go.
But we're not gonna push any particular
course of study or college, are we, Dad?
No, we're not. We're absolutely not.
Could you pass me the salt?
I think it's over there
by that William & Mary alumni mug.
You should pursue anything that you want.
All right, you find your passion.
Yeah. Find the real cheese
while you're at it.
-Ed.
-Dad, you're such an old man sometimes.
-Come on.
-Look. It doesn't melt right. Look.
Just mix it in. It will.
-Try it. It's delicious.
-It's crumb--
All right, we have returned.
Hey, I think she's on next.
Hit the light. Turn it up.
Sure. Okay.
You know, the new TVs,
they have remotes and they come in color.
Can you imagine that?
Yeah, well, some things
shouldn't change, ever.
My first guest
has flown three times in space,
logging over 4,000 hours in orbit.
But her most famous mission was Apollo 25
when she risked her own life
to rescue astronaut Molly Cobb.
Do you remember that?
It's always a pleasure to have her on
the show. American hero, Tracy Stevens.
Wow, what is she wearing?
Not much.
Great to see ya.
Thank you. It's great to be back.
How many outfits
does she have at this point?
I understand you're just getting back from
vacation in South America. Is that right?
That's right. We were in Rio mostly
and then hopped over
to Aruba for a few days
and then a last-minute visit to Vegas
before coming to beautiful
downtown Burbank to see y'all.
Highlight of your vacation, I'm sure.
I bet Ronnie and Nancy
are watching this in bed right now.
Yeah, in their pj's and their TV trays.
So I have to ask,
is that a new ring on your finger?
Yes.
And does it mean something special?
It does. When Sam and I
were in Vegas, we got married.
Congratulations. Wow.
That's great. Good for you.
Oh, my God.
Guys, can you grab a close-up of this?
Oh, goodness.
What the hell, Trace.
How long have you and Sam...
Just up and get married
without even a phone call?
We can say his name, right?
Sure. Everyone knows who Sam Cleveland is.
Oh, right.
You mean because he's as rich as J.R.?
What?
She left a message
on the machine yesterday.
She didn't say she was getting married.
She kinda sounded loopy?
So I didn't think it was important,
Mom just being Mom.
Left a message on the machine.
Jesus H. Christ.
You met after your last mission?
I'm gonna go play Atari.
That's right. I came back
from helping to repair the...
Hey, Jimmy, wait.
How do you feel about this?
We met and hit it off.
Your mom getting remarried
to Sam Cleveland?
It was funny, actually. See, Sam had...
I don't know.
It's what she wants to do, I guess.
So, how long have you been engaged?
The truth is we were never engaged.
-Hello?
-You weren't?
-Yeah.
-So it was a total surprise.
That's right. Spontaneous,
spur-of-the-moment,
whatever you wanna call it.
-Yeah.
-You watching this shit?
You mean about Mrs. Tracy Cleveland?
Did you know about this?
Hell no.
Yeah. We were in Aruba like I said...
-You okay?
-Yeah. No, I don't know.
I'll take a break.
Shit, I mean, I knew it was gonna
happen eventually, but--
-Been there, done that, sure.
-Yeah.
-This time, he seemed...
-Well, she's his problem now.
You want some company?
Maybe knock back a few?
Maybe more than a few?
Nah, appreciate it. I'll be fine.
Okay.
So we go out to this private little beach,
and I tell you, Johnny,
it was the most beautiful sunset
I've ever seen in my life.
I'm not kidding. I'm not kidding.
The sun was just setting,
and the light was shining on the water in
these just brilliant blues and turquoise,
and I looked down,
and next thing I know Sam is on one knee.
And I think to myself,
"Oh, goodness gracious.
What is wrong with this man's leg?"
But I start to get what's going on.
And before I can even take a breath,
he's got this ring in his hand and--
Panamanian strongman Omar Torrijos,
whose Democratic Revolutionary Party
recently declared its allegiance to
Marxist-Leninist principles and ideology,
has issued a strong demand
that the United States hand over control
of the canal to the people of Panama,
a demand that Secretary of State
George Shultz rebuffed today
in equally strong language.
Houston, Skylab.
