For All Mankind

Margo.

Are you watching?

Yeah.

Uh, yes.

Yes, I am.

Ladies and gentlemen.

Please take your seats.

- The chair declares... -

- ...this special meeting... -

...of the Mars Oversight Board to be in session

with Irina Morozova presiding on behalf of Roscosmos

during the month of July 2003.

All members are in attendance and a quorum is present.

Let us begin.

I'm looking forward to finally meeting you in person.

Heigh-ho.

- Hey. - Hello.

Hello.

- -

How's it hanging, Ilya?

Well, hello, everybody.

How y'all doing?

Admiral.

I-- I don't know what to say.

How about, um, "What'll you have, Admiral?"

"What will you have, Admiral?"

Thank you so much for asking. I'll have whatever he has.

Yes, sir!

Cheers, everybody!

That is some good shit.

- Hit me again. - Yes, sir.

Factoring in the increased pace

of flights and fuel refining at Happy Valley,

we're confident of being able to launch an asteroid capture mission

in eight weeks.

That timeline is obviously tight but we think it's doable.

But for sake of argument,

mission is successful, asteroid enter the Martian orbit,

uh, next step will require the developing a new equipment.

- Uh-huh. - Yes.

In fact, we at Helios project a need

to design, build and sustain a fleet of 200 new microgravity rovers,

capable of ongoing operations in and around the asteroid.

We also need to design, build and sustain two orbital platforms

as a base of mining operations,

along with 45 new MSAM hoppers to facilitate personnel and cargo transfers

between the expanded Happy Valley facility

and two dozen massive cargo haulers

with nuclear fusion reactor-powered ion drives

to transport the iridium to Earth.

- We've-- - Forgive me for interrupting,

but this is an enormous expansion of research and development

beyond anything the world has ever attempted.

By my count, you're saying we need to construct

six new types of spacecraft, over 400 individual vehicles.

- Is that correct? - Not exactly.

This is only page 1 of the vehicle requirements.

What are the total numbers?

We project a need for 11 new spacecraft

and 2,500 individual vehicles.

Those are conservative numbers.

I was guessing closer to 4000 vehicles.

Well, this will be an enormous expense.

Plus, the capital investments to expand Happy Valley itself,

increased personnel, training, maintenance.

And she hasn't even gotten to building the receiving and processing facilities

we're gonna need in low-earth orbit

for when all the iridium deposits start arriving back home.

- - Ms. Rosales,

what is the top-line number for total investment in this project?

For Helios to create the infrastructure needed for basic mining operations

after the asteroid is captured,

we will require a minimum capitalization cost of...

two trillion dollars.

But the asteroid is worth at least 20 trillion, probably more.

So it's a solid investment.

Is this for real?

It's certainly ambitious.

Twenty-five flights in the first month alone?

- That's nearly once a day. - And take a look at the estimate

for how much fuel we'll need to refine just to grab it.

- Jesus fucking Christ. -

Sorry.

Holy fucking shit.

Much better, XO.

Look at the timeline for equipment fabrication.

Skipper, we've never come anywhere close to this pace of operation.

- I don't think we can pull this off. -

I was sent here to prove

that this base was worth the years of blood and sweat and tears it took

to establish a Mars operation.

Good people died up here, and I knew some of 'em.

Now is our chance to show that their sacrifice wasn't in vain.

So if the M-7 signs off on this plan, then sends us after that rock,

I'm gonna get it.

I'm gonna get it or die trying.

Aye, aye, skipper.

- - Who told you?

Nobody told me.

See, I got a nose for these kind of things.

Shit, you think you're the first smart guy who figured out

how to build a still out of scrap metal and cast-off parts?

I've had moonshine on carriers, cruisers, MASH units,

isolation chambers, jail cells, churches, moon bases and space stations.

If there's a still, Ed Baldwin is going to sniff it out.

Okay.

But I'll tell you one thing.

You need to switch out your filters in your condensation line.

That's why you got that aftertaste of cinnamon mouse-ass.

It's a telltale sign.

Cinnamon mouse-ass?

Yeah.

I talked to the AFL-CIO rep down in Houston.

He said we have a ton of leverage right now too.

I don't know, a union?

Remember when they tried to unionize the miners at Jamestown?

No, no, this is different.

They can't just shitcan us, right?

And then fly in a bunch of scabs in two days?

They can't do it.

It's three months before they get the replacements to Mars. Minimum.

By that time, Goldilocks will be long gone.

If we don't band together,

they're just gonna keep screwing us every chance they get.

I'm telling you, we're all gonna be pulling double shifts, triple overtime,

working meal breaks, no R and R days, a recipe for fucking disaster.

Earning bonuses, double bonuses,

- probably double secret bonuses... - What?

- ...along the way. - Yes.

People get tired. They lose focus. They make mistakes.

- And this is when people get hurt. - Exactly.

You gotta take some risks if you want a big payoff.

What are you gonna do with all that money if you're dead?

At least I'll die with a rich man's smile.

- -

She seems very confident.

Well. With good reason.

She knows Helios has never been more essential to us and the Americans

than they are now.

Us? I like hearing you say this, Margo.

Uh-- I--

- I wasn't-- - Okay. Let us see what they're made of.

Administrator Hobson, Ms. Rosales.

On behalf of Roscosmos and the Soviet Union,

welcome to Leningrad.

- Thank you. - Pleasure to be here.

My hotel is magnificent.

And how are your accommodations, Ms. Rosales?

Would be more comfortable if the bathroom wasn't down the hall.

Well, with the large size of the conference,

we were forced to put some in less than ideal accommodations.

To success.

Not sure how that's possible,

unless we find a trillion dollars under someone's mattress.

Well, the problem isn't the money.

- It's not? - No.

Our two nations alone could put up that amount of money.

And we will not, of course.

Yes, we will not,

because it is the responsibility of the entire M-7 bloc to fund this operation.

I mean, everybody has to have skin in the game if they want to benefit.

And believe me,

there is plenty of skin in this room to cover the costs.

Then what's the problem?

The problem is the return on investment.

ROI.

The biggest three letters in business.

- In any language. - I get it.

And there is a substantial return on everyone's investment.

The cost is 10% or less of the potential revenue of over 20 trillion dollars.

It's a huge ROI.

But not for 30 years.

Thirty years at minimum.

My people estimate it's closer to 40 years

before any of our countries will see the return on this investment.

I said 35 years was more realistic.

I can't wave a magic wand and create entire new fleets of spacecraft

and their associated infrastructure out of thin air.

Hmm.

And even after it's built, we-- we still have to launch those systems

to a planet that's 30 days' travel time away on a good day.

Oh, and then we have to actually mine the stuff

and-- oh, yeah-- bring it all the way back home.

It takes time.