Dr. Martin Luther King observed that there is democracy in death.
We all die…
whether we're old or young,
rich or poor,
innocent or guilty.
But we need not despair.
Because death is not the end.
It's only the beginning.
Commander Kuznetsov, if you'd like to say anything?
Grief, though it is difficult, can also be a gift.
Yes, we have lost Oleg Sidorov's body,
but we have what he has left behind to mark our loss.
And now we have been granted this moment to say,
"Goodbye.
Farewell, dear comrade. Farewell."
As you take your final journey…
our hearts go with you.
…and honor the sacrifice of three brave souls.
It is with profound sorrow that we…
In a somber ceremony,
President Wilson led the nation, and the world,
in mourning those who were lost during the rescue.
Representatives of the Soviet space agency, Roscosmos,
are arriving in Houston today
to work with NASA on their now-combined mission
as the former rivals have become unexpected partners.
Welcome to Johnson Space Center, Director Catiche.
Thank you, Margo.
I think we can make a lot of this work.
There is another issue that is not in these official proposals,
with which we will need your help.
Outside of normal channels.
And what would that be?
Well, once our two countries land together on Mars,
we want for our cosmonauts to resume some of their original mission objectives.
But to do so, we will need to utilize some of your resources.
Drones, rovers, laboratory equipment,
perhaps re-tasking a satellite or two.
What exactly are these mission objectives?
I am unfortunately not at liberty to say.
Nonetheless, we will require your assistance.
We have seen how cooperative you can be under the most difficult circumstances.
I was told--
I was assured that there would be no more requests.
Circumstances have changed.
Okay.
You want my help, you're gonna have to help me.
I'm listening.
Sergei Nikulov.
I will work with him and only him.
Margo, you have to know this is not possible.
Why? What happened to him?
Why have I been unable to reach him?
He was the director of Roscosmos for over ten years--
your mentor,
the reason you even have a Mars program.
And then he just disappears?
He was given another assignment.
Bullshit.
Margo, I really cannot…
-Okay, here's the deal, Lenara. -…have this discussion with you.
If you want my help,
then I want Sergei here in Houston in two weeks or less.
Otherwise, no satellites, no equipment, nothing.
-Okay, Louisa. Hit it. -Executing now.
Good. Good. Go ahead, Danny. Kill it.
How are we doing?
Well, 200th time's the charm. Right, Skipper?
-Just lost my nav screen. -Propulsion control is dead.
And?
Propulsion's coming back.
-Nav's reloaded. -We're in control, sir.
Ship is back in our hands.
Good. How do we make sure it doesn't happen again?
Well, I fooled the computer into thinking Dev's new system was corrupt.
So, we installed the older backup version when we went into safe mode.
Which doesn't have Dev's overrides.
Exactly. I also cut the command uplink receiver line to the antenna.
-Right, so we're good? -Yeah. Yes, sir.
Okay. Let's go to Mars, people.
But first, I gotta send a message.
Message coming in from Phoenix.
Patching it in onto the board.
Dev, as I'm sure you've realized, I have retaken control of my ship.
From now on, I'm calling the shots.
You've dishonored this crew, this ship, and Helios.
I intend to wash that stain clean. Phoenix out.
We said we have landing sites C, A, B.
All right. And once they land,
it's imperative that the camera be positioned from two different angles
to maximize the--
Karen, hold on a second.
Will you excuse us?
You wanna resign?
Yeah. Ed was right.
You should have let 'em rescue the Russians.
It was the group's decision.
Don't. You orchestrated that entire decision.
I asked for everybody's opinion.
Yes, and everybody in that room worships you.
So all you had to do was telegraph the decision that you wanted
and they just delivered it.
So now I'm some kind of Svengali with supernatural mind control powers.
Pretty much.
My daughter is on Sojourner, and she could have been killed.
-But she wasn't. -Three other people were.
And those people have mothers and fathers and children who are now heartbroken,
trying to figure out how they're gonna find the strength to go on.
And I feel bad for them. I do.
-Really? -Absolutely.
But I didn't ask anybody to move their launches up to '94.
And I didn't ask the Russians to push their engines past their limits.
I'm not letting you quit.
No? Watch me.
-You're in breach of contract. -So sue me.
Karen. Karen, let's talk about this.