Ready to begin
solar coronagraph observations.
Hey, morning, Skylab.
We got a new CAPCOM on now
with a new crew.
Lab coats in the back room are eager
and waiting for your solar telemetry data.
Is that you, Bill?
You're up bright and early.
Must have drawn
the short straw this morning.
Actually, I tried to
draw an inside straight last night,
ended up swapping out
morning duty for an extra 50.
That sounds like an American
poker reference to me, Bill.
And I look forward to you explaining
all the rules to me in between ATM passes.
It's easier to show you in person.
Maybe you could join our little game
next time you're back in the world.
That sounds grand.
But I hope you don't think I am, as you
Americans would say, an easy mark.
Never crossed my mind, Doreen.
Bring your paycheck.
Okay. I am at the ATM panel.
Starting a run.
Seeing some X-ray emission.
And the particle count is rising.
Image intensity count is exceeding 30.
Fifty.
Wait a minute.
There is a large, a very large
prominence extending out into the corona.
Looks like a major solar flare, but it's
bigger than anything I've ever seen.
Houston, the prominence is at least
100,000 kilometers long already,
and I'm reading
a shower of proton radiation.
Solar flare that size,
there's a good chance
we're gonna have interference
across the broadcast spectrum.
Let's alert the FCC
and get them ready for that.
Flight, JPL just lost contact
with the Mariner 14 probe.
There was a surge in proton radiation
and then zip. Like, it got fried.
Mariner 14 is just inside
the orbit of Mercury.
So it can't be related to the flare.
It's too fast.
Those plasma clouds
never move that quickly.
Maybe, or maybe we've just
never seen them move that fast.
Get management in here.
Singin' sweet songs
-Of melodies pure and true
-Pure and true
Sayin'
"This is my message to you-oo-oo"
-Singin', Don't worry
-Don't worry
About a thing
'Cause every little thing
Is gonna be all right
-Singin', Don't worry
-Don't worry
About a thing
Coronal mass ejection verified.
This is a major solar event.
It's well into S5, bigger than
anything recorded in our observations.
That's bigger than anything
recorded period.
Is that chili?
We're looking at
a few billion tons of solar material
being ejected into space
and heading this way.
Is it dangerous?
The Earth's magnetic field will filter out
most of the hard radiation,
so there's no danger to life on Earth,
but everyone outside of
Earth's atmosphere is at risk.
Like my people on Skylab?
Their orbit is relatively low,
but we need to get them into
a more heavily shielded part of Skylab.
Doreen, you're gonna need to take shelter.
Columbia is still in lunar orbit.
Their crew will have to do the same.
Charlie, get them to hunker down
in the hardened shelter on the mid-deck.
Likewise for Jamestown, we need them
to get into the base storm shelter ASAP.
-Copy, Flight.
-They'll be ready. They trained for this.
But they never trained
for anything this fast.
Coronal mass ejections usually take days
to travel from the sun to the moon.
But this isn't a CME.
This is hard proton radiation.
That's deadly, and it's traveling
at 30% the speed of light.
Which is really fricking fast.
Tell Jamestown to follow
emergency power protocols.
Scram the nuclear reactor,
switch to reserve power.
Copy.
-How long do they have until it hits?
-Less than 30 minutes.
Estimated time
to radiation limit exceedance: 27.
This is Jamestown actual
to all astronauts.
We've got a solar storm coming in,
and it's a hot one.
We've got 27 minutes to get to shelter.
Those of you who can make it
back to Jamestown in time,
you need to get moving now.
If you're too far away, you're
gonna have to find shelter in place.
Find somewhere dark and deep
and sit tight. This is gonna be a bad one.
Go, go, go!
Back to the rover.
Watch your oxygen rates.
Copy that.
Shaw, we're in emergency power protocols.
I need you to take your team
and scram the nuclear reactor.
Roger, Jamestown.
We'll hold the elec cycle for you.
Jamestown, this is Molly.
Wubbo and I are too far out
to make it back.
We're gonna shelter in place.
I'm packing up the rover now.
Copy that.
Ideally, you're gonna need three meters
of regolith between you and the radiation.
But anything is better than nothing
out there.
