Gordon, you all right?
Just a little woozy.
The excitement of going home
you know.
Sure.
You OK?
I feel a little funny...
Kinda sick to my stomach.
Put your helmet on.
Major, have located trouble.
Secondary servo break.
All clear now...
Am returning to cabin.
When you enter the air lock,
keep your helmet on, Mike.
Something's happening here.
Gavin and Halpern have both experienced
sudden weakness and nausea.
We'll use our own individual oxygen supply
the rest of the trip.
Less danger of contamination.
Getting dizzy, Major. Weaker.
There's no doubt about it.
This doesn't make much sense at all, Major.
I worked as close to Howard's body
on the autopsy table
as Gavin and Halpern both did.
I don't have any symptoms at all,
and you... You were nowhere near
the laboratory table.
You'd better inform the base.
Yes, sir.
The specimens, Major.
The plants, they're shooting off spores.
There is nothing wrong
with your television set.
Do not attempt to adjust the picture.
We are controlling transmission.
We will control the horizontal.
We will control the vertical.
We can change the focus to a soft blur
or sharpen it to crystal clarity.
For the next hour, sit quietly,
and we will control all that you see and hear.
You are about to participate in a great adventure.
You are about to experience the awe and mystery
which reaches from the inner mind to...
For centuries
man has looked to the skies
and sought to uncover the mystery of the universe.
The telescope brought into focus the craters on the moon
and the canals on Mars.
But it was limited,
and man's insistent hunger for knowledge and experience
would not be satisfied
until he broke the massive chains of gravity
and set foot himself on a planet other than his own.
Project Mercury was his first venture into space,
a testament to his technical ingenuity and courage,
a green light to a hundred other projects
which would take him still further.
This is project Adonis...
A laboratory orbiting a thousand miles
above the earth...
A tiny far-flung world
connected only by radio and memory
and inhabited by a handful of men
dedicated to removing the unknown
for future space travelers.
At 10 minutes after 6:00 on January 8th,
Lieutenant Rupert Howard stumbled upon something
clinging to the wall of the space lock
that appeared alive.
He called them "space barnacles"
for temporary identification.
They were not.
Hello. Lieutenant Howard speaking.
Well, I can't be certain yet, Major Doweling,
but it's looking more and more
like some kind of a dormant spore.
Yeah, probably been floating around in space
for a million years or so.
Finally found a home.
Well, I should know more later on.
I've got one in the Incubator,
and I'm about to make a slice study on the others.
No, I haven't named it yet.
Something Greek,
or maybe I'll just call it "Miss Adonis."
Right.
Major Benedict.
Please report to the communications room.
Dr. Willis, you're wanted in the pharmacist's room.
Dr. Willis, please report to the pharmacist's room.
Unto almighty God
we commend the soul of our brother departed,
Rupert Lawrence Howard,
and we commit his body
to the deep...
Deep heavens...
In the sure and certain hope
of the resurrection
to life eternal...
Through our lord and savior.
May he rest in peace.
Amen.
Air lock secured, sir.
Ah.
Mike, I found another one of these mushroom things.
Hmm?
It was on the hatch plate of the air lock.
That's the third one, isn't it?
Yeah.
Howard used to call these things
space barnacles.
It's hard to believe he's dead.
Mm-hmm.
It sure will be nice to lie
in some good old-fashioned earth-type sunlight
after 90 days of this.
Now, I put the sunlamp on the other 2 spores.
Exactly the same thing happened.
They seemed to grow right in front of me.
It must be the combination
of the station's synthetic earth's atmosphere
and the sunlamp.
It makes sense.
Oh, I'm not much on botany, Major.
Howard's theory was that they are some sort
of dormant spore, just probably floating around
in space for millions of years.
Well, we'll let the lab boys
try to figure it out.
They know all the answers.
Boys, try to get space project
communications, will you?
Yes, sir.
Major, I don't want to press the issue,
but you know how closely together
Howard and I have been working
on cosmic radiation research?
Now, I'd like to be allowed to stay up here
and finish the work.
The answer is no, Mike. Emphatically, no.
Look, the human factor boys have got it all worked out.
3 months up here, 6 below.
What if I can find out what killed him?
