Coming Home

Hey, baby.

Sorry it's been so long since my last message.

We've been working around the clock to dig out the MSAM

and haul it over to Happy Valley for repairs.

Basically sleeping over there at this point.

I know that doesn't sound good, but in a weird way, it's helping me,

helping all of us to move past what happened.

And I think we might actually be able to get Popeye back in flying shape

in time for the next launch window back to Earth.

Problem is, it's going to take a while

to make enough fuel to launch with the equipment we have left.

Well, that and figuring out a way

to squeeze all nine of us in there for the launch.

Gonna be as tight as an Apollo capsule, but we'll get there.

Off this rock, once and for all.

Goddamn this thing.

What now?

Sorry. It's just-- At this rate, with that puny little fuel generator,

we'll be lucky to have enough propellant to make our launch date next month.

Can't it work any faster?

It was never meant to process this much methane.

It's like filling up a jetliner with a soda can.

Takes time.

I know, I know. But have you smelled the base lately?

Those toilets were not made for that many people.

You think once we leave, they'll ever send anybody back to Mars?

- Doubt it. Not in my lifetime anyway. - I think you're right.

All we can do is try and get this thing ready in time for launch.

Roger that.

I'm due back at the sewer.

- Want me to send you anything? - I already had my ration for today.

Early bird gets the worm.

Worm sounds about right.

Don't work too hard.

Roger that.

All right, what you got?

Ready? All right.

That-- Yeah, you got-- Okay, all right.

You're getting closer, Lou.

- Hey, Skipper. - How's fuel production going?

"Moving like molasses," as you Americans say.

Sort of like you.

Hey.

How's it?

Hey, hey, hey. I wasn't finished with that.

Yeah, well, I got seniority.

Here you go, kiddo.

That stuff makes me nauseous.

My grandson gotta eat.

So it's a "him" today?

You know, whichever way it goes.

Edward is a great name. Girl or boy.

I was thinking something like "Ariella."

Ariella? You want her to end up selling bath beads and patchouli?

Hey, you're gonna need a lot of homeopathic remedies in your old age.

- Astronaut Baldwin. - Yeah?

You've been avoiding me. Again.

And failing again.

Follow me.

See? That's why no one trusts a flight surgeon.

'Cause they're always on the hunt for bad news.

You mean news like Mars radiation could damage the child's DNA?

Or weak gravity could impede its bone development?

Jesus, doc. Go easy.

I will go easy after we get her up to Phoenix for the birth.

It was not my idea to have a baby on this forsaken planet.

Yes, as you remind me every day.

Mouth closed.

How is your wound, Commander?

Yeah, cream helped the pain. Thank you.

Good.

Have you figured out how to make one of your pressure suits fit her

for the MSAM launch?

The hard shell's still a problem,

but NASA's got two teams of their best and brightest

working on it around the clock.

Meaning they haven't come up with anything yet.

So much for NASA's fabled ingenuity.

130 over 85.

Still higher than I'd like.

You should just use Soviet suit. Material is more flexible.

- Yeah, that might actually work. - Of course.

Activity?

She's either playing handball or the bongos in there.

Do you want to hear?

Dad.

Now, by the time Kelly Baldwin gives birth to America's favorite baby Martian

two months from now...

the child will have enough booties to last a lifetime.

The decision to proceed with the pregnancy,

which some regard as controversial

in light of the dangerous conditions on the planet,

has nonetheless captured the imagination of people around the world.

And that's why NASA wants the baby to be born aboard the Phoenix ?

That's right. People aboard Phoenix experience full Earth gravity, which is...

And to distract us from the disaster that it really is,

the Wilson administration feeds the media tidbits

about Kelly Baldwin's Mars baby.

Does President Wilson really think we're that naive?

You and I both know the Mars program has been a fiasco.

This bill will restore a system of checks and balances

by giving Congress direct authority over the agency's budget--

And give you the ability to redline specific programs.

If I sign this bill, Congress will defund the Mars program.

No one will go back, maybe ever, and space exploration will slowly die.

If I were you, Madam President, I would think less about space

and more about next year's election.

Your concern for my political future moves me to the brink of tears, Dick.

Have you seen the homeless encampments spreading across our major cities?

Filled with former oil and gas workers, coal miners.

People put out of work by helium-3 and nuclear fusion.

We need to fix things here on Earth

before we spend trillions gallivanting to far-off planets.

The space program is making life here on Earth better.

And I won't undermine all the progress we've made.

So, go ahead and pass your bill, Dick.

And I will veto it.

I'm very disappointed to hear that.

Madam President, may I speak with you in private?

As I'm sure you're aware, a few months ago,

staff for Congressman Willie Baron discovered

that your husband was having an affair with a White House employee.

A slanderous rumor.

Congressman Baron failed to produce a shred of evidence for one reason.

It never happened.

So your husband claimed under oath.

If we were to discover that Mr. Wilson was lying to the committee,

you understand that he would be open to a charge of perjury?

Where are you going with this?

Madam President,

is it true that you have a recording system in the Oval Office?

We have a source who claims

that a recording system first installed by John F. Kennedy is still in use.

Even if there was a recording system in use,

those tapes would be protected by executive privilege.

We'll see what the courts say about that.

We are going to subpoena any recordings made in this office

on the week of your husband's testimony.

If there was any attempt at a cover-up,

not only will he be charged with perjury,

you will be impeached for obstruction of justice.

You can't be serious.

Congress hasn't impeached a president in more than 120 years.

This is a new low, even for you.

Well, that's rich coming from a woman who had Karl Rove and Lee Atwater

to do her dirty work so her image could remain as pure as driven snow.

All those robocalls about Bill Clinton's supposed secret love child,

and now you wanna claim the high ground?

What's your point, Dick? Do you have one?

Sign the NASA bill.

It's the smart move.

Because if the press were to find out about Larry's... indiscretion,

your political standing would evaporate even more than it already has.

And I'd easily be able to override your veto.

Now, I don't want to go that road if I don't have to.

But make no mistake,

I will use every tool at my disposal to make this bill law.

Glad you could come.

To your garage?

I want you to look at something and... tell me I'm not crazy.

Jesus Christ.

During the rescue of the cosmonauts,

I discovered that their nuclear engine design was almost identical

to an early version of ours.

Someone at NASA gave it to them.

Margo?

She's the only one who had access to everything.

But-- But Margo? Margo Madison?

She's the head of NASA.

She's been trying to beat the Russians for three decades.

Why would she do this? It doesn't make sense.

I don't know. But I can't get this out of my head, Bill.

I feel like I really am going crazy.

Yeah, clearly.

This is like the lair of a Batman villain.

Let me lay it all out for you.

If you still think I'm crazy,

I'll burn all of it.

I'm gonna need another beer.

I'm proud to announce that we are about to begin production

on Calypso , which will be ready to launch in 1999.

Unlike Phoenix , Calypso will run on nuclear plasma propulsion,

and she'll have enough power to travel to the Red Planet almost anytime,

even outside the normal launch windows.

And we're building two more just like it,

which will allow us to rapidly expand our footprint on the Red Planet.

Over the next decade, our base will grow to include several mining operations,

a spaceport, greenhouses for crops,

and dormitories that will house thousands of colonists in the new--

Just stop there.

Need I remind you,

an entire fucking mountain just came down on us,

wiping out nearly every asset we had.

Not to mention the three people who died.

Yes.

But do any of you remember Jamestown?

Not the lunar base,

but the first permanent English settlement in Virginia, founded in 1607.

Do any of you know how many settlers died in the first three years?

Eighty percent.