Mars is
just a tiny dot in the sky.
Forty million miles away.
Nothing lives there.
Nothing has ever died there,
but I'm going
to bring it to life.
Fourteen hours and counting.
Captain.
Good luck, sir.
Skinny.
Hey, excited?
Of course, you?
You bet your ass I am.
Perform a.P.U. Start.
Six billion people on earth
cheering me on, but most of
them wondering why I'd do this.
Commencing launch sequence.
O.S.M. Permit to close.
O.S.M closed.
Why leave this life behind to
die on some barren planet?
- Vent one heater exit.
- Exit. S.S.C.
Because I know it
won't be barren for long.
- G.L.S. On.
- G.L.S. Is on.
Final poll.
Houston flight?
Houston flight is go.
- Fido?
- Fido is go.
- GPO?
- GPO is go.
- STM?
- STM is go.
- SPE?
- Go.
CDR?
Commander is go.
We are go for launch.
T-minus ten, nine, eight...
This is a one-way mission, but
I'm not going there to die.
I'm going to Mars to live.
This is captain William d. Stanaforth
here aboard the good ship Zephyr.
We are go for Mars.
Roger that, captain.
- Gravitational spin is on.
- Copy that.
Requesting permission to kick off
my shoes for the rest of the ride.
Roger, captain,
you have permission.
Lights, on.
Welcome to space, captain.
You hear that?
That's the crowd out in the
parking lot here in Houston.
We're all thrilled.
That said, we'd like to start
running diagnostics on some of the
life support systems we can't monitor.
Copy that Stanaforth?
Yeah.
Starting with the essentials, let's
run a test of the air circulation
and the water reactor.
Yeah, give me a minute, skinny.
Hello, little guys.
How life on
earth started is a mystery,
but sustaining it
is an engineering problem.
One meter of steel and insulation
separate me from nothingness.
I can feel the pull
of the ship's rotation.
My feet are heavy,
my head is light.
This massive machine,
so tiny in the void of space,
powerful but fragile.
It's unnerving, but I love it.
Hello, captain? It's time for your
first weekly student interface.
Are you ready for the uplink?
Kind of busy here.
Stanaforth, take a break.
P.R. Is important, too.
Plus a little human interaction
could do you good.
Good morning captain
Stanaforth, I'm Mrs. Wilson,
and I'm going to be monitoring
the student q and a
for the American youth
in science program.
Our first question comes
from Samantha Hopps.
Hi, my question is,
if you make it to Mars,
how will you be able
to survive the harsh climate?
When I get to Mars, we've already sent
up a lot of materials, fuel, food.
But one of the big challenges was water.
They just can't send up enough.
That's why I had been
working on this reactor.
Wow, you
made that? What does it do?
It's very similar to the
fuel cells on the ship.
Like an electric car,
the product is power,
and the byproduct
is drinking water.
Only mine runs on dirt.
Dirt?
I invented a process to extract the
hydrogen and the oxygen from the soil,
and recombine them,
which makes h20.
No one thought it would work,
so I went out to
the Atacama desert
alone, with no water,
and only one way to survive.
To make that reactor work.
Day one, I'm making little adjustments.
My throat is parched.
Day two, I'm still working, but without
water I'm getting light-headed.
I could have
radioed in for a rescue,
but I thought I could fix it.
By day three, I'm
doing a full reset.
And in that instant, I knew
that this could work on Mars.
With this step, I leave the earth
moving to a barren new planet.
Hmm.
With this step,
I leave the earth
moving to a pristine new planet.
I'm leaving earth forever,
but I will not be alone.
I am leaving earth
but bringing humanity with me.
Bringing you with me.
Mankind has transcended.
Mankind has achieved
new heights... come on.
I have come to another planet
seeking a new start, a fresh start,
a new start.
Take me to your leader.
Houston to Zephyr. It's 0800 hours.
Time to go to work.
What's the weather like at
Mars base camp right now?
You've got a high of about minus 10
degrees with some ice clouds moving in,
and then it's going to drop
down to about minus 80 tonight.
Ice clouds?
Yeah.
And in Houston?
Hot and humid.
Hurricane weather buddy.
My family, we'd be
flying on days like this.
Yeah well, that is crazy.
Most people on earth think what
you're doing's pretty crazy.
It's a calculated risk.
Don't you have any worries
that something might go wrong?
Of course I'm worried, but I
only focus on things I control.
Like the weather?
Someday.
Yeah!
Stanaforth!
You okay?
I had to test
it out. It worked.
They're going to
give us the mission.
Whoa, I don't know that we're ready
for the mission, Stanaforth.
I know.
Over the next five years we could
get 1,000 people up there.