Karen.
Propellant transfer nearly complete.
Tank pressure nominal.
I'm still impressed Star City could remotely stabilize your ship.
I am impressed as well with how you maneuver in this device.
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
Shit.
What's problem?
I can help. It's no problem.
No.
Thank you.
What for?
For coming to our rescue.
I can't wait to hear what song you play next.
It was you who called.
I won't tell anyone.
Promise.
Surprise! It's me, home from Rice for the weekend.
Dad's still at work. I miss you.
Yeah, I said it.
Dad says you're having a real tough time up there.
And I was remembering the first time I took the SATs and did so terrible.
Remember?
I thought I was never gonna get into college,
and I was gonna work at Pizza Hut my whole life.
And I was sulking in my room,
and then you came in and you told me that "That's in the past.
Focus on what you can do now."
It was good advice.
Anyways…
I love you. Stay strong.
Once is happenstance.
Twice is coincidence.
Three times is enemy action.
Margo, those Russian pricks stole my design.
Keep your voice down.
It's not unusual that they came up with similar solutions
for a nuclear-thermal engine.
Similar.
Margo, these expansion ratios match within .3%.
Look, we should've known the second we could refuel.
Their LH2 drain coupling mated exactly with our in situ propellant hose.
The odds of that being a coincidence are insane.
What are you telling me?
I should walk down there to Miss Catiche
and throw a monkey wrench into a historic international space mission
because of some measurements you took off a TV screen?
Yeah, I would.
I know you would. But I need you to focus.
Sojourner is about to make the burn for Mars.
Checklist verified.
Five, four, three, two.
Initiate burn for Mars.
Engine number one showed a 17.2 bar drop in chamber pressure.
That's not good. Could be a turboprop malfunction.
The FCC is pushing engine two harder to compensate.
Engine one might have been damaged in the collision.
Burn complete.
Shutdown sequence initiated on both main engines.
Prepare to deploy the solar sail.
We've got good delta-v. We are on track for Mars.
Expect orbit entry three days after Phoenix gets there.
Will, I want a full diagnostic of engine one.
We gotta get it back up to rated thrust in order to enter Mars orbit.
Do any of you have background in nuclear thermal propulsion theory?
-No. -Then Poletov will operate the engines.
He has the best Soviet training.
I don't know…
You'd rather fail and die, risk your crew, than trust a Russian?
Will, run Comrade Poletov through our procedures.
Baldwin has better Russian.
You all right with that, Kel?
Yeah.
Hi, Ed.
I have a lot to tell you.
First, I wanna say, watching you stand up for what was right
made me so proud.
It did. And-- In fact, it inspired me.
I resigned from Helios.
Yep. I am officially unemployed again.
Hey, Nick.
Hey. Hey, Danny.
Some real whiz-bang computer geeking you pulled off last week.
Thanks.
Yeah, didn't much like having guys 40 million miles away steering our ship.
No. It definitely kinda ruins the whole…
"master of our fate" type thing.
How'd you finally get past Dev's lockout?
Well, basically I kept giving the flight control computer
things that can choke it like recursive Fibonacci calculations
until it locked up and then rebooted in safe mode.
But you still had to get past security, didn't you?
Well-- Okay, so that's the fun part. So, safe mode has a back door
which allows everything to run on the password you used at launch.
-Which was? -Rainbow.
Rainbow. Great. Nice, Nick.
Hi, Ed.
My goodness, I have a lot to tell you.
First, I wanna say,
watching you stand up for what was right
made me so proud.
It did. In fact, it inspired me.
I resigned from Helios.
Yep. I am officially unemployed again.
I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do.
I just, you know, pulled another Ed Baldwin.
I leapt first, and I'll figure out the rest later.
I have to say, it is liberating.
Then during thrust buildup in retreat, ensure CTRR does not exceed 100,
plus or minus 15 kelvin.
Why does she talk so fast? I get everything up to CTRR.
It's short for chamber temperature ramp rate.
You know, your NERVA is very similar to our Russian engines
once you get past this terrible--
Where did you learn Russian?
Annapolis. Where did you learn English?
"I'm expressing with my full capabilities
and now I'm living in correctional facilities,
'cause some don't agree with how I do this,
I get straight, meditate…
like a Buddhist."
