Mars (2016–…): Season 1, Episode 5 - Darkest Days - full transcript
In 2037, the psychological pressures of life on Mars reveal themselves while the crew is trapped inside the habitat; in present-day, scientists study the effects of extreme isolation in various long-term analog missions.
[NARRATOR READS ON-SCREEN TEXT]
We at MMC feel that we're ready to go fester.
HAMA:
Phase two expansion was under way...
...and the Cygnus crew had arrived
with experts to oversee our upgrades.
Base Commander Hana Seung.
We‘d hoped to have the second facility by now,
but we've run into trouble every step of the way.
ln two months we'll have enough power to
double the size and capacity of your facilities.
Hana approved this?
| informed her, yes.
JOON:
It‘s a little too ambitious right now.
You don‘t go to Mars without ambition.
HAMA:
No matter how hard Grann's team worked...
...to expand Olympus Town 's infrastructure...
...Mars worked harder to tear it down.
JAVIER:
Oliver!
HAMA: And I was caught in the middle
trying to keep us alive.
Our dream is now a reality.
They don‘t know Mars.
ROBERT: I don‘t think we're gonna get a chance
to get that reactor back online.
We 're coming in too fast now
Everyone is burning bright
Hundred and eighty two seconds, baby
And heaven is a trick of the light
Calm down, my love
We 're coming in too fast now
Everyone is writing letters home
A hundred and eighty-two seconds, baby
And heaven is address unknown
Calm down, my love
MAE: Pressurization complete.
Perprolate deposits detected.
Please sanitize before entry.
HAMA:
Seung, Hana. Mission entry, phase two.
We 've been in full storm protocol
for two months...
...trying to budget the power
and resources we have.
The way current satellite forecasts
are looking...
...it could be anywhere between five to eight,
nine weeks before the storm passes.
There 's no sign of relief.
Experiments have been put on hold,
all E VAs suspended.
The days seem like they go on forever...
...filled with inane tasks and darkness.
SAM [IM FREMCH]:
[IM ENGLISH] My grandfather used to read me
this on long blizzard nights.
I hope this storm ends
before I have the whole thing memorized.
HAMA:
We never had a chance...
...to bring the nuclear reactor back online
after Oliver's accident.
Redundancies are gone,
and we 're on backup power.
] don 't like running like this.
It means we 're just one complication
away from a complete outage.
Dr. Les/ie Richardson may be overseeing
Olympus Town 's infrastructure now...
...but I‘m still responsible
for the safety of everyone in it.
There are two brothers...
LESLIE: Nick, that grow light,
can you just take it...?
...twins, and their father the king.
And the king was to decide
who to give the kingdom to.
HAMA:
Doctor.
This is not a good time, sorry.
We have to start rationing power.
These lamps were inadequate
to begin with...
...and now we're only utilizing
50 percent of their potential output.
We've barer enough power
to keep the feed system running.
I'm struggling to keep the crop yield
as it was two months ago.
I know.
The solar arrays are useless in the storm.
We have to reserve power
for critical systems.
If we hadn’t taken the nuclear reactor off-line
before the storm...
I've instructed Robert
to dial the greenhouse power...
...down to one-quarter output.
Please.
They're only babies.
I'm sorry.
There‘s nothing I can do.
Would you leave me alone, please?
Of course.
I'm sorry.
I'm truly sorry.
HAMA: With Robert squeezing
every last bit of energy out of our reserves...
...we're all just hanging on...
...as we try to weather the storm.
JIM: We 've been studying the dust storms
on Mars for quite some time...
...and there 's a particular season where some
of the dust storms can actually go global.
Not just regional, but global.
Dust storms on Mars
can be absolutely enormous.
They can be 20 to 30 kilometers high...
...and in fact the dust can get charged.
And in the case of these really tall dust storms,
lightning can strike.
AM DY:
These dust storms are huge.
They can cover the entire planet,
and they can last for months.
They're visible from space.
Mars turns into a hazy, red ball...
...and we can’t see surface features
anymore with our satellites.
The dust, it's not like sand.
It‘s like talcum powder.
It‘s very, very microscopically small,
nasty dust particles...
...and if they get into your Iungs,
it's a human safety issue.
So you would wanna try to keep it out
as much as possible.
STEPHEM:
There 's a lot of dust on Mars.
We 've learned from our rovers on Mars
that they're constant/y getting covered in dust.
And one of the problems with solar panels
is that dust would cover them almost instant/y...
...or they would simply block out the sun
so much that they don 't work.
If you've got a dust storm
that Iasted for a month on Mars...
...and you were relying on solar power,
you‘d be in trouble.
PAUL:
Hi, Mom.
We have no energy,
and I can’t keep my plants alive.
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
This storm has been raging for months.
Yeah.
They call it a season.
I can’t do myjob.
WOMAN: You told us we were send/ng
the best minds on Earth...
...doubling the power,
expanding the infrastructure.
These people have been trapped
with a third of the power they had...
...before you had your prodigy shut it down.
This storm is just a bump in the road.
We have the world’s leading agronomist
working around the clock.
He‘s getting hybrids producing...
...and that Will make
Olympus Town self-sustaining.
That means Mars will have the resources
to feed thousands of people.
And those people are going to need
rockets to get there.
We own the hybrids...
...and we build the rockets.
We just have to play the long game.
PAUL:
She left.
She left...
...but not you.
It’s gonna be okay.
These are the times that try men‘s souls.
WOMAN [OVER PA]: Paul Richardson,
please report to the med lab.
Paul Richardson,
please report to the med lab.
AVA: I thought once we got here....
AMELIE: That‘s some really distressing plans.
AVA:
But the storm.