That's problem number 1 for the new crew, not ours.
Major Benedict,
I've got space project communications.
Colonel McWilliams is on.
Come on. You can say a few provocative words
to your wife.
This is Major Benedict.
I'd like to talk to Colonel McWilliams.
Yes, Major.
This is McWilliams.
Colonel, we buried Lieutenant Howard.
Are you and the men all right?
Yes, sir, but Doweling still requests staying on
for another tour of duty
to continue the Lieutenant's work
on cosmic radiation exposure.
Uh, put Doweling on.
Hold on.
I think you know what to say, Janet.
This is Captain Doweling.
Well, hi. This is Captain Doweling's wife.
Janet?
How are you?
I'm fine.
Mike,
I've missed you.
Well, I've missed you, too, Janet, but...
Janet.
You'd better hurry on down, Mike.
She's been sitting on the edge of her oscilloscope
for days now.
Put Major Benedict back on.
Yes, sir.
This is Major Benedict.
Major, about Lieutenant Howard.
The Pentagon has asked for a full report on the matter.
I'm preparing one now, Colonel.
But you'll have to fill in
the space marked, "cause of death."
All right, Major.
Yes, thank you.
See you soon.
Oh, Janet, uh,
would you mind checking out the recovery support system?
We'll want it operational to bring them in.
Yes, sir.
Will you stop looking at me like that, Nathan?
Like what?
Look, I... I had a decision to make,
and I made it.
All these people here, they're my responsibility.
As project officer,
I have to consider the whole picture.
Howard's body had just as thorough an autopsy
up there as we could have performed down here.
Lieutenant Halpern's a fine physician.
You know that.
As I said Mac,
sometimes one man can miss a small detail.
Team of men might have learned more.
As chief surgeon of this project,
my advice was to bring Howard's body down here.
But what about the calculated risk involved?
You said it yourself.
As a matter of record,
I said it might not have been
the cosmic radiation experiments
that destroyed the hemoglobin in Howard's blood.
It might have been some alien virus
floating around up there,
something we know nothing about.
And you also admitted
that such a virus could be contagious
and that our bodies probably have no immunity
built up to fight it.
Could I risk exposing this whole base
to something that kills a man
in a matter of a few hours without warning?
No. Not knowing the cause of Howard's death,
I just couldn't chance bringing him back.
All the hemoglobin in the rabbit's blood
has been destroyed.
Same as Lieutenant Howard.
Everything's aboard the shuttle craft, Major.
We're ready to push off.
Replacement crew standing by.
You forgot to put these spore specimens aboard.
Sorry, Major. I didn't know they were to go.
I've already secured the aft cargo compartment.
Well, put them up forward with us.
Position vector, 3-2-6.
Trajectory curve, 32-0.
Speed, 16,003.
We're indicating yaw, 1.3 degrees.
Check attitude stabilizer.
1.3 degrees, check.
What is it, Mike?
The attitude stabilizer seems to be over-correcting.
The automatic attitude control system is out.
I'm gonna put her in a safety orbit.
Shuttle craft 1-0-1-0.
Adonis center calling. Over.
This is shuttle craft 1-0-1-0.
The attitude stabilization control system
went out on us.
We're checking it now.
Craft traveling in safety orbit.
Altitude 900 miles. Over.
Roger. Tracking stations alerted.
Notify any variance in orbit or altitude.
Seems like one of the servos.
I'm gonna have to leave the ship
to correct it.
Captain Doweling leaving ship to make repairs.
Maintaining safety orbit as previously stated.
Out.
Gordon, you all right?
Just a little woozy.
The excitement of going home.
You know.
Sure.
You OK?
I feel a little funny...
Kinda sick to my stomach.
Put your helmet on.
Major, have located trouble.
Secondary servo break.
All clear now...
Am returning to cabin.
When you enter the air lock,
keep your helmet on, Mike.
Something's happening here.
Gavin and Halpern have both experienced
sudden weakness and nausea.
We'll use our own individual oxygen supply
the rest of the trip.
Less danger of contamination.
Getting dizzy, Major. Weaker.
There's no doubt about it.
This doesn't make much sense at all, Major.
I worked as close to Howard's body
on the autopsy table
as Gavin and Halpern both did.