That planet is calling for us.
Ship computer
civilian interviews, edited.
I'm applying for the
second Mars mission because
I want to do something
great for humanity.
Earth has so many problems.
Inequality, war, natural
disasters, man-made disasters.
I just don't think it's a
good place to live anymore.
There's so much I love about earth
that we won't have on Mars.
Oceans and forests,
animals, insects, rain.
It's going to be
really hard to leave,
but I'll give it all up to
experience something totally unique.
I know there will
be just a few of us but,
this will be the
most amazing people
on earth, or on Mars.
The most amazing
people in the universe.
Captain Stanaforth
is like a superhero.
I don't want to be alone,
but I think that being alone,
being one of only a dozen or a few
hundred people on an entire planet.
There's a sort of melancholy to that,
which could be really beautiful.
Supply depot coming up.
Last stop for food and fuel
for the next 20 million miles.
Captain?
Earth to Stanaforth.
Stanaforth?
Yeah.
Hey, I thought we lost you.
I wish you could.
Careful now. We're
approaching the space station.
Because of the initial launch
delays, you won't have
a lot of time up there
to load supplies.
Ah, come on skinny, these are the last
people I'm going to see for a long time.
Hey.
Fruits from the Zephyr.
Ah!
Mmm!
You know I haven't had anything
this tasty in four months.
Your garden didn't take?
No, dead in two weeks.
So far so good in mine,
but we'll see.
Endurance, this is Houston.
Ready payload number two.
Fuck, can we even say hi here?
Oh yeah, sorry.
Hi Greenstreet, how ya doing?
Sorry you're still
stuck up there, buddy.
Because of the initial launch delays, the
new departure time is in eight hours.
Might as well keep my suit on.
Where's the captain?
Hey Worsley,
captain Stanaforth is here.
Can you come and say hi?
Hey Worsley, how ya doing?
Hey, Worsley.
What's going on?
You have plants.
Yeah. For experiments.
You hungry?
We had mice.
We were doing socialization
experiments on the mice,
to see how they would
interact in the air lock.
Have you ever seen a mouse
in zero gravity?
They all died.
Oh.
Geez, I'm sorry.
We thought, maybe they
would form different habits,
or become depressed
or even kill each other,
but they didn't.
They just died.
No, I didn't mean to, uh...
No, no, no I'm just playing a
song for my daughter back home.
I'm surprised mission
control gives you the time.
Uh, we have a lot of time.
Nothing but time.
It must be hard being away
from your daughter so long.
Abort your mission.
- Excuse me?
- You heard me.
Take all your fancy machines and
go back where you came from.
I'm sorry, what the fuck
are you talking about?
I'm just fucking with you.
But seriously, I...
You know I came up here
all cowboy like you.
Seeking adventure and all that,
but I'm going back. I'm bringing
this experience back with me.
I... I don't get you.
I don't wanna go back.
I've seen enough.
How could you
possibly have seen enough?
I mean look at that.
I have tears
every time the sun rises.
Yeah, it's beautiful.
You've only been up,
what three weeks?
You haven't forgotten yet.
Once you forget...
I don't intend to forget,
but when you're down there
everything just gets ruined.
Ah, you callous fuck,
you think you know everything.
- You think that...
- Endurance,
we've got a live feed of captain
Maddox's launch for you.
Roger Capcom,
I'm eager to see it.
Cdoct.
T-minus 10...
nine, eight...
- Reconfigure heaters.
- Seven...
six, five, four...
three,
- two, one. And ignition.
- Okay, ODCCDR
- you are reaching frequency.
- And liftoff.
ODC copy.
Five thousand meters at mach 1.
Pressure 60%.
L.V.L.H. Go.
Start roll program.
Pitch is programing.
Roll complete.
Twenty thousand and mach 2.
Max pressure.
Reduce thrust.
This is captain Emily Maddox
aboard the Boreas.
On my way to Mars.
Hearing there from
captain Emily Maddox
aboard the Boreas as she
leaves earth's atmosphere,
just three weeks' behind captain William
Stanaforth traveling on the Zephyr.
These two astronauts
have spent the last five years
training for this
nine-month journey
to become the first and
second human beings on Mars
and the founding citizens of...
You don't know, Stanaforth.
Don't go out there
thinking you do.
Space station
departure complete.
Hi, captain Stanaforth.
What is it like
to look back at earth
when you're further away than
any human being has ever been?
It's amazing.
When you have
this level of distance,
there's a strange intimacy.
When I watched earth disappear,
I did remember this one night.
My wife Casey,
now ex-wife,
she was receiving
the Melville prize
from some literary society.