I know.
Dr. Richardson, please come in.
If this is a bad time...
...l've got a lot of work—-
No, no, no.
Um, we'll talk more at next week‘s session.
I'm here in the meantime
whenever you need me.
Come in. Just a quick examination,
and you'll be on your way.
This storm, it‘s getting to everyone.
How are you holding up?
I'm fine.
AMELIE:
You prepare for everything you can...
...but there are some things
you just cannot train for.
Are you missing home?
No.
That would be okay, you know,
to miss home.
It would be normal, even.
I'm okay.
And your wife?
How are things with you and her?
We're working mostly.
Look, I could really—-
And how is the work?
The hybrids,
how are they coming along?
They're trying.
They're really trying.
Hey.
I know it's hard,
especially now...
...but maybe the best thing
is to take a little time away from the work...
...and refill the well.
Okay.
Thank you.
Thank you.
PAUL:
I couldn’t save them.
They weren‘t strong enough.
They died...
...so that you could live.
It‘s all on you.
We're gonna be strong.
Just remember, we have it in our power...
...to start the world over again.
We have the power.
[MACHINES BEEPING]
ROBERT:
God bless Mars.
STEPHEM:
Mars sounds like a terrifically romantic idea.
What could be a greater adventure?
The realities of this adventure
are almost depressing...
...and they're significant.
There are a lot of challenges involved
in surviving in a very small spacecraft...
...with a few other human beings
for eight months at a time...
...and then being able to deal with the idea...
...that you're not going back to Earth
for possibly decades.
So that you're leaving everything behind.
And maintaining a psychological balance...
...in what is really a vast desert...
...an unfriendly environment,
is not gonna be easy for people.
TYSOM: It‘s always Wise to test
what you're about to do in advance.
You wanna live on Mars isolated?
Create a hab module on Earth,
test that in advance.
TRISTAM:
We 've been here just over seven months...
...and we 've got just under five to go...
...so it‘s like 140-something days left.
Um, it‘s been a long time.
KIM: Hl-SEAS is a NASA-funded
research analogue and simulation.
It‘s located at about 8000 feet
on the slopes of Mauna Loa here in Hawaii...
...so the crews we put there are very isolated.
The goal is to be as close as possible
to a Mars mission.
So that means we put
a lot of constraints on the crew.
AM DY: Groups of people living together
is what civilization is. We're very good at it.
lnterestingly, the biggest problem
is when you have a small group of people.
So you'll notice there are
only four crew members here...
...and, well,
here are the other the other two.
AM DY:
When you have a small number of people...
...the biggest risk to mission success
is those people not getting along.
Even if they're very professional about it,
if they’re not getting along...
...and they're not communicating enough,
there is going to be problems.
MARY:
Talk to people who've been in prison.
The lack of control over your environment
and your life is stressful.
To not be able to do what you want
when you want is a stressor.
This is what it'll be like
to be on the Mars mission.
AMDRZEJ: [know that we face far less danger
than a Mars mission.
That’s okay.
This is a simulation
just like any other simulation...
...but these aren 't just simulated effects.
These are real.
You real/y are isolated, and you really do
feel separated from planet Earth...
...and this is the part of the simulation
that NASA is interested in.
KIM: What we 're concerned with
is how resilient are the crew.
If you think about it,
the human part of a Mars mission...
...is just as critical as the technological part.
If the human part breaks,
it’s just as disastrous as if the rocket blows up.
[SIGHS]
How‘s it going, Emmanuel?
|, uh, know that, uh,
l haven‘t been around a lot.
[SIGHS]
We 're working real/y hard.
Systems are all experiencing losses
and moving slow/y.
We 're all trying...
...to work together as a team.
Some days are good, some days are rough...
...and it’s okay, you know.
Never realized how hard it was
trying to hold it together...
...and just be tough.
Just be tough.
Well, I can’t keep the plants alive
at this level.
What do you want me to say?
We should have been
at twice the power now at least.
So....
I don‘t know what else to say.
No one anticipated a storm of this magnitude?
Of course not.
That storm was moving faster than anything
we've monitored this early in the season.
How could we?
The plan was there.
There‘s nothing else we can do at this point.
Let‘s face it.
[GROAMS]
[GRUNTS]
Really?
Do you even try to tidy up
before you come home?
I mean, I did my job.
My team’s training was impeccable.
The plan was bulletproof.
It should have worked.
They should have had nuclear
fully up and running by now.
Before we even got here.
Do you think I don‘t feel awful
that Oliver got hurt?
It‘s constantly on my mind.
Did you know...
...sometimes I feel as if people are not really
looking at me when I pass them in the hall?
Paul?
Darling?
AMELIE: Also showing emotional strain
is Dr. Richardson, Paul J.
While Richardson reports
no psychological issues...
...his affect and behavior
with the crew is, um....
l request psychiatric consultation...
...and review of prior
and current mental-health testing.
Please send all records via private med link.
Thanks.
The lightning strike must've
blown a junction box...
...between Olympus
and the reserve power station.
Every second that passes,
we're draining batteries...
...just keeping air breathable
and heat running.
I‘ve got MAE back online
in the main terminal.
HAMA:
MAE, what’s the status on critical systems?
MAE: Climate recycling rate decreased
to 75 percent nominal.
Current rate of temperature decline,
three degrees Celsius per hour.
I have to make repairs.
There‘s no way I'm sending anyone out there.
It’s way too dangerous.
There‘s no visibility.
You'll be completely blind.
We'll take the rover, get as close as we can.
It‘s gonna be slow going,
but it‘s the only shot we have.
It is.
All right. Good luck.
All right.
Hey, I've been calling.