You like N.W.A?
The way they use the language, it is amazing.
And they paint very vivid picture of life in America.
Have you been to Compton?
That is where people of color live, no? In the ghettos.
I'm a person of color, and I don't live in a ghetto.
You're from Vietnam.
Yes. But I left when I was very young.
You should go back one day,
see how a Marxist society takes care of its citizens.
There are no poor people there.
Maybe because they were all killed.
You get this from your father?
-No, I get it from history books. -Yes, but those books were written by--
You've got another vidmail from your NERVA instructor, Comrade Trotsky.
They're here.
As promised.
I am glad I was able to clear up that little misunderstanding
about your security clearance, comrade.
Give us the room, Lenara.
I wasn't--
Five minutes.
I will be right outside.
Are you okay?
Okay, yes.
When they told me you were replaced as director of Roscosmos,
I tried to get ahold of you.
You just disappeared. No one would tell me where you were.
Lefortovo.
The KGB prison?
Christ.
They discovered I had been giving you more information than was permitted.
And then, after London,
I refused to…
to continue with--
Sorry.
Thank you.
Ah. Thank you.
Were they-- I mean, did they--
Yes.
But they did it very intelligently. Without anger, you know?
They were very careful not to break my nose, my teeth.
Instead, they work on my lungs…
kidneys…
I thought that kind of thing ended when Gorbachev came to power?
Not even Gorbachev can control the KGB.
It's like trying to keep a rabid dog on a leash.
Margo. I'm so sorry for what I--
I didn't know what to do.
I tried to hold them off,
but they threatened my father, my mother, my sisters.
I could not escape.
I lied to you.
You did. And I was very angry.
I still am. But I know it was your only choice.
I'm sorry.
And now, you're gonna help me.
I'm gonna get us out of this, Sergei, both of us.
They've had us under their thumb for long enough.
I'm gonna talk to the right people and get you asylum.
No, no. Margo, no.
No. The-- The KGB will retaliate against my family.
You don't know what they are-- Sorry.
You can't go back there, not after what they did.
Helios control, Phoenix. MOI burn complete.
Phoenix has now entered Mars orbit.
We are on schedule for our first landing attempt in a few hours.
They're in a stable orbit.
NASA is still days behind us. Phoenix out.
All right. Let's get Popeye spun up for descent.
I got a wrinkle for you, Cap.
That dust storm we've been tracking has gotten even bigger.
A real lulu.
How bad are things at our landing site?
Visibility is less than ten meters across the entire region.
And their forecast?
More of the same, at the alternate landing sites too.
All we can do is wait it out.
Goddamn it!
Our landing got delayed.
Sucks.
I really want to get this one for Dad.
He always regretted not landing on Apollo 10.
Remember how he used to tell us…
he was so close he could just reach out and grab a handful of moondust.
Been thinking about him a lot lately.
It's been harder than I thought…
especially with Ed around all the time.
You know, sometimes he talks about Karen, and I feel so guilty.
But then, he puts his arm around me or calls me "kid,"
and I just-- I wanna strangle him.
He's got no fucking idea.
Just looks at me with that big, dumb grin.
I thought I'd be able to handle it, but maybe you were right.
I guess I was just hoping that--
I-- I don't know…
I could put it all behind me.
Anyway, you don't wanna hear this shit.
Do me a favor.
Sneak Avery some chocolate for me when her mom's not looking.
It's ridiculous. I have doctorate in nuclear physics.
I will not be treated like a child by an arrogant, self-taught Yankee.
She's right.
You need to have these emergency procedures down.
Rosales is just making sure you know, and that we know you know.
She's trying to make me look like a fool in front of you.
Why would you care what I think? I'm just a stupid, fascist reactionary.
No. Not stupid. I never said that.
You are extremely bright, beautiful, fascist reactionary.
Beautiful?
Well, for an American.
Yes!
What is it?
-Helios can't land. -Why not?
Well, the dust storm is getting worse.
If it'll last just a few more days…
Me hearties, I think we're still in this race.
Yeah!
Then you grind the buds into a fine powder.
Pretty good, right?
That smells good.
Humboldt County. Premium blend.
Okay.
Make sure you don't lose any.
Now spread it evenly over the melted butter.
And then simmer for two hours.
