Seven Minutes of Terror

Dr. Martin Luther King observed that there is democracy in death.

We all die...

whether we're old or young,

rich or poor,

innocent or guilty.

But we need not despair.

Because death is not the end.

It's only the beginning.

Commander Kuznetsov, if you'd like to say anything?

Grief, though it is difficult, can also be a gift.

Yes, we have lost Oleg Sidorov's body,

but we have what he has left behind to mark our loss.

And now we have been granted this moment to say,

"Goodbye.

Farewell, dear comrade. Farewell."

As you take your final journey...

our hearts go with you.

...and honor the sacrifice of three brave souls.

It is with profound sorrow that we...

In a somber ceremony,

President Wilson led the nation, and the world,

in mourning those who were lost during the rescue.

Representatives of the Soviet space agency, Roscosmos,

are arriving in Houston today

to work with NASA on their now-combined mission

as the former rivals have become unexpected partners.

Welcome to Johnson Space Center, Director Catiche.

Thank you, Margo.

I think we can make a lot of this work.

There is another issue that is not in these official proposals,

with which we will need your help.

Outside of normal channels.

And what would that be?

Well, once our two countries land together on Mars,

we want for our cosmonauts to resume some of their original mission objectives.

But to do so, we will need to utilize some of your resources.

Drones, rovers, laboratory equipment,

perhaps re-tasking a satellite or two.

What exactly are these mission objectives?

I am unfortunately not at liberty to say.

Nonetheless, we will require your assistance.

We have seen how cooperative you can be under the most difficult circumstances.

I was told--

I was assured that there would be no more requests.

Circumstances have changed.

Okay.

You want my help, you're gonna have to help me.

I'm listening.

Sergei Nikulov.

I will work with him and only him.

Margo, you have to know this is not possible.

Why? What happened to him?

Why have I been unable to reach him?

He was the director of Roscosmos for over ten years--

your mentor,

the reason you even have a Mars program.

And then he just disappears?

He was given another assignment.

Bullshit.

Margo, I really cannot...

- Okay, here's the deal, Lenara. - ...have this discussion with you.

If you want my help,

then I want Sergei here in Houston in two weeks or less.

Otherwise, no satellites, no equipment, nothing.

- Okay, Louisa. Hit it. - Executing now.

- - Good.

Good. Go ahead, Danny. Kill it.

- -

How are we doing?

Well, 200th time's the charm. Right, Skipper?

- Just lost my nav screen. - Propulsion control is dead.

And?

And?

Propulsion's coming back.

- Nav's reloaded. - We're in control, sir.

Ship is back in our hands.

Good. How do we make sure it doesn't happen again?

Well, I fooled the computer into thinking Dev's new system was corrupt.

So, we installed the older backup version when we went into safe mode.

Which doesn't have Dev's overrides.

Exactly. I also cut the command uplink receiver line to the antenna.

- Right, so we're good? - Yeah. Yes, sir.

Okay. Let's go to Mars, people.

But first, I gotta send a message.

Message coming in from Phoenix .

Patching it in onto the board.

Dev, as I'm sure you've realized, I have retaken control of my ship.

From now on, I'm calling the shots.

You've dishonored this crew, this ship, and Helios.

I intend to wash that stain clean. Phoenix out.

We said we have landing sites C, A, B.

All right. And once they land,

it's imperative that the camera be positioned from two different angles

to maximize the--

Uh, Karen, hold on a second.

Will you excuse us?

You wanna resign?

Yeah. Ed was right.

You should have let 'em rescue the Russians.

It was the group's decision.

Don't. You orchestrated that entire decision.

I asked for everybody's opinion.

Yes, and everybody in that room worships you.

So all you had to do was telegraph the decision that you wanted

and they just delivered it.

So now I'm some kind of Svengali with supernatural mind control powers.

Pretty much.

My daughter is on Sojourner , and she could have been killed.

- But she wasn't. - Three other people were.

And those people have mothers and fathers and children who are now heartbroken,

trying to figure out how they're gonna find the strength to go on.

And I feel bad for them. I do.

- Really? - Absolutely.

But I didn't ask anybody to move their launches up to '94.

And I didn't ask the Russians to push their engines past their limits.

I'm not letting you quit.

No? Watch me.

- You're in breach of contract. - So sue me.

Karen. Karen, let's talk about this.

Karen.

Propellant transfer nearly complete.

Tank pressure nominal.

I'm still impressed Star City could remotely stabilize your ship.

I am impressed as well with how you maneuver in this device.

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

Shit.

What's problem?

I can help. It's no problem.

No.

Thank you.

What for?

For coming to our rescue.

I can't wait to hear what song you play next.

It was you who called.

I won't tell anyone.

Promise.

Surprise!

It's me, home from Rice for the weekend.

Dad's still at work. I miss you.

Yeah, I said it.

Dad says you're having a real tough time up there.

And I was remembering the first time I took the SATs and did so terrible.

Remember?

I thought I was never gonna get into college,

and I was gonna work at Pizza Hut my whole life.

And I was sulking in my room,

and then you came in and you told me that "That's in the past.

Focus on what you can do now."

It was good advice.

Anyways...

I love you. Stay strong.

Once is happenstance.

Twice is coincidence.

Three times is enemy action.

Margo, those Russian pricks stole my design.

Keep your voice down.

It's not unusual that they came up with similar solutions

for a nuclear-thermal engine.

Similar.

Margo, these expansion ratios match within .3%.

Look, we should've known the second we could refuel.

Their LH2 drain coupling mated exactly with our in situ propellant hose.

The odds of that being a coincidence are insane.

What are you telling me?

I should walk down there to Miss Catiche

and throw a monkey wrench into a historic international space mission

because of some measurements you took off a TV screen?

Yeah, I would.

I know you would. But I need you to focus.

Sojourner is about to make the burn for Mars.

Checklist verified.

Five, four, three, two.

Initiate burn for Mars.

Engine number one showed a 17.2 bar drop in chamber pressure.

That's not good. Could be a turboprop malfunction.

The FCC is pushing engine two harder to compensate.

Engine one might have been damaged in the collision.

Burn complete.

- -

Shutdown sequence initiated on both main engines.

Prepare to deploy the solar sail.

Uh, we've got good delta-v. We are on track for Mars.

Expect orbit entry three days after Phoenix gets there.

Will, I want a full diagnostic of engine one.

We gotta get it back up to rated thrust in order to enter Mars orbit.

Do any of you have background in nuclear thermal propulsion theory?

- No. - Then Poletov will operate the engines.

He has the best Soviet training.

I don't know...

You'd rather fail and die, risk your crew, than trust a Russian?

Will, run Comrade Poletov through our procedures.

Baldwin has better Russian.

You all right with that, Kel?

Yeah.

Hi, Ed.