I'm sorry. I've had my hands full.
Two and a half months in a dust storm
means clean-up down here too.
Walk with me.
I want to talk to you about
increasing freighter launches.
Our assembly line can handle it.
I'm still doing damage control...
...after losing power in a dust storm,
you wanna talk to me about freighters?
The nations are getting cold feet, Ed.
This is a public—relations exercise...
...and the public sentiment
is as low as it‘s ever been.
China‘s talking about pulling out.
Don’t worry about that.
As long as the US. and E.U. stay on board...
...no way China risks missing
the glory down the road.
Olympus Town was ready for this storm.
The nuclear reactor was operational before
you gambled on an accelerated schedule.
Your expansion plan
was science fiction.
The money doesn‘t come
without expansion.
No money, no MMC. No MMC, no mission.
It was the right play.
This isn‘t some lush frontier land.
They're fighting for every step
of the way.
You push too hard too fast,
something‘s gonna break.
MAE: lnterference detected
in all navigational systems.
The electrostatics are
whacking guidance to hell.
I can’t see anything.
We can triangulate
to a seven-and-a-haIf-meter discrepancy.
Good thing I came to help.
When I was a child...
...the Harmattan wind would
blow into Lagos from the Sahara.
Sandstorms would cover
the whole city.
Sometimes all the way to the ocean.
People would lose their way...
...turn up kilometers out,
skin raw from sand burn...
...lungs filled with dust.
You'll have plenty to do
when we find the junction box...
...just making sure
I don‘t get lost out there.
Believe me...
...I am grateful for the company.
Do you still think about it?
The ocean.
Every day.
Trouble is...
...every time, it‘s like the...
...waves are getting a little quieter.
Like someone‘s turning down the volume.
Yeah.
Last week | realized I couldn‘t even remember
what the ocean sounded like.
Yeah.
We're gonna be okay.
You sure about that?
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
Well, I hope so.
[BOTH LAUGHIMG]
Me too.
ROBERT:
Yeah.
[ERIK SATIE'S "GNOSSIENNE NO. 1"
PLAYING]
No matter where, of comfort no man speak:
Let's talk of graves, of worms, of--
Look at you, look at you.
You are so strong.
Oh, weil done.
You clever, clever thing.
I‘m gonna introduce you to your brothers.
For God‘s sake, let us sit upon the ground
And tell sad stories of the death of kings
How some have been deposed,
Some slain in war
Some haunted by the ghosts
They have deposed
Some poison‘d by their wives:
Some sleeping kill 'd
All murder'd: for within the hollow crown
That rounds the mortal temples of a king
Keeps Death his court--
You are gonna love this.
This is going to be a treat...
...just for you.
Botanist, my ass.
AMELIE:
Leslie.
Lock, I‘m up to date on weekly...
...so if this is supplemental,
I can save you the trouble.
I miss home, but I‘m not homesick.
I don‘t ever think of hurting myself
or anyone else.
I‘m not experiencing any more stress
than anyone would under the circumstances...
...and the only voices in my head
are the ones telling me to get back to work.
I'm not worried about you.
l spoke to Paul...
...and he seemed distant.
He‘s just focused.
l checked his ration allotment,
and he‘s hardly eating.
He forgets sometimes.
Lock, he lives for his work...
...and he can’t do it.
What do you expect?
Can I go now?
Yeah, sure.
DAVID: We don 't think it’s a trivial thing
to send people off to Mars...
...and just assume
that intelligence and motivation...
...and getting along before they go
is gonna be enough.
We actual/y have to understand
who is going to have a real problem...
...with pro/onged exploration
in an extreme environment.
Not everyone can tolerate the isolation,
the Ioneliness, the risk to life and limb.
Some people disintegrate
psychological/y and behaviorally.
You look back at many of the explorations...
...where humans moved
across thousands of miles...
you typical/y Will see
dysfunction occur in crews.
It happened on Shackleton’s mission
to the South Pole.
He puts his men off at Elephant Island...
...and tries to get to South Georgia Island,
800 miles in heavy seas.
But he's got a very dysfunctional carpenter...
„psychological/y sick.
...because it's gonna create chaos.
On Mars,
just like the 19th-century explorers...
you might see fragmenting of the crews.
And you find these dynamics
in these historical records...
...and you see how problematic they are
for the success of the mission.
AMELIE: Someone wrote this
at the end of the fourth century.
St. Augustine.
"My memory contains my feelings.
Not in the same way as they are present
in the mind when it experiences them...
...but in a quite different way...
...that is in keeping
with the special powers of the memory.
For even when [am unhappy...
...I can remember times when I was cheerful.
And when I’m cheerful...
...I can remember past unhappiness.
I can recall past fears...
...and yet not feel afraid.
And when I remember
that once ! wanted something...
.../can do so...
...without wishing to have it now. "
Look at me in the eyes.
"Sometimes memory can induce
the opposite feeling."
AMELIE:
Jake. Are you still taking your antibiotics?
MARTA: "For ! can be glad to remember sorrow
that is over and done with. "
Hey, Alex. Feeling better?
“And sorry...
...to remember happiness
that has come to an end."
[ERIK SATIE'S "GNOSSIENNE NO. 1"
PLAYING]
JAVIER [OVER RADIO}:
Anything?
Okay, just a second.
Okay, I got your signal.
Junction box should be
less than five meters out.
Six degrees northeast.
Anything?
Negative.
You should be seeing the cable now.
I have no visual.
Robert--
[STATIC CRACKLING OVER RADIO]
You're breaking up.
Javier?
[STATIC CRACKLING OVER RADIO]
I can’t hear you.
What?
Storm 's...fering...signal.