I don't have any symptoms at all,
and you... You were nowhere near
the laboratory table.
You'd better inform the base.
Yes, sir.
The specimens, Major.
The plants, they're shooting off spores.
Now they're throwing off some kind of vapor.
You're right.
The contamination must be coming from them.
The aft compartment, isolate them in there!
Every plant, every spore! I'll inform the base!
This is shuttle craft 1-0-1-0
calling Adonis.
The situation...
These plants, the gas they release... poisonous.
Destroys hemoglobin in the blood.
Gavin almost out, Halpern already unconscious.
Both turning like Howard and the rabbit.
I'm beginning to feel weaker.
What about Doweling?
Doweling was outside of craft.
Not exposed to gases as much as we were.
Aft compartment overrun with the plants.
They fire spores hundreds at a time.
They grow on anything.
Even penetrate metal with their stems.
It's... it's a malignant thing.
Don't let us land.
Contamination...
Destruct us.
Destruct.
Major! Major Benedict!
Come in! Over!
This is Captain Doweling.
Major Benedict has passed out,
and I'm beginning to feel a little woozy myself.
Will maintain this orbit until ordered to destruct.
Plants. Alien plant life.
What can they be?
Where do they come from?
How are they capable of destroying hemoglobin
in the blood?
If Doweling should pass out
and that shuttle crashes to earth,
there's no telling
how fast those plants could take root and multiply
once they feed from the soil
and are exposed to sunlight.
Major Benedict may be right.
Maybe the craft should be destroyed.
There are 4 men in that ship.
We have the whole picture to consider.
That shuttle is loaded with destruction.
There's no way of determining
how many people could be contaminated
by those plants
if they're allowed to reproduce down here
as they're doing in that craft.
They're inside the craft, Mac.
They're contained.
And the gas they release?
Poisonous, the Major said.
How do we contain that?
But those men...
I know. Don't you think I know?
If we get them back in time,
give them a blood transfusion,
maybe...
Yeah?
What do you mean you can't find the General?
Mayberry is 6 feet 4 and weighs 250 pounds.
If intelligence can't locate a target that size,
the whole country's in trouble.
Try his club, his barber, his bathroom, but find him!
And I want a ground-to-air missile with a warhead
standing in readiness!
Janet...
Please, I want to stay.
I have to know.
Of course.
You've got as much stake in this
as any of us. More.
McWilliams.
General, we have a grave situation.
Yes, General.
He, uh...
He dropped it in my lap.
The decision is mine.
I have 2 choices...
Bring them down
at the Springdale base in Florida
and risk the lives
of who knows how many people here on earth...
Or send up a missile,
destruct while they're still in that safety orbit.
Bring them down, Mac.
Give us an opportunity
to research an alien plant life.
They were found on the space station, Nathan.
Chances are, they'll find others.
They can be researched up there.
Colonel?
There are 4 men on that craft.
4 men, Janet, or 4 bodies?
Yes, perhaps.
Perhaps 4 bodies.
But if we brought back Lieutenant Howard's body,
maybe by now we'd know how the blood is attacked.
Maybe we'd have some way to fight it.
Contact the space station.
Advise the replacements of the danger.
Tell them to keep away from all strange plant life.
If it's...
If it's too late, if they've already...
Tell them we're working on an antidote.
And get a jet ready to take off for Florida.
I want it in 15 minutes.
Contact Doweling.
Tell your husband we're bringing that shuttle down.
Mike? Mike, listen to me.
Mike, please, you've got to try!
Doweling?
Shuttle craft 1-0-1-0.
Come in, Doweling.
Doweling, this is Colonel McWilliams.
I read you.
You're holding us up, Mike. We're ready to take off.
We'll meet you at...
No! You can't bring us down.
Is it getting worse, Mike?
I think so.
Awfully weak.
What about the others?
I don't know, sir.
Their... their faces are getting worse.
Mike, I, uh...
I want you to bring the shuttle down.
Can't.
These plants destroy you.
Half the compartment's like... Jungle.
Horrible.
You talk to him, Janet.
I did. I tried.
Well, try again.
Tell him you're waiting for him.
Mike, can you hear me?
