Best-Laid Plans

If I can pretend to be happy, so can they.

Sixty years of socialism will wipe the smile off anyone's face, comrade.

Sergei Orestovich Nikulov.

-Sergei Orestovich Nikulov. -Margo Madison.

-Sergei Orestovich Nikulov. -Thomas Paine.

-Sergei Orestovich Nikulov. -Ellen Wilson.

-Thomas Paine. - Pleasure.

Uh... Oh.

I'm sorry, I-- I don't really speak fluently.

Uh, okay. Hi.

-Welcome. -Hello.

Hello.

Danielle Poole, Apollo commander. Welcome to Houston.

Stepan Petrovich Alekseev, Soyuz commander.

Exciting day, isn't it?

This is gonna be a great mission for our two countries and for the whole world.

At approximately 0700 hours,

the respective spacecraft will be in position

with the docking module mated to the Apollo command module.

Soyuz will execute a 60-degree roll maneuver and then maintain attitude

while Apollo maneuvers along the V-BAR until contact.

And soft capture will complete the final docking procedure.

Any questions so far?

Hard-docking will be followed by main chamber pressure equalization.

Astronaut One will enter the docking module from the Apollo craft

and close their hatch.

Astronaut Two remains at the command module controls.

And from Soyuz, Astronaut Three will open their hatch to the docking module,

while Astronaut Four also remains at the control--

Cosmonauts should not be referred to as "Astronaut Three" and "Astronaut Four,"

as though they are, uh, afterthoughts.

We would suggest "Cosmonaut One" and "Cosmonaut Two."

Uh...

Sure.

Sorry.

The terminology is purely for the sake of convenience,

but I will make that adjustment.

We would also suggest "Soyuz-Apollo" as the name of the mission.

For the sake of convenience.

Sorry.

Let's move on to ship-to-ship communications.

Our astronauts and your cosmonauts will need to be able to talk to each other.

Agreed. What is your RF encryption protocol?

I'll show you mine if you show me yours.

- -Huh.

You first.

Okay.

Maybe we should just talk about something very basic.

The docking itself.

It seems like the most logical approach

would be for you to provide us with your Soyuz docking system,

which we can install on our module.

The Apollo side will be the active mechanism,

and the Soyuz will be passive and--

The Soyuz side will be the active mechanism,

and the Apollo side will be passive.

That would require a complete redesign on our part.

Yes.

Jesus, what was that?

Reschedule everything.

Paine here.

Yes, Senator, my apologies.

Four hours closer to the heat death of the universe,

I'll be damned if I know what we accomplished.

Well... Well, that's progress, Soviet-style.

They won't spec us. We won't spec them.

If we can't share the most basic information,

how are we supposed to get anywhere?

We're not.

What?

Look, nothing would make the Pentagon any happier.

Just string this thing along till the Soviets take their ball and go home,

or the president forgets he gave his approval

for this crazy idea in the first place.

- Oh, my God. - This is great.

Just great.

Margo, I for one am confident in your ability to make things not happen.

Make ready.

-Fire. -

-Whoa. -Careful, Fred Astaire.

Action's still pretty awkward in these suits.

Range is clear.

Charles, check the target.

Maggie's drawers.

Really? No.

M-Maggie's drawers?

-Means he completely missed the target. - Missed the backstop too.

Come on!

-Any idea where it went? -Nothing I can see.

Could be in orbit.

No one's ever shot a rifle here before, so

for all we know that bullet might be going round the moon

and coming right back around in a short while.

I mean, who knows, really?

But, Vance,

just to be safe,

I wouldn't stand in that same spot if I were you.

-Shit. - Don't look at me.

- She got you. -

Come on, Vance. Stick to shooting.

Jamestown control, LSAM 2 has cleared the pad.

How's the ride out there, y'all?

Sweet. I can almost feel the wind in my hair.

I can almost feel that thruster on my face.

All right. Now, that shadow down in Shackleton,

that'll simulate night for our practice run.

For the real deal, we'd wanna come in fast and low,

so the Russians won't have time to react.

Copy that.

How close to the canyon floor do you think we can get?

Uh, I could probably get you down to five meters.

Five meters?

Uh, well, that's me.

I've had a lot of stick time on this beast.

I wouldn't recommend y'all go lower than 20.

Yeah, I don't wanna go lower than 20.

All right, we're in line for the final run. You ready?

- Ready. -

You have the spacecraft. No fancy shit.

Copy that.

Whoa, now.

All right, all right. You're in no hurry.

Just a straight shot from here.

Twelve o'clock all the way.

We're gonna do a couple of low passes,

and then we're gonna try to land, all right?

Whoa. Watch your roll rates. You're overcompensating.

- Hang on. - Jesus, Bernitz.

I got this.

I got it. Shit.

-I got the vehicle. -

- Damn it. - What the hell was that?

Are you drinking and driving again, Bernitz?

- -

Yeah, that's funny.

Tricky beast.

Tricky beast.

All right. Tracy, you take us in for the rest of this run.

Charles, we'll have to find some more stick time for you later.

-Roger that. - Roger.

Okay.

You've heard the expression "crap rolls downhill."

And this is now officially the bottom of the hill.

We've gotta come up with a totally new design for the module's docking system

that's not based on either preexisting system.

I keep telling ya, don't raise your hand, Vic.

This isn't high school. What's your question?

So, you want us to design a new docking system from scratch?

That's the mandate.

The bosses want it, and they want it fast.

Without any Soyuz structural interface data?

I want first proposals on my console by morning.

-How are we supposed to-- -I heard you the first time.

So, yeah, so why didn't you answer me the first time?

That is a design issue for the design team,

which you are not on.

If Design has a question, they will ask it.

I put you on Ops because that's your skill set.

Stay in your lane, Aleida. Please.

Tom.

-Don't say it. -Please make this go away.

-No. -Nobody wants to do it.

-The president does. -Come on. I doubt he even remembers it.

You could shitcan this thing in five minutes.

You're probably right. But I won't.

I want to do it.

Why?

The handshake in space is my shining city on a hill.

Your what?

City on a hill. You know, John Winthrop.

"We shall be a shining city on a hill, with eyes of the world upon us."

But this time the eyes of the world will be lifted to our shining city in the sky.

Four astronauts and two capsules do not a city make.

You're missing the point. This is for history.

Someday people will write the history of this time,

and they will say that during the coldest depths of the Cold War,

when the competition for space was at its fiercest,

America and the Soviet Union put aside their differences

and joined together in a symbolic gesture that inspired the world

and helped lay the foundations for reconciliation

and peaceful coexistence between the superpowers.

You really believe that?

Anything is possible. But America must lead by example.

The president himself said so. "City on a hill."

We didn't build that city, but we have to do our best to make it sparkle.

Then we need to blink first.

No. No can do.

Force them to compromise, or find some win-win scenario.

-Like what? -I don't know. That's your job.