Javier? Javier?
Robert, do you copy?
Hello, Javier?
I said it's dead ehe--
Dead ahead.
Copy that.
Damn it.
You okay?
Aah!
Robert? You okay?
Robert?
I‘m out of room on my tether.
Okay, Robert.
You need to come back to the rover.
I can ’t move the rover any further forward
because of the terrain.
It‘s too dangerous out there with the storm...
...so we can't risk it.
Come back.
Robert.
You need to come back.
[S EAGULLS SQUAWKING FAI NTLY]
I‘m gonna unclip.
No, no, no, Robert.
Do not unclip.
Do not uno/ip, Robert.
Come back.
Robert?
Robert, do you copy?
Do not uno/ip, Robert.
Robert, answer me.
Robert, do not unclip.
You can hear me, Robert.
Where are you? Come on.
Robert, come on.
Robert.
Come on, come on, come on.
Come on, Robert.
Robert, [ need you to come back here.
Robert.
Robert.
DAVID: The challenge people face
when they do exploration...
...is that they're used to handling conflict...
...or disagreement or dis/[ke
with each other by separating...
...and being apart for a while.
With spaceflight, or any exploration
that involves intense confinement...
...where you can't get away from other people
and you're all in a very tiny space...
...the whole idea of individual territoriality
becomes a problem.
It sounds astonishing.
Billion-dollar explora tions. ..
...and yet it comes down to the little things...
...that Will often determine what happens.
These things definitely occur.
They occur in the Antarctic
and in other analogues.
The Russians created something
called the Mars 500 Mission...
...which was a 520-day full simulation
of a crew of six to Mars and back.
MAN: They will live as if they were in
an interplanetary spaceship.
They Will eat, sleep and train
as if they were real astronauts.
DAVID:
They sea/ed the crew in the chamber...
...and isolated them
so they couldn‘t have social contact...
...and then they held the crew
to not only the time delays...
...but to a full simulated mission to Mars.
So there was a landing on a Martian surface
simulated, and it was many, many months.
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
DAVID: And to go to the bottom line,
out of six crew members...
...two managed to maintain stable activity [eve/s
and were psychological/y healthy.
Four other crew members
experienced problems...
...with mood, emotion, impulsivity, insomnia.
These were people who were
astronaut trainers and physicians...
...so they knew about space life.
Even with that kind of a ski/led
and analogue crew that is close to astronauts...
you find the crew is suffering.
We don 't understand why people
equally trained and equally intelligent...
...equally capable as astronauts
Will have different rates of vulnerability.
We actual/y have to understand who is going
to have a real problem in spaceflight because...
...ultimately, some people
are gonna have a really hard time.
[WIND HOWLING]
JAVI ER:
Robert?
Come on, Robert. Talk to me.
Where are you?
Come back here.
Come on.
Robert, do you copy?
Robert.
Please. Talk to me, Robert. Do you copy?
Robert, do you copy?
[MUTTERS IN SPANISH]
Robert.
Robert.
[MUTTERING IN SPANISH]
ROBERT:
Found it!
[ROBERTLAUGHS]
What?
You found it?
Found it! I found the cable.
Oh. Jesus.
[BOTH LAUGH]
Yeah, man.
Ah. You scared the hell out of me.
Ah.
[MUTTERING IN SPANISH]
I‘m here.
How bad is it?
Looks like my ex-wife's cooking.
The chef?
The lawyer.
[JAVIER LAUGHS]
Yeah, [ can imagine, man.
Can you fix it?
The junction box is gonna take some work...
...but I can do it.
I can fix it.
[IN SPANISH]
[LAUGHS]
[IM ENGLISH]
Yeah.
[IM KOREAM]
[IM ENGLISH]
We spend all this time...
...looking for something greater than us.
Something that'll bring us all together.
But what if it’s not even there?
[ used to think the struggle was enough.
But late/y...
...l‘m having a hell of a time
imagining Sisyphus happy.
Hana. ..
...l‘m running out.
I miss you so much.
I miss you.
[ want you to come home.
Okay?
I want you to come home.
[CREW MURMURING]
WOMAN 1: What?
WOMAN 2: It‘s clearing.
MAN 1: Yes!
MAN 2: It‘s over.
What?
MAN 3:
Yes, yes, yes!
MAN 4:
Finally.
[CREW CHEERIMG]
[CREW APPLAUDING AND CHEERING]
HAMA:
Final/y. ..
...when we thought it could only get darker...
...there was light.
MAE:
Power restored.
Solar power back online.
Eastern-section systems fully online.
Environmental systems restored.
Thermal control restored.
Recycling systems restored.
Central-section systems fully online.
Palinka, anyone?
MAE:
Western-section systems fully online.
Greenhouse systems fully online.
OLIVER [OVER PA]: Commander Seung,
come to the facility monitors immediately.
Commander Seung,
please come to the facility monitors now.
HAMA:
Oliver, what‘s going on?
OLIVER:
It‘s Paul Richardson.
HAMA:
What is he doing?
LESLIE:
Paul!
[DOOR WHIRS]
MAE:
Greenhouse airlock compromised.
lmminent danger.
HAMA [OVER PA]:
Sam, get to the pressure door immediately.
Evacuate the west section now!
MAE:
lmminent danger.
lmminent danger.
Sam, sea! the door.
MAE: lmminent danger.
SAM:
There are people in there.
LESLIE: Move!
HAMA: Sam, you have to sea! the door.
MAE: lmminent danger.
HAMA: Seal the door.
Shut the door.
MAE:
West section jeopardized.
-lmminent danger.
LESLIE: Get back! Move!
WOMAN: Go!