Get in there.
Well, thank you, Julia Child.
Bon appétit!
-I'm ready! -It's a good batch.
Yeah?
Okay.
-Wow! -Right?
Molly and I call them goo balls.
Brace for impact in about 20 minutes.
It is really peaceful out here.
Yeah. It is.
I haven't really had a chance to enjoy it until now.
Are you really gonna quit?
I have. It's done.
What?
It's just funny. It's like--
There's this writer, Ken Kesey,
and he said each of us see ourselves as the star of our own movie.
Okay. Maybe your goo ball is kicking in. Explain to me what that means.
Well, think about it. A cop sees himself as the star of a crime thriller.
The criminals, his partner, they're all supporting players.
An astronaut sees herself in 2001.
So the question is, what would Karen's movie be?
Don't you dare say The Graduate.
Oh, okay. Well, look, your sordid past is safe with me.
That one's a little too on the nose.
Okay, what movie?
I don't know. I don't know.
I'd stumbled into it 'cause I wanted to help Ed, so…
All right. So, your movie is Saint Karen, the altruistic martyr
-who went to save her hapless ex-husband… -Yes.
-…from abject failure. -Uh-huh.
-Such a selfless… -Shut up.
-…magnanimous humanitarian. -Yes, I get it. I get it.
I did it for me too.
But why?
I remember the day so clearly
that Tracy told me she was chosen to be an ASCAN.
I was angry with her, with all of them.
I felt like they were judging me.
Because they were doing what you couldn't?
No. God, no. I don't wanna go to space. I fucking hate space.
Me too.
But they had the nerve to try.
You know? To change their life, and…
Took losing Shane for me to do that.
Right.
I think sometimes our best moments come from our worst.
Like Molly. She was a mess after NASA.
No idea what to do with herself.
And then, one day, she picks up one of my paintbrushes
and starts painting.
And she came alive.
-I'm sorry, Molly Cobb's painting? -Molly-- Yes! She loves it.
And of course, being Molly, she's good at it too.
How? She can't even see.
No, no. Hey, look, Monet could barely see by the end of his career.
Well… I am no artist.
All right. Okay.
So, what are you? What does Karen love?
I love taking risks. Love negotiating.
I love building things from the ground up.
And I'm damn good at it.
Yes, you are.
-Wow. -What?
Do you see the way the sunlight hits the water?
It's, like, liquid art.
Welcome to the goo.
-Oh, God. -I told you.
Okay. Okay. I'm gonna-- Okay, I am a little--
I'm stoned.
I'm very stoned.
Oh, my God.
Wayne came over and he taught me how to make--
He taught me how to make marijuana desserts.
Goo balls! He taught me how to make goo balls.
I mean, what's next?
I'm just happy for you.
I'm so happy for you. I mean, you're going to Mars, Ed.
Mars. Can you hear me? You are going to Mars, Ed!
Mars. Holy shit!
You're… going to Mars.
I'm so proud of you.
What are you doing?
I may just have to try one of those desserts.
Just don't tell Kelly, or I'll…
-…never hear the end of it. -Danny, you up?
My cabin.
I've been thinking a lot about Apollo 10 the past few days,
about me and your dad.
Could've been me and him sittin' here.
Or if things had…
It might've been you and Shane.
He always wanted to be an astronaut like you.
It still hurts.
Even after all these years, I keep hoping that with more time it'll get easier, but…
it doesn't.
Sometimes it feels like it's getting harder.
It must've been tough on Karen too.
Yeah.
I gotta say, I'm amazed at how far she's come.
I'm not. That woman's a force of nature.
God help anyone who tries to get in her way.
Oh, yeah.
-I've seen that side of her. -When?
The--
The-- The-- The summer I worked at the Outpost.
God pity the supplier who screwed up an order.
Yeah. I've seen that.
You and her seem to be getting along well.
I don't know if it's that so much as us just realizing,
you know, how close we've always been.
Even in the tough times, you know? Especially in the tough times.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's why I gotta say, I was surprised when you…
you know, got divorced.
I mean, that was a shocker.
-Yeah. -What happened exactly?
There was lot of things.
Did you-- Did you fuck around on her?
No. I'd never do that.
So, what happened?
Oh, my God.
Karen?
Really?
I can't believe it.