We're all here waiting for you.
Janet, I...
Mike, I love you.
Please bring the ship down.
Come home.
Please come home, Mike.
Please...
I order you to bring that ship down.
Do you read me, Captain Doweling?
Can't, sir. The plants.
You bring that ship down, Captain!
That's an order!
Do you read me?
Yes, sir.
All right, then listen carefully.
Bypass the base and change your touchdown location
to sector 4-6-3, coordinates 83-1-0-5.
Repeat. Over.
Sector 4-6-3,
coordinates 83-1-0-5.
That's correct.
That's the Springdale missile base in Florida.
You should know the area.
Come out of your safety orbit
and proceed to that location immediately.
Our tracking stations indicate
you are presently over South Africa.
Start your descent immediately.
Contact the Springdale base.
Tell them the shuttle is coming down in their area.
Notify their radar control.
Don't tell them anything more than that.
Top secret, absolutely.
Colonel...
May I come along?
Please?
All right.
Shuttle craft 1-0-1-0.
Come in, Doweling. Over.
This is shuttle craft 1-0-1-0.
I can read you. Over.
You're coming in off course, Doweling.
You'll touch down 6 or 7 miles southeast of us.
We're on our way there now,
and we're alerting the Springdale rescue team
to meet us there.
Roger.
Stay in the car, Janet.
Their body harnesses should absorb the shock.
They should be all right.
Doweling, this is McWilliams.
Do you read me?
Doweling, do you read me?!
This is Doweling,
shuttle craft 1-0-1-0.
Are the others still alive?
Halpern is dead.
The Major, Gavin... Maybe.
Don't know.
Open the hatch, Mike. Come out.
Hatch lock sprung.
Won't open.
Pry it open!
Hurry it up!
We'll have it open in a minute.
I told you to stay in the car, Janet.
Are you all right?
He's OK.
Then get that hatch open.
Yes, sir.
They... they're all over the area.
Contact Springdale.
Find out why they aren't here.
Just get them here, and quick!
Heaven help us.
They said there's a 90% probability of rain.
How much faster will these things spread
if it rains?
Hurry it up, son, will you?
Get that stretcher here!
The gas came
right from the center of the flower.
I'll start the transfusion.
Janet, get out of the car!
Aah!
Watch where you're walking!
Get in the ambulance!
Get him into the ambulance.
Give the Colonel a hand.
Help him to the ambulance.
Oh!
Let's get out of here.
Get his helmet off.
Thanks.
Sergeant's looking better.
I think the transfusions are gonna do it.
Oh, thank god.
And pray.
No, Janet. We'll follow in the car,
no, I want to stay with Mike, please.
It's not a good idea, Janet.
I don't know what the contamination potential is.
Well, I don't care.
Mike would want you to.
Janet, I'll see you at the hospital.
Do what they tell you, please.
I think he's going to be all right, Janet...
If we hurry.
Get them to the base hospital.
Be careful, but be fast.
Looks like blood.
They're always talking about life on other planets,
but what kind of life?
Could a plant...
A flower?
Aah!
What about Lieutenant Halpern's body?
We'll have to leave it for the decontamination squad.
Don't let it rain.
The is Colonel McWilliams calling.
It's the storm.
Must have started somewhere.
This is Jennings, Mac.
What happened to all the help?
The flamethrowers?
They're on their way.
Why are you still there, Mac?
Can't get out, except maybe on foot.
Those plants are all over the engine.
Is Janet all right?
Yes, she's all right.
Better attempt it on foot.
It might be 30, 40 minutes before help arrives.
How are the men?
Sergeant's doing real well.
Doweling's coming around faster than we hoped.
Blood almost normal.
We're going to try it, Nathan.
Come on.
No!
End of the road.
That whine, it's coming from them!
The rain... It's destroying them.
Rain!
Oh!
They're all gone.
A simple thing like rain.
Let's get back to the car, Janet.
Colonel, where do you think they came from,
the flowers?
I don't know.
Another planet, another time.
There are many things up there...
Evil and hungry...
Awesome and splendid and gentle things, too.
Merciful things...
Like rain.
We now return control of your television set to you.
Until next week at this same time
when the control voice will take you to...