MAN: Don‘t close it!
Mo!
[SCREAMING]
[ALARMS BLARING]
MAE:
East-wing pressure stabilized.
[SOBBIMG]
We at MMC feel that we're ready to go fester.
HAMA:
Phase two expansion was under way...
...and the Cygnus crew had arrived
with experts to oversee our upgrades.
Base Commander Hana Seung.
We‘d hoped to have the second facility by now,
but we've run into trouble every step of the way.
ln two months we'll have enough power to
double the size and capacity of your facilities.
Hana approved this?
| informed her, yes.
JOON:
It‘s a little too ambitious right now.
You don‘t go to Mars without ambition.
HAMA:
No matter how hard Grann's team worked...
...to expand Olympus Town 's infrastructure...
...Mars worked harder to tear it down.
JAVIER:
Oliver!
HAMA: And I was caught in the middle
trying to keep us alive.
Our dream is now a reality.
They don‘t know Mars.
ROBERT: I don‘t think we're gonna get a chance
to get that reactor back online.
We 're coming in too fast now
Everyone is burning bright
Hundred and eighty two seconds, baby
And heaven is a trick of the light
Calm down, my love
We 're coming in too fast now
Everyone is writing letters home
A hundred and eighty-two seconds, baby
And heaven is address unknown
Calm down, my love
MAE: Pressurization complete.
Perprolate deposits detected.
Please sanitize before entry.
HAMA:
Seung, Hana. Mission entry, phase two.
We 've been in full storm protocol
for two months...
...trying to budget the power
and resources we have.
The way current satellite forecasts
are looking...
...it could be anywhere between five to eight,
nine weeks before the storm passes.
There 's no sign of relief.
Experiments have been put on hold,
all E VAs suspended.
The days seem like they go on forever...
...filled with inane tasks and darkness.
SAM [IM FREMCH]:
[IM ENGLISH] My grandfather used to read me
this on long blizzard nights.
I hope this storm ends
before I have the whole thing memorized.
HAMA:
We never had a chance...
...to bring the nuclear reactor back online
after Oliver's accident.
Redundancies are gone,
and we 're on backup power.
] don 't like running like this.
It means we 're just one complication
away from a complete outage.
Dr. Les/ie Richardson may be overseeing
Olympus Town 's infrastructure now...
...but I‘m still responsible
for the safety of everyone in it.
There are two brothers...
LESLIE: Nick, that grow light,
can you just take it...?
...twins, and their father the king.
And the king was to decide
who to give the kingdom to.
HAMA:
Doctor.
This is not a good time, sorry.
We have to start rationing power.
These lamps were inadequate
to begin with...
...and now we're only utilizing
50 percent of their potential output.
We've barer enough power
to keep the feed system running.
I'm struggling to keep the crop yield
as it was two months ago.
I know.
The solar arrays are useless in the storm.
We have to reserve power
for critical systems.
If we hadn’t taken the nuclear reactor off-line
before the storm...
I've instructed Robert
to dial the greenhouse power...
...down to one-quarter output.
Please.
They're only babies.
I'm sorry.
There‘s nothing I can do.
Would you leave me alone, please?
Of course.
I'm sorry.
I'm truly sorry.
HAMA: With Robert squeezing
every last bit of energy out of our reserves...
...we're all just hanging on...
...as we try to weather the storm.
JIM: We 've been studying the dust storms
on Mars for quite some time...
...and there 's a particular season where some
of the dust storms can actually go global.
Not just regional, but global.
Dust storms on Mars
can be absolutely enormous.
They can be 20 to 30 kilometers high...
...and in fact the dust can get charged.
And in the case of these really tall dust storms,
lightning can strike.
AM DY:
These dust storms are huge.
They can cover the entire planet,
and they can last for months.
They're visible from space.
Mars turns into a hazy, red ball...
...and we can’t see surface features
anymore with our satellites.
The dust, it's not like sand.
It‘s like talcum powder.
It‘s very, very microscopically small,
nasty dust particles...
...and if they get into your Iungs,
it's a human safety issue.
So you would wanna try to keep it out
as much as possible.
STEPHEM:
There 's a lot of dust on Mars.
We 've learned from our rovers on Mars
that they're constant/y getting covered in dust.
And one of the problems with solar panels
is that dust would cover them almost instant/y...
...or they would simply block out the sun
so much that they don 't work.
If you've got a dust storm
that Iasted for a month on Mars...
...and you were relying on solar power,
you‘d be in trouble.
PAUL:
Hi, Mom.
We have no energy,
and I can’t keep my plants alive.
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
This storm has been raging for months.
Yeah.
They call it a season.
I can’t do myjob.
WOMAN: You told us we were send/ng
the best minds on Earth...
...doubling the power,
expanding the infrastructure.
These people have been trapped
with a third of the power they had...
...before you had your prodigy shut it down.
This storm is just a bump in the road.
We have the world’s leading agronomist
working around the clock.
He‘s getting hybrids producing...
...and that Will make
Olympus Town self-sustaining.
That means Mars will have the resources
to feed thousands of people.
And those people are going to need
rockets to get there.
We own the hybrids...
...and we build the rockets.
We just have to play the long game.
PAUL:
She left.
She left...
...but not you.
It’s gonna be okay.
These are the times that try men‘s souls.
WOMAN [OVER PA]: Paul Richardson,
please report to the med lab.
Paul Richardson,
please report to the med lab.
AVA: I thought once we got here....
AMELIE: That‘s some really distressing plans.
AVA:
But the storm.
I know.
Dr. Richardson, please come in.
If this is a bad time...
...l've got a lot of work—-
No, no, no.
Um, we'll talk more at next week‘s session.
