Ad Astra

I'm calm, steady.

I slept well. 8.2 hours. No bad dreams.

I am ready to go.

Ready to do my job to the best of my abilities.

I am focused only on the essential,

to the exclusion of all else.

I will make only pragmatic decisions.

I will not allow myself to be distracted.

I will not allow my mind to linger

on that which is unimportant.

I will not rely on anyone or anything.

I will not be vulnerable to mistakes.

Resting BPM, 47. Submit.

Your psychological evaluation

has been approved.

As a reminder,

please perform any safety and equipment checks...

I always wanted to become an astronaut...

for the future of mankind and all.

At least, that's what I always told myself.

I see myself from the outside.

Smile, present a side.

It's a performance...

with my eye on the exit.

Always on the exit.

Just don't touch me.

Take care, Major. Be careful.

Thanks for that.

Roy, Bravo post

has got a robotic arm on 93 Echo...

appears to be malfunctioning.

We're gonna need you to take

a team down there and check it out.

Run some diagnostics. Over.

Copy that. Heading that way.

Good morning to our astronauts up there

on the International Space Antenna.

Sure is a beautiful day.

Just perfect to try and contact...

our distant neighbors out there in the heavens.

At least it's comfortable out here.

I got some scores here.

Let's see, it was Iowa State over Kansas, 35 - 16.

Space I understand.

Control, I have visual on the arm. Over.

Affirmative, Major. Proceed.

Copy that. Moving to the unit now.

Control, I'm seeing a power surge on C-post.

You getting that?

Uh... Roger that, Roy...

Control, we got a lot of people up there. Over.

Control. Control, I think we have some spikes...

Please just stand by, we're working the issue.

Just stand by.

Control, they're happening everywhere.

Command, cutting power.

Get off the tower now!

You've gotta bail out!

Oh, my God!

Control, McBride.

I'm in a spin.

Atmosphere's too thin to stabilize.

I'm trying to keep the tumble down,

so I don't black out.

Control, do you read?

"A self-destructive side."

That's what she used to say to me.

I should feel something.

I survived.

I should feel something.

In what has become known as "The Surge"...

a series of destructive electrical storms

has wreaked havoc across the globe...

and scientists are concerned

we've not seen the last of them yet.

Their origin? Outer space.

The cause? Unknown so far...

This is a message from SPACECOM.

In light of the recent catastrophe...

your attendance is required for a debrief...

to be held in Building 91, Vandersteen Base.

Please note, this meeting will be classified "top secret."

Roy, how are you? Thanks for coming in. Appreciate it.

General.

This is Lieutenant General Rivas, Director of

U.S. SPACECOM Special Ops. Hi.

- Sir. - Major.

Adjutant General Vogel, head of Security.

Major. Ma'am.

They flew all the way in from Virginia

just last night, just to see you.

Well, thank you.

Your, uh, profile is certainly very impressive.

You've done exceptionally well on all the assessment tests.

Basic combat, space training.

Just exceptional across the board.

The rumor is that

your pulse rate has never gone above 80...

in any of the spacewalks, sky walks,

and even on this most recent fall.

Is that correct?

Well, so far, sir.

That's very impressive.

According to this, married once, no children?

Yes, sir.

It's dangerous business, as we know.

Best not to subject others to it.

Fair enough.

Well, we didn't bring you in here

to talk about your fall, Roy.

We have something...

of a highly classified nature to show you.

Please have a seat, Major.

Yes, ma'am.

What you are about to see are

spectrogram images of Neptune.

These are cosmic ray bursts.

That was taken just 11 days ago.

It released high-energy particles...

that caused a catastrophic power surge

all over the world.

And that's what almost killed you.

The rays grow stronger

as they radiate towards us here on Earth.

Major, what can you tell us about the Lima Project?

First manned expedition to the outer solar system, sir.

Some 29 years ago, as you know.

And the commander was...

He was my father, sir.

The ship disappeared

approximately 16 years into the mission.

No data was ever recovered.

Deep space missions were halted after that.

Yes, that's him.

Can you tell us how you handled your father's absence?

Well...

My mother was certainly distressed by it.

Uh, she was quite ill at the time.

But he was, uh, committed to his job...

and I'm sure it was very difficult for him as well.

Roy...

we have something that might come as quite a shock to you.

We believe your father is still alive near Neptune.

Where exactly, we do not know.

Now, we've sent out numerous drones,

but obviously, it's a vast area to cover.

My father's alive, sir?

We believe so.

Roy, The Surge seems to be the result

of some kind of anti-matter reaction.

Now, the Lima Project was powered by that material...

and your father was in charge of it.

Now, we're talking about

a potentially unstoppable chain reaction here.

The uncontrolled release of anti-matter...

could ultimately threaten

the stability of our entire solar system.

All life could be destroyed.

Major, we would like you to send

a personal message on Mars by secure laser...

to what we hope is the Lima Project.

The text of your message

would be prepared in advance, of course.

Mars, sir? I'm going to Mars?

It is the last secure hub we have.

Roy, we need to find out

just what we're up against here.

Our underground Mars base

was the only one unaffected by The Surge.

And we believe a personal plea,

from you to your father, might elicit a response.

We can track that signal...

locate him and figure out a way to stop this.

What is happening out there is a crisis of unknown magnitude.

Now, we're counting on you to help us find him.

Are you with us?

- Yes, I am, sir. - Good.

You deploy first to the moon.

Our long-range rockets

are stationed there on the Far Side.

Everything after that will be on a need-to-know basis.

Yes, sir.

Given the magnitude of the threat...

a cover story is being formulated to avoid all panic.

You'll be traveling commercially to the moon

to keep a low profile.

Colonel Pruitt will be your point person from here on.

Absolute top secrecy must be maintained.

"Are you with us?"

Like I have a choice.

My dad was a pioneer.

He sacrificed himself for the search for intelligent life.

My dad was the program.

I was 16 when he left, 29 when he disappeared.

Archived message, received 27 years...

- 3 months, 2 days ago. - And that's that.

Roy, this is a message from your father.

I'm coming at you from the Lima Project.

Just on our way past Jupiter and ultimately on to Neptune.

I know you have seen