This black-tie thing,
and she's...
Talking to these other writers,
brilliant people and uh...
And they were pouring their hearts out.
It was...
Overwhelming.
So I snuck out.
I didn't even take my coat.
I get out on the street,
I have no idea where I am,
and it's freezing cold,
but the streets are jammed
with people, it's like
I'm taking on a current.
I just started walking.
But I don't feel cold at all.
And uh...
I turn a corner,
and just then down
at the end of the street,
above the river,
the moon comes up.
And it's huge.
Lighting up the street.
It feels like I...
I just wanna
walk right onto it.
But I freeze.
No one else seems to notice.
And in that moment,
I felt...
Completely alone.
I walked back to the dinner,
and I stood outside
and I could see all these...
People celebrating.
I saw Casey, she was glowing.
And I knew I should
be in there with her.
But I stood outside
and now I'm shivering.
And I just, couldn't go in.
It was like this, this...
Loneliness...
This feeling of being...
Completely alone
was inside of me.
And if I brought that in...
Um...
I just shouldn't bring it in.
Minor problem on the reactor,
but it's my job to fix it.
I'm glad to have little challenges
to break up my routine.
The ship is going
160,000 miles per hour,
but I can't tell I'm moving.
The sun comes through
the window once a week,
and everything repeats.
At first, that felt normal.
The ship is getting filthy.
It's fascinating to witness how much
matter can be generated by plant decay
and my own skin.
Greenstreet
and Worsley have lost hope.
I think that's because
their experiments failed.
Their families
are waiting for them.
That sense of
disappointment and longing
can get in the way
of a mission like mine.
"The impossible..."
The struggle to survive
has proven...
Uh... the struggle
of this journey
has taken us further...
And...
One step further...
For mankind...
One step further...
Calling Maddox.
I just had
a dream I was falling.
Ironic, don't you think?
That's not a dream.
You are falling.
You have any dreams like that?
It's late, Stanaforth.
Yeah, okay.
You're right, I'm sorry.
Hey uncle bill, happy birthday.
I wish you happy birthday.
All right,
happy birthday, bill.
She says happy birthday.
Happy birthday.
Love you. Bye.
Mucho gusto.
Me llamo Patty.
Mucho gusto.
Me llamo Patty.
Where are you from Patty?
I'm from Mxico,
and you?
Where are you from?
Soy de Mxico, ? Y t?
Soy de earth,
I am from Costa Rica.
Yo soy de Costa Rica.
Marte.
Marte...
Voy El Marte.
Soy de Marte.
Call Maddox.
I guess we're
on our own out here.
Houston,
I seem to have lost the signal.
Houston?
Houston?
Skinny, do I have a signal?
What the fuck?
Houston, do you read me? This is
captain Stanaforth aboard the Zephyr.
I appear to have
lost the signal.
Houston, this is captain
Stanaforth aboard the Zephyr.
Do you read me? I appear
to have lost the signal.
Hello?
Hello, hello!
Fuck! Anyone?
Skinny, come on.
Can anyone hear me?
Stanaforth, what's going on?
Skinny, where the fuck
have you been?
Is everything okay?
What happened?
I just, uh, I tried
to reach Maddox,
and then you, and...
No one responded.
Look, we need you
to go radio silent for a bit
while we deal with the
situation with Maddox.
Okay. Wait, wait.
What's going on with Maddox?
Sit tight.
Skinny?
Call Maddox.
Calling Maddox.
Maddox, this is Stanaforth.
Do you copy?
What are you after?
Always pleasant to hear
from you too, captain.
I just nearly lost it
missing you.
I'm off course.
What?
Maddox, when was the last time you
performed maintenance on your gyros?
Oh, no, no. You're always
trying to pin this shit on me.
Why didn't your
software detect the issue?
I'm not trying
to pin anything on you.
We've been running
diagnostics down here
and we think a malfunction with your
gyroscope is what's causing the issue.
Houston, I can fix
her gyroscopes.
Stand down captain.
Houston's taking
care of the issue.
And the whole time she's veering
further and further off course.
Just let us deal with it, okay?
Skinny, I know this
ship from top to bottom,
better than anyone.
Now listen to me Maddox,
you've got something wrong,
I probably do, too.
Skinny, he's right. You work on
your software, we'll try this.
Get into
the equipment bay, 0-8-2.
Disable your gyros.
0-8-2, copy.
Any condensation on the sensors?
I don't see any.
Wipe it down anyway and restart.
Both of you listen to me.
We can handle
this from down here.
Did it start?
No, but I'm seeing that my
port has a crack in it.
Mine looks fine.
That must be your problem.
So what's next?