It was a onetime thing, you know? More about us than the other guy.
Yeah, right. That's the standard bullshit.
It's not.
She took a vow before God to always be faithful, then broke it.
You're a kid. I used to think like that when I was your age.
Saw everything in black and white, good or bad, and nothing in-between.
But the older you get,
the more you start to realize that things aren't always that simple.
Forgiveness…
is a long, hard road, Danny.
But at the end is grace.
She ever tell you who it was?
Doesn't matter.
Yeah, I guess not.
But if you ever found out…
think you could forgive him?
If I ever found out who it was,
there'll be nothing left of him but a greasy spot on the carpet.
Houston, Sojourner. We are nearing Mars orbit.
Our telemetry shows Phoenix is just ahead of us.
We are beginning preparations for landing.
Copy, Sojourner. Sending you new descent trajectory.
I was right there when Apollo 11 landed on the moon.
We weren't sure if they were gonna make it back.
Twenty-five years later and I still have the same butterflies in my stomach.
Of course. Mars is much more difficult,
much more dangerous than the moon.
Of the first 15 probes we sent,
we lost all but two during descent and landing.
We lost three out of our first nine. Entry, descent and landing.
The seven minutes of terror. That's what we call it.
That's a good name.
For what it's worth, I have a good feeling this time.
It's good to see you smile again.
Excuse me. Director Madison?
-I thought I told you to let this go. -I couldn't.
-Listen, we-- -No, Alexei's a quick study,
but he is too quick.
All the procedures he used on the Russian engines
are the same that we use on ours.
They left their documents aboard Mars-94,
yet he had the "never exceed" parameters memorized.
He'd have to. You don't have time to look those up in an emergency.
Right, so-- Please, Margo, just look at this.
Okay, Russian combustion chamber overtemperature redline
-was 3,350 kelvin. -"3,350 kelvin."
Chamber overpressure redline
-is 65.5 bar. -"65.5 bar."
Turbopump overspeeds at 33,000 rpm…
"33,000 rpm." And he goes on, but the point is,
all of his values matches with our NERVA.
He's gotta be using our numbers to keep from revealing his own.
Can't be. These don't come from the engines currently on Sojourner.
These numbers…
are from '92.
These are our current numbers.
Why would Alexei memorize our old numbers?
Where would he get them in the first place?
From a rivet-by-rivet copy of our engines from two years ago.
Margo, it's the only way.
Somebody at NASA must've given them our design.
Right now,
we need to focus on getting our astronauts safely down on Mars.
But…
once we've done that,
I will take this to the DOJ.
But you need to stop obsessing over this.
Thank you, Margo.
Just leave 'em.
With Phoenix just minutes ahead of Sojourner
it remains anyone's race to win as the whole world waits
to see who will land first on the surface of Mars.
The massive dust storm that has obscured both ships' landing sites
for the past several days is being constantly monitored.
As each ship nears the landing decision point,
what they call their "go/no-go,"
each commander must decide whether the dust storm has cleared enough
to proceed with a safe landing.
If they make the decision to not land,
the ship will make another full orbit of Mars
until they come back around to the very same decision point,
an orbit that would take over two hours.
But at that point, they may have already lost the race for Mars.
The stakes could not be higher for both crews,
as years, even decades, of preparation and planning comes down to this moment.
Come on, people. This clock is ticking here.
Now, what have we got?
That looks exactly like the one from yesterday.
Yes, but when you A-B the two…
Dust is thinning.
We should confirm it on our next satellite pass.
Then we'd be committed to another orbit.
By that time, Sojourner will already be on the ground.
It would be a very risky landing, Commander.
What do you say, kiddo?
-Let's go for it. -Attaboy.
Prep Popeye for launch.
Houston, Sojourner. We are prepped for our landing sequence.
Okay.
In six minutes, we either enter orbit or go for the ground.
Round the horn. EECOM?
EECOM is go for direct entry, descent and landing.
Props?
Pressure in propellant tanks, reactor values nominal.
Guidance?
Sojourner's configured for entry, descent and landing.
Ready in all respects, Commander Poole.
Okay, Rolan, what are we looking at down there?
Sat relay saying 1,070 at 60.
Visibility 80. Ceiling unknown.
Too risky. Visibility's still below minimums.