I'm here in the meantime
whenever you need me.
Come in. Just a quick examination,
and you'll be on your way.
This storm, it‘s getting to everyone.
How are you holding up?
I'm fine.
AMELIE:
You prepare for everything you can...
...but there are some things
you just cannot train for.
Are you missing home?
No.
That would be okay, you know,
to miss home.
It would be normal, even.
I'm okay.
And your wife?
How are things with you and her?
We're working mostly.
Look, I could really—-
And how is the work?
The hybrids,
how are they coming along?
They're trying.
They're really trying.
Hey.
I know it's hard,
especially now...
...but maybe the best thing
is to take a little time away from the work...
...and refill the well.
Okay.
Thank you.
Thank you.
PAUL:
I couldn’t save them.
They weren‘t strong enough.
They died...
...so that you could live.
It‘s all on you.
We're gonna be strong.
Just remember, we have it in our power...
...to start the world over again.
We have the power.
[MACHINES BEEPING]
ROBERT:
God bless Mars.
STEPHEM:
Mars sounds like a terrifically romantic idea.
What could be a greater adventure?
The realities of this adventure
are almost depressing...
...and they're significant.
There are a lot of challenges involved
in surviving in a very small spacecraft...
...with a few other human beings
for eight months at a time...
...and then being able to deal with the idea...
...that you're not going back to Earth
for possibly decades.
So that you're leaving everything behind.
And maintaining a psychological balance...
...in what is really a vast desert...
...an unfriendly environment,
is not gonna be easy for people.
TYSOM: It‘s always Wise to test
what you're about to do in advance.
You wanna live on Mars isolated?
Create a hab module on Earth,
test that in advance.
TRISTAM:
We 've been here just over seven months...
...and we 've got just under five to go...
...so it‘s like 140-something days left.
Um, it‘s been a long time.
KIM: Hl-SEAS is a NASA-funded
research analogue and simulation.
It‘s located at about 8000 feet
on the slopes of Mauna Loa here in Hawaii...
...so the crews we put there are very isolated.
The goal is to be as close as possible
to a Mars mission.
So that means we put
a lot of constraints on the crew.
AM DY: Groups of people living together
is what civilization is. We're very good at it.
lnterestingly, the biggest problem
is when you have a small group of people.
So you'll notice there are
only four crew members here...
...and, well,
here are the other the other two.
AM DY:
When you have a small number of people...
...the biggest risk to mission success
is those people not getting along.
Even if they're very professional about it,
if they’re not getting along...
...and they're not communicating enough,
there is going to be problems.
MARY:
Talk to people who've been in prison.
The lack of control over your environment
and your life is stressful.
To not be able to do what you want
when you want is a stressor.
This is what it'll be like
to be on the Mars mission.
AMDRZEJ: [know that we face far less danger
than a Mars mission.
That’s okay.
This is a simulation
just like any other simulation...
...but these aren 't just simulated effects.
These are real.
You real/y are isolated, and you really do
feel separated from planet Earth...
...and this is the part of the simulation
that NASA is interested in.
KIM: What we 're concerned with
is how resilient are the crew.
If you think about it,
the human part of a Mars mission...
...is just as critical as the technological part.
If the human part breaks,
it’s just as disastrous as if the rocket blows up.
[SIGHS]
How‘s it going, Emmanuel?
|, uh, know that, uh,
l haven‘t been around a lot.
[SIGHS]
We 're working real/y hard.
Systems are all experiencing losses
and moving slow/y.
We 're all trying...
...to work together as a team.
Some days are good, some days are rough...
...and it’s okay, you know.
Never realized how hard it was
trying to hold it together...
...and just be tough.
Just be tough.
Well, I can’t keep the plants alive
at this level.
What do you want me to say?
We should have been
at twice the power now at least.
So....
I don‘t know what else to say.
No one anticipated a storm of this magnitude?
Of course not.
That storm was moving faster than anything
we've monitored this early in the season.
How could we?
The plan was there.
There‘s nothing else we can do at this point.
Let‘s face it.
[GROAMS]
[GRUNTS]
Really?
Do you even try to tidy up
before you come home?
I mean, I did my job.
My team’s training was impeccable.
The plan was bulletproof.
It should have worked.
They should have had nuclear
fully up and running by now.
Before we even got here.
Do you think I don‘t feel awful
that Oliver got hurt?
It‘s constantly on my mind.
Did you know...
...sometimes I feel as if people are not really
looking at me when I pass them in the hall?
Paul?
Darling?
AMELIE: Also showing emotional strain
is Dr. Richardson, Paul J.
While Richardson reports
no psychological issues...
...his affect and behavior
with the crew is, um....
l request psychiatric consultation...
...and review of prior
and current mental-health testing.
Please send all records via private med link.
Thanks.
The lightning strike must've
blown a junction box...
...between Olympus
and the reserve power station.
Every second that passes,
we're draining batteries...
...just keeping air breathable
and heat running.
I‘ve got MAE back online
in the main terminal.
HAMA:
MAE, what’s the status on critical systems?
MAE: Climate recycling rate decreased
to 75 percent nominal.
Current rate of temperature decline,
three degrees Celsius per hour.
I have to make repairs.
There‘s no way I'm sending anyone out there.
It’s way too dangerous.
There‘s no visibility.
You'll be completely blind.
We'll take the rover, get as close as we can.
It‘s gonna be slow going,
but it‘s the only shot we have.
It is.
All right. Good luck.
All right.
Hey, I've been calling.
I'm sorry. I've had my hands full.
Two and a half months in a dust storm
means clean-up down here too.
Walk with me.
I want to talk to you about
increasing freighter launches.