Okay, here's what
we're gonna do.
Go to your bunk monitor.
Pull off the E103 cable.
Copy that.
Get a connector from the
mid-deck junction box.
Got it.
You can't just start pulling
cables out of the wall
without asking permission
from engineering.
The engineers will be glad there
are real people here now.
I'm cleaning up their mess.
Stop all right!
Now screw in the four-pin.
Flip it on.
It worked.
Fantastic.
Holy shit.
I'm starting to get good
readings from down here, too.
Thanks, captain. Hopefully,
we'll end up in the same place.
I've climbed almost every
major mountain on earth.
I've deep-sea dived,
I've paraglided.
Nothing could ever touch
something like going to Mars.
As an engineer, I'm excited for the
technical challenges of the mission.
I know that with people all around the
world pushing mankind to get to Mars,
we are going to discover things
we can't even dream of now.
Great science
will come from this mission...
But even greater
inspiration will come
from the simple gesture
of getting there.
this discovery has now
been confirmed with new data,
and seems to be correct.
The cosmic expansion
that Hubble discovered,
is now modulated
by an acceleration term.
Its expansion is
ever faster with time,
and in that scenario, the universe
ends in a catastrophic crescendo
where space-time on the largest
scale is ripped apart,
and then within a very short
time, maybe minutes or hours,
matter itself is ripped apart.
The atoms of the universe,
all of them...
Grass.
"Fresh-cut grass."
Ugh.
Space is leaking into the ship.
Uh, Houston?
You won't be able to see
this right now, but I've got
a solar flare coming through.
The particles are passing
through my eyes.
Two-thirds approximately,
that's...
I fucked up.
I short-circuited the battery,
which contaminated
the water supply.
Maybe skinny could help.
I trust him,
but the situation
isn't desperate yet.
I've survived before on 600
milliliters of water a day,
but not for this long.
It's my fault the water
is contaminated, though.
And I'm gonna
be the one to fix it.
I have to lie about the reactor,
because if skinny finds out,
they'll abort the mission.
Fucking condensation.
There's nothing to look at,
but now I can't even
see outside.
Hey, buddy,
I haven't talked to you in a couple days.
How are you doing?
I'm fine.
Look, all the work you're doing on the
reactor's getting people a little worried.
Everything okay?
Yeah.
I want that thing to still be working
if I get up there in a couple years.
You know, if anything goes wrong up
there, we'd have to bring you home.
Home? No.
Look, skinny,
essential systems are fine.
I'm just running
some routine maintenance.
Yeah, but I'm getting an earful
from the guys in operations,
and they'd definitely prefer
it if you just left it be.
Okay?
Ah!
Can't sleep?
Sleep is on the ship
like a ghost.
Sorry, what?
Never mind.
Why don't you
take a sleeping pill?
I don't like the way
those things make me feel.
Well, I'm glad
you're still awake.
I have some bad news
about Maddox.
Oh, really?
The fix you made on her
gyroscope didn't hold.
I'm afraid we're going
to have to turn her around.
You okay there, captain?
Look, I just need you
to assure me
that you're going to be able
to keep it together up there.
Oh, c'mon, what does that mean, huh?
What does that... I...
What does that even mean?
It means stay sane
and stay focused,
so we don't have
any more problems.
Stanaforth, I'm waiting for you to tell
me that you're going to be all right.
Well, that is a stupid thing
to wait for.
I remember waiting for you to come
out of that desert, you know?
When you finally
got to that rendezvous.
Lookin' like snake skin.
Do you recall what you said to me?
You remember what you said?
What?
You said, "skinny, I
squeezed water from a stone."
Well, that's half true.
We really have to
abort her mission?
Yeah, we tried everything.
She has to come home, captain.
I'm in here,
and every single
other thing is out there.
Condensation.
It's as dry as a desert in here,
but it's a closed system.
The ship,
the plants,
they have to give up
their water for me.
I'm sorry.
Come on.
It's all connected.
I just have to replicate
systems that work in nature.
Hope is out there.
Super-heat the soil,
compress it.
Extract the hydrogen and the
oxygen, recombine them.
This is how the
universe made water.
This is how life
on earth formed.
And I'm trying to
recreate the process.
I might have enough water
to survive the journey.
But if I can't make
the reactor work,
what's the point?
I'll just die alone on Mars.
Come on.
Ah! Fuck!
Goddammit.
Work with me, you stupid
piece of fucking junk!
Shit, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm sorry,
I didn't mean it. I'm sorry.
Jesus, captain, what's going on?
You look like shit,
the ship's a mess.
People are worried about you.
Everyone's asking me
what's going on with you,
and I don't know
what to tell them.