Good luck. And keep an eye
on your dosimeter badges.
Wubbo, what's your 20?
I'm heading back to base camp.
Probably about two kilometers away,
but it's difficult terrain,
so it will take me at least 15 minutes.
Yeah, same for me.
There's a lava tube right next
to base camp. I'll meet you inside.
Roger that.
Twenty-five minutes.
Mark.
Yes, sir, I will.
This is for Jamestown?
Okay.
I'll be back.
Just got off the horn with NORAD.
They're worried about
losing our early-warning satellites
over the Soviet Union.
Now, they're hardened against radiation
in case of a nuclear attack,
but no one knows how
they're gonna hold up in this situation.
Anything we can do to shield 'em?
If we had more time,
we could try to move them to lower orbits,
but for now, I think the best plan
is to ride it out and see what happens.
If we lose eyes on the USSR, we
have no warning if they decide to launch.
A first strike? Why?
Because of the storm?
That doesn't make any sense.
It's affecting both sides equally.
There's no advantage to either of us.
We can never know why or when the Soviets
might decide to launch a first strike.
That's why we have to have continuous eyes
on the Soviet ICBM fields.
If it makes you feel any better,
they're probably gonna lose
some of their satellites over the US too.
That doesn't make you feel better.
This is Bradford.
There's a strong possibility the Soviets
might lose eyes on North America.
Recommend go to DEFCON 3.
Understood.
Hold on. DEFCON 3?
That's two steps away from nuclear war.
This is a solar storm.
If the Soviets lose eyes on us,
they're gonna worry
that we might take advantage
of the situation and strike first.
And in that case,
they might decide to launch their missiles
to keep us from destroying them
on the ground.
That's crazy.
Let's hope so.
No, just depressurize.
We can refill the tanks later.
Copy that.
All right. Make it safe and lock it down.
Come on, time to go.
How long you think
the storm's gonna last, Chief?
Houston wants us to shelter
for at least three hours.
We're gonna need
an air freshener down there.
Okay. Come on, let's go, let's go,
let's go! Three minutes left. Move!
Okay, Wubbo, I'm outside the lava tube.
Wubbo, what's taking you so long?
Wubbo?
Wubbo. Wubbo Ockels, report.
Earth contact... three...
two... one.
Jamestown colony, this is Houston.
Do you read?
Jamestown, Houston. Do you read?
Wubbo.
Come on, Wubbo.
Wubby-Wubby-woo.
You're starting to scare me here.
Oh, shit.
Jamestown colony,
this is Houston. Do you read?
CAPCOM, you can stand down.
We're in the thick of it now.
There's no way we'll reach them
until the storm has passed.
What was the last head count?
Ten minutes ago, 14 were in the shelter
and three within visual sight of the base.
Don't worry. Ellen will get them inside
and buttoned up.
What about Molly and Wubbo?
Molly is a survivor.
Trust me. They'll be okay.
Three more satellites. Jesus.
White House is about to put out
a statement to the country
explaining the storm and that there might
be radio and television interruption soon,
but that everyone should be fine.
Be better if Reagan himself
got on TV and reassured people.
-He's good at that.
-He can't.
The president's on Air Force One.
Joint Chiefs decided to get him in the air
in case the Soviets try to make a move
during the satellite blackout.
We staying at DEFCON 3?
For now.
The storm is about to hit the moon.
Molly, this is Ellen.
The storm is seconds from impact.
All communication will be disrupted.
So you and Wubbo need to remain in place.
Repeat, remain in place until
you have received the all clear from me.
Good luck and Godspeed.
My God.
How much radiation can someone take?
It varies...
by gender, body weight, age,
a host of other factors.
But basically, a dose of ten millirems
is like getting a chest X-ray.
A thousand rems will kill you in an hour.
And exposures in between,
you're talking increasingly bigger
and bigger chances of developing cancer
over a period of time.
It becomes a numbers game.
Each astronaut wears a dosimeter badge.
It monitors their exposure to radiation
the whole time they're on the moon.
Your badge is green...
your body's clean.
Your badge is red...
You're dead?
It's not good.
Let's put it that way.
It's not good at all.
Wubbo.
Wubbo.