Our assembly line can handle it.
I'm still doing damage control...
...after losing power in a dust storm,
you wanna talk to me about freighters?
The nations are getting cold feet, Ed.
This is a public—relations exercise...
...and the public sentiment
is as low as it‘s ever been.
China‘s talking about pulling out.
Don’t worry about that.
As long as the US. and E.U. stay on board...
...no way China risks missing
the glory down the road.
Olympus Town was ready for this storm.
The nuclear reactor was operational before
you gambled on an accelerated schedule.
Your expansion plan
was science fiction.
The money doesn‘t come
without expansion.
No money, no MMC. No MMC, no mission.
It was the right play.
This isn‘t some lush frontier land.
They're fighting for every step
of the way.
You push too hard too fast,
something‘s gonna break.
MAE: lnterference detected
in all navigational systems.
The electrostatics are
whacking guidance to hell.
I can’t see anything.
We can triangulate
to a seven-and-a-haIf-meter discrepancy.
Good thing I came to help.
When I was a child...
...the Harmattan wind would
blow into Lagos from the Sahara.
Sandstorms would cover
the whole city.
Sometimes all the way to the ocean.
People would lose their way...
...turn up kilometers out,
skin raw from sand burn...
...lungs filled with dust.
You'll have plenty to do
when we find the junction box...
...just making sure
I don‘t get lost out there.
Believe me...
...I am grateful for the company.
Do you still think about it?
The ocean.
Every day.
Trouble is...
...every time, it‘s like the...
...waves are getting a little quieter.
Like someone‘s turning down the volume.
Yeah.
Last week | realized I couldn‘t even remember
what the ocean sounded like.
Yeah.
We're gonna be okay.
You sure about that?
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
Well, I hope so.
[BOTH LAUGHIMG]
Me too.
ROBERT:
Yeah.
[ERIK SATIE'S "GNOSSIENNE NO. 1"
PLAYING]
No matter where, of comfort no man speak:
Let's talk of graves, of worms, of--
Look at you, look at you.
You are so strong.
Oh, weil done.
You clever, clever thing.
I‘m gonna introduce you to your brothers.
For God‘s sake, let us sit upon the ground
And tell sad stories of the death of kings
How some have been deposed,
Some slain in war
Some haunted by the ghosts
They have deposed
Some poison‘d by their wives:
Some sleeping kill 'd
All murder'd: for within the hollow crown
That rounds the mortal temples of a king
Keeps Death his court--
You are gonna love this.
This is going to be a treat...
...just for you.
Botanist, my ass.
AMELIE:
Leslie.
Lock, I‘m up to date on weekly...
...so if this is supplemental,
I can save you the trouble.
I miss home, but I‘m not homesick.
I don‘t ever think of hurting myself
or anyone else.
I‘m not experiencing any more stress
than anyone would under the circumstances...
...and the only voices in my head
are the ones telling me to get back to work.
I'm not worried about you.
l spoke to Paul...
...and he seemed distant.
He‘s just focused.
l checked his ration allotment,
and he‘s hardly eating.
He forgets sometimes.
Lock, he lives for his work...
...and he can’t do it.
What do you expect?
Can I go now?
Yeah, sure.
DAVID: We don 't think it’s a trivial thing
to send people off to Mars...
...and just assume
that intelligence and motivation...
...and getting along before they go
is gonna be enough.
We actual/y have to understand
who is going to have a real problem...
...with pro/onged exploration
in an extreme environment.
Not everyone can tolerate the isolation,
the Ioneliness, the risk to life and limb.
Some people disintegrate
psychological/y and behaviorally.
You look back at many of the explorations...
...where humans moved
across thousands of miles...
you typical/y Will see
dysfunction occur in crews.
It happened on Shackleton’s mission
to the South Pole.
He puts his men off at Elephant Island...
...and tries to get to South Georgia Island,
800 miles in heavy seas.
But he's got a very dysfunctional carpenter...
„psychological/y sick.
...because it's gonna create chaos.
On Mars,
just like the 19th-century explorers...
you might see fragmenting of the crews.
And you find these dynamics
in these historical records...
...and you see how problematic they are
for the success of the mission.
AMELIE: Someone wrote this
at the end of the fourth century.
St. Augustine.
"My memory contains my feelings.
Not in the same way as they are present
in the mind when it experiences them...
...but in a quite different way...
...that is in keeping
with the special powers of the memory.
For even when [am unhappy...
...I can remember times when I was cheerful.
And when I’m cheerful...
...I can remember past unhappiness.
I can recall past fears...
...and yet not feel afraid.
And when I remember
that once ! wanted something...
.../can do so...
...without wishing to have it now. "
Look at me in the eyes.
"Sometimes memory can induce
the opposite feeling."
AMELIE:
Jake. Are you still taking your antibiotics?
MARTA: "For ! can be glad to remember sorrow
that is over and done with. "
Hey, Alex. Feeling better?
“And sorry...
...to remember happiness
that has come to an end."
[ERIK SATIE'S "GNOSSIENNE NO. 1"
PLAYING]
JAVIER [OVER RADIO}:
Anything?
Okay, just a second.
Okay, I got your signal.
Junction box should be
less than five meters out.
Six degrees northeast.
Anything?
Negative.
You should be seeing the cable now.
I have no visual.
Robert--
[STATIC CRACKLING OVER RADIO]
You're breaking up.
Javier?
[STATIC CRACKLING OVER RADIO]
I can’t hear you.
What?
Storm 's...fering...signal.
Javier? Javier?
Robert, do you copy?
Hello, Javier?
I said it's dead ehe--
Dead ahead.
Copy that.
Damn it.