Huh?
Stanaforth, c'mon you
gotta talk to me here.
Skinny, I fucked up.
I, uh...
I plugged into the...
Yeah, my...
My power is...
My water supply's fucked.
I poisoned the supply.
What?
How is that possible?
What happened?
I just thought I knew...
What it would be like, but I just...
I don't know, I...
Okay, look. Protocol dictates
you return to earth right now.
Abort the mission, get you home.
Hopefully we can
bring you back safely.
But what have you tried already?
Is there anything that we can
do to get it working again?
We'll have at least a day or two before
we're able to turn you around and...
I know this ship
better than anyone.
I couldn't get it to work.
It's amazing that we can build these
machines to shoot us through space.
But in the end we're just these
fragile little creatures
staring out
at the universe, learning.
The important thing
is not the technology,
but the humanity.
The technology enables us to experience
something really astonishing.
To walk on Mars, to watch the
sunset from another planet.
That kind of raw
emotional experience
is what's really significant
in this journey.
End transmission.
I thought I had
everything figured out.
I spent years
planning this mission.
I designed a machine so we
could live on another planet.
I made this thing
work in the desert but...
But that wasn't
the reason I, um...
That wasn't the moment.
I drank the land.
But just when I got it working,
the minute I was
gonna take a drink...
My foot, my leg
went numb. Bang.
I collapsed.
I tried to take a drink,
I couldn't...
I couldn't grip the bottle.
My hand was like...
Air.
I thought I was evaporating.
I lay down in the sand,
I wove myself in.
And this barrier
between me and everything
just dissolved.
And I could die,
because life is enormous.
And I loved
the feeling of dying,
and then it passed.
The feeling passed.
I could feel my hands,
my feet. I got up,
I walked to the rendezvous.
And I made up my mind
right there and then.
To go on a one-way
mission to Mars.
Good morning, Stanaforth.
Time to put on your flight suit.
Houston will be taking
the wheel for the turnaround,
but we're gonna need you in the
cockpit in case of an emergency.
Fuel has been sent up
to the space station.
That'll get you the rest
of the way home and...
The mission has failed,
but I can't go back.
I don't care
if the machines don't work,
if no one else is coming.
I know what waits
for me on earth,
but not up there.
What are you doing?
What's going on?
Did you just
override the controls?
Stanaforth, you will wind up off course.
Do you understand me?
You're gonna end up off course.
Are you listening?
I'm trying to help you. Goddammit,
Stanaforth, stop! That's an order, captain.
Stanaforth!
I hope someone, someday,
will read this journal.
I don't know if I'm on course.
My ship isn't telling me.
If I miscalculated, I'll miss
Mars by a million miles,
drifting into space forever.
I keep up my routine,
but I've lost hope
in the mission.
Hoe!
Huh, huh, huh,
hoe, hoe, hoe.
Hoe!
So many people wanted
to be part of this journey,
and sent me messages
along the way.
I let you down.
Maddox trusted me,
and then I failed.
I hope someday you get
another mission.
To keep going with
what we started.
And skinny...
I can almost hear you out there,
trying to reach me.
Now that I'm not
going to make it,
you must feel like I do.
Broken.
Empty.
For me, I'm trapped
inside my own machine.
Pressed down by gravity.
Wringing out the last
drops of water,
withering away.
What does it matter
if I live another day,
another week, drying
up in this tiny box?
This is all I have left to give.
I want to get out there.
I wanna be ripped apart
by space, overwhelmed.
Why not open the hatch
and step outside?
Stanaf...
I'm trying to...
If you...
Stana... skinny,
are you there...
Houston, trying to reach...
If you're alive...
Let us know...
Can you hear...
If you... signal...
Get through the...
Stanaforth, are you...
Magnetic storm...
You're close to a...
Storm safely...
You'll be there...
Close...
We're rooting for you...
Skinny...
Whole world...
It's me.
Stanaforth, come in.
Yeah, I'm here. I'm...
Skinny... so...
You're so close.
This is it.
Our bodies are
more space than matter.
There's an unfathomable
distance between each atom,
each particle.
What keeps us solid?
Why don't we dissolve?
This is why I came here.
To give everything up.
For one moment of pure wonder.
I don't know if anyone can
hear me, but here goes.
Houston, Zephyr is go
for landing.
Zephyr released.
Three minutes.
Two minutes, fuel light is on.
One minute.
There's the spot!
Thirty meters, two down.
Ten meters, three forward.
Five meters.
Down.
Houston, this is captain William d.
Stanaforth on the surface of Mars.
Nothing has ever lived here.
Nothing has ever died here.
Maybe I'll live forever.