The First

‐I hear it.

How bad you want this.

How bad you need this.

How close it is.

How far away it is.

‐

Dear Madam President...

we the undersigned, the crew of Providence 2,

remain fully committed in body and spirit

to carry out our mission despite the formidable risks we face.

During our years of training, our families

and the American people have placed their faith in us.

We humbly ask that you place your faith in us, as well

Allow us to fulfill the destiny of all humankind...

...as we pave our way to the future.

Thoughts? Objections?

‐You want us to sign now? ‐No.

We can wait and see how it goes tomorrow.

‐Anything else?

Okay. Oh nine hundred, work room.

‐We'll need to keep this confidential.

‐Of course.

All right.

Enlarge times two.

Cam off.

‐Oh.

‐Okay.

All right.

‐I've been having sinus issues.

I thought it was just me trying to equalize in the tank,

but it was the rupture.

‐Mm‐hmm. Um, treatment?

‐0.14 mils of Ciprodex, twice a day.

‐The retrofitting cost to resume service launches ‐‐

just for the sake of making pennies.

That's not something that we've ‐‐

‐I'll take pennies over nothing,

unless you want to start talking outright sale.

‐We need some ideas about alternative...

‐I will pull together some financials

and see what a scale‐back looks like.

‐How soon can you have that for us?

‐I could probably have a rough draft ready by tomorrow

if absolutely necessary.

‐All right. I'll let everyone know.

‐Okay, thanks. End call.

Is everyone willing to sign?

‐Everyone has spoken to their loved ones.

‐Good. Hopefully, we won't have to use it.

Come on. I'll walk you out.

‐Trouble with the board? ‐Oh, yeah.

Uh, tell Rosen to pull up the full asset portfolio.

I‐I'll ‐‐ I'll see him in a minute.

Um, I had to fight off a mutiny after the first mission,

and I can feel another one brewing.

How about you? Have you spoken to who you need to?

‐I've written her several times, but she hasn't responded.

‐Huh. ‐Has she said anything to you?

‐No. She keeps to herself.

‐Well, if she's wearing out her welcome, you know...

‐Of course not. You know I'd say if she was.

Maybe you should do more than write.

Come and visit. It's an open invitation.

‐Thank you. I appreciate it.

‐Yeah. N‐No. We don't need to rush anything.

If it is just two hours, then that's fine.

But if it's any more, then I really think

we should consider ‐‐ No. Okay.

Is that a three‐three‐two?

‐Uh, yeah. I'm doing additive meters.

‐That's very good.

Jason, are you on? Not on the table.

No, no, it's just my son.

Um, so, yeah, we should get Samantha onto this.

Tell the press there'll be a two‐hour delay

for a minor course correction on the rover.

Eitan, you give her the language, okay?

I'll be out of pocket for half an hour,

and, uh, then I'll check back in.

Okay. End call. Phone off.

Hello. Nicole. This is lovely. Thank you.

Um, I hope you haven't stopped playing the piano.

I haven't heard you practice.

‐Your piano's out of tune. ‐I‐ls it?

Well, I'll get the piano tuner to come tomorrow, then.

Amanda?! ‐She's not here.

‐Where is she?

‐Thank you.

‐Hey. It's dinner.

‐Look. Denise is teaching me.

‐That's really good.

‐Can she eat with us?

‐No. No, no, no. I'm not hungry.

‐You don't have to eat, then. You can just sit with us.

‐Amanda, it's your family time. ‐So?

‐Uh, let her be. She said she's not hungry.

Come on. Dinner will get cold otherwise.

I know you have good intentions, but I'd prefer if ‐‐

‐I know, I know. I'm really ‐‐ I'm sorry.

‐No need to apologize. Just some boundaries.

I don't get much time with them when they're here, so...

‐Yeah. I get it.

‐Thank you. ‐Yeah.

Hey, I don't ‐‐ I don't know if she wants this, but here.

She's got a great hand.

‐

‐So, your dad mentioned that he'd been trying to reach out.

Um...

You might want to consider writing back.

Have a good night.

‐Where'd you go?! ‐I'll be right back.

Hey.

‐Hey.

‐Are you worried about tomorrow?

‐Oh. Can't worry about things that you can't control.

‐

Do you think it'll work?

‐lt's a fix that's never been tried before,

but if it doesn't work, our odds are not so good

about getting back.

‐How much?

‐One in five that we get stuck there.

‐Jesus. ‐Yeah.

Would you have let Mattie go with those odds?

‐Mattie would've made up his own mind regardless.

‐But what would you have said to him?

‐We're friends, Tom. Good friends.

But I'm not your wife.

And I'm not your daughter.

She's the one you should be asking, not me.

‐I've written her. ‐And?

‐Nothing.

‐Still? ‐Yeah.

[ Press corps shouting questions ]

‐Rover primary systems nominal.

We can expect a brief signal drop‐off

as we switch to rover and HAB camera feeds.

‐Good morning.

Morning.

‐Standing by for rover guidance initiation.

‐The Mars Ascent Vehicle known as the MAV

has been on the Martian surface for nearly four years.

Its purpose is to return the astronauts

to their orbiting transit vehicle...

‐Hi. ‐Hey.

Aren't you supposed to be in school?

‐I told Mom I was sick.

‐...fix the malfunction

by using a survey rover to short‐circuit ‐‐

‐Are you watching? ‐Yeah.

‐...and reboot its computer system.

‐You should come watch at our house.

The screen is way bigger. ‐

‐We can see the power line and the...

‐Yeah, your mom doesn't really want us spending ‐‐

‐She's not here.

‐The footage you're seeing is a...

‐Screen on!

‐The command would have reached the rover several minutes ago.

We're just moments away

from seeing the footage of the result.

Kathy, what's the feeling like there in Mission Control?

‐Everyone's eyes are glued to the big screens up front here.

You can feel the anxiousness

and anticipation in the viewing area.

There's a lot riding on this ‐‐ months of work and testing,

hundreds of engineers and support staff

working around the clock because the future

of the Providence 2 mission is on the line.

‐Drill spin initiated.

‐Drill at speed.

Drill lowering in three, two, one.

‐Stand by for intermediate contact.