You okay?
Aah!
Robert? You okay?
Robert?
I‘m out of room on my tether.
Okay, Robert.
You need to come back to the rover.
I can ’t move the rover any further forward
because of the terrain.
It‘s too dangerous out there with the storm...
...so we can't risk it.
Come back.
Robert.
You need to come back.
[S EAGULLS SQUAWKING FAI NTLY]
I‘m gonna unclip.
No, no, no, Robert.
Do not unclip.
Do not uno/ip, Robert.
Come back.
Robert?
Robert, do you copy?
Do not uno/ip, Robert.
Robert, answer me.
Robert, do not unclip.
You can hear me, Robert.
Where are you? Come on.
Robert, come on.
Robert.
Come on, come on, come on.
Come on, Robert.
Robert, [ need you to come back here.
Robert.
Robert.
DAVID: The challenge people face
when they do exploration...
...is that they're used to handling conflict...
...or disagreement or dis/[ke
with each other by separating...
...and being apart for a while.
With spaceflight, or any exploration
that involves intense confinement...
...where you can't get away from other people
and you're all in a very tiny space...
...the whole idea of individual territoriality
becomes a problem.
It sounds astonishing.
Billion-dollar explora tions. ..
...and yet it comes down to the little things...
...that Will often determine what happens.
These things definitely occur.
They occur in the Antarctic
and in other analogues.
The Russians created something
called the Mars 500 Mission...
...which was a 520-day full simulation
of a crew of six to Mars and back.
MAN: They will live as if they were in
an interplanetary spaceship.
They Will eat, sleep and train
as if they were real astronauts.
DAVID:
They sea/ed the crew in the chamber...
...and isolated them
so they couldn‘t have social contact...
...and then they held the crew
to not only the time delays...
...but to a full simulated mission to Mars.
So there was a landing on a Martian surface
simulated, and it was many, many months.
[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]
DAVID: And to go to the bottom line,
out of six crew members...
...two managed to maintain stable activity [eve/s
and were psychological/y healthy.
Four other crew members
experienced problems...
...with mood, emotion, impulsivity, insomnia.
These were people who were
astronaut trainers and physicians...
...so they knew about space life.
Even with that kind of a ski/led
and analogue crew that is close to astronauts...
you find the crew is suffering.
We don 't understand why people
equally trained and equally intelligent...
...equally capable as astronauts
Will have different rates of vulnerability.
We actual/y have to understand who is going
to have a real problem in spaceflight because...
...ultimately, some people
are gonna have a really hard time.
[WIND HOWLING]
JAVI ER:
Robert?
Come on, Robert. Talk to me.
Where are you?
Come back here.
Come on.
Robert, do you copy?
Robert.
Please. Talk to me, Robert. Do you copy?
Robert, do you copy?
[MUTTERS IN SPANISH]
Robert.
Robert.
[MUTTERING IN SPANISH]
ROBERT:
Found it!
[ROBERTLAUGHS]
What?
You found it?
Found it! I found the cable.
Oh. Jesus.
[BOTH LAUGH]
Yeah, man.
Ah. You scared the hell out of me.
Ah.
[MUTTERING IN SPANISH]
I‘m here.
How bad is it?
Looks like my ex-wife's cooking.
The chef?
The lawyer.
[JAVIER LAUGHS]
Yeah, [ can imagine, man.
Can you fix it?
The junction box is gonna take some work...
...but I can do it.
I can fix it.
[IN SPANISH]
[LAUGHS]
[IM ENGLISH]
Yeah.
[IM KOREAM]
[IM ENGLISH]
We spend all this time...
...looking for something greater than us.
Something that'll bring us all together.
But what if it’s not even there?
[ used to think the struggle was enough.
But late/y...
...l‘m having a hell of a time
imagining Sisyphus happy.
Hana. ..
...l‘m running out.
I miss you so much.
I miss you.
[ want you to come home.
Okay?
I want you to come home.
[CREW MURMURING]
WOMAN 1: What?
WOMAN 2: It‘s clearing.
MAN 1: Yes!
MAN 2: It‘s over.
What?
MAN 3:
Yes, yes, yes!
MAN 4:
Finally.
[CREW CHEERIMG]
[CREW APPLAUDING AND CHEERING]
HAMA:
Final/y. ..
...when we thought it could only get darker...
...there was light.
MAE:
Power restored.
Solar power back online.
Eastern-section systems fully online.
Environmental systems restored.
Thermal control restored.
Recycling systems restored.
Central-section systems fully online.
Palinka, anyone?
MAE:
Western-section systems fully online.
Greenhouse systems fully online.
OLIVER [OVER PA]: Commander Seung,
come to the facility monitors immediately.
Commander Seung,
please come to the facility monitors now.
HAMA:
Oliver, what‘s going on?
OLIVER:
It‘s Paul Richardson.
HAMA:
What is he doing?
LESLIE:
Paul!
[DOOR WHIRS]
MAE:
Greenhouse airlock compromised.
lmminent danger.
HAMA [OVER PA]:
Sam, get to the pressure door immediately.
Evacuate the west section now!
MAE:
lmminent danger.
lmminent danger.
Sam, sea! the door.
MAE: lmminent danger.
SAM:
There are people in there.
LESLIE: Move!
HAMA: Sam, you have to sea! the door.
MAE: lmminent danger.
HAMA: Seal the door.
Shut the door.
MAE:
West section jeopardized.
-lmminent danger.
LESLIE: Get back! Move!
WOMAN: Go!
MAN: Don‘t close it!
Mo!
[SCREAMING]
[ALARMS BLARING]
MAE:
East-wing pressure stabilized.
[SOBBIMG]