We'll try again for landing when we come back around in two hours.
You ready, Mr. Stevens?
Yes, sir.
Then let's roll.
Phoenix, Popeye is go for Mars descent.
Roger, Popeye. Godspeed.
New radar contact separating from Phoenix.
-It's their lander. -Jesus. Ed is going for it, even in this.
They feel us breathing down their necks. If we go down direct, we could beat them.
We only get one shot at this,
and I do not intend to risk this crew or this mission
on a low-percentage attempt.
Again with the caution. Helios is going to set down in 13 minutes.
For the honor of our two nations, we cannot wait.
If Ed can't see, he doesn't have the gas to hang around and wait.
He's gonna need a miracle to get through this.
I'm telling you, land now.
Mr. Kuznetsov, I am the commander of this vessel.
From this moment on, your unrequested opinions are not welcome.
Rolan, if you hear one more peep out of that guy, kill his mic.
With pleasure, Commander.
Here we go.
Telemetry from Sojourner indicates no burn.
Still approaching their go/no-go point.
Commander, we've got 30 seconds until our landing decision point.
What do you want to do?
Rolan, are you seeing what I'm seeing?
1-0-niner-0 at 40. Visibility 110.
It's clearing up.
Yes. Visibility is improving.
Range to touchdown 16,035.
Go or no-go in eight seconds. Seven, six…
Button up, people. We're going straight in.
Get ready for a bumpy ride.
Execute!
Sojourner has started their Mars descent.
They are right on your heels.
Altitude 9,000 meters. Range 10.3 klicks.
I've lost the gyroscopes.
Ed, without the gyroscopes working, it's incredibly dangerous.
You may want to consider aborting.
Descent command engine override off.
Altitude 4,000 meters. Speed 557.
Continuing descent.
Get ready for a bumpy ride. Execute!
Sojourner has begun direct descent, Flight.
She's got this.
-Warning. System overload. -1,800 meters. 2.1 klicks.
-Warning. System overload. -Speed 290, coming down at 1,809.
Warning. S-
Come on.
Descent engines.
Doors open. Engines armed.
Alexei, you're up.
Decent engines' pre-valves open. Propellant pressure nominal.
Light 'em up!
1,000 meters. Down to 400.
I've lost altitude info. The altimeter can't see through the dust.
We're not going to know how close we are to the ground.
Switching to manual.
Gonna arrest our descent here and feel our way down.
Come on.
Come on!
Starting the abort sequence.
Are you kidding? Stop.
Phoenix, Popeye aborting to orbit.
No, give me control. Give me control. I will get us down.
My decision is final!
Altitude radar's losing lock. We're landing blind. Gear down.
Gear down and locked. Down in ten.
Five.
Still too fast!
Engine one is lagging!
Brace for impact!
Houston, Happy Valley base.
Sojourner has safely landed eight human beings on Mars.
Yeah!
Yes!
-We did this. -Yes.
-We made this happen today. -Yes, we did.
We did.
And now we're gonna finish what we started.
I'm gonna get you and your family over here, whatever it takes.
Well done.
This is a landmark day in the long saga of the human race.
The now-combined American and Soviet crew of Danielle Poole,
William Tyler, Rolan Baranov,
Kelly Baldwin, Grigory Kuznetsov,
Dimitri Mayakovsky, Isabel Castillo and Alexei Poletov
are the first human beings to land on another planet.
Let's go to the White House
where President Ellen Wilson and President Mikhail Gorbachev
are about to address a crowd of reporters and well-wishers.
Today, we did one of the hardest things imaginable.
And this time, we came not alone, but with our former rival,
working together as true partners.
Okay. The EVA ramp is fully lowered.
Good. Now, once we step out,
let's all take a moment to j--
Hey, what the hell are you doing?
Going onto surface.
No, I'm goin' first. That was the deal.
I remember no such deal.
If you don't step your commie ass back from that hatch,
I'm gonna come over there and smack you down!
Move it. Damn it!
And there it is, our first images from the surface of Mars.
We are waiting to watch the first human set foot on the Red Planet
as Aleksei Leonov did on the moon 25 years ago.
There's some movement.
It looks like a cosmonaut and an astronaut.
Which one will take the-- Wait. They're going together!
How inspiring.