T-minus ten,
nine, eight, seven, six, five,
four, three, two, one,
zero, ignition.
Ten, nine,
eight, seven, six, five, four,
- three, two, one, blast off!
- Guys, guys, please, please!
This is very risky stuff here, and I'm
a highly-trained professional astronaut.
Now, Uncle Phil will launch
another rocket just as soon as
he completes his fuel intake.
Thanks, darlin'.
Now, you know, it takes
six months just to reach Mars.
Then a year on the surface,
six months back.
That's, like, two years,
you know?
Anyway, I guess what I'm trying
to say here is that, um,
you know, this being
my last night on Earth and everything,
this could be a very
precious memory for me.
Nice try.
William, get that thing
out of your nose.
Don't you
talk back to Mommy.
- Hey, Woody.
- Yeah?
Our Mars One crew won't
be heading back to Earth...
till ten days after you guys land
at our base camp with Mars Two.
Thank you, Renee. That's a pretty
long rendezvous, don't you think?
What are you
suggesting, Sergei?
- I think maybe you should
bring a baseball bat.
We will play American baseball
on Mars. Our two crews.
- Oh, please.
- We could have ourselves
a Solar System Series.
- Half you guys are foreigners.
We'd crush you.
- No, no, no.
Because we have equal crews. We have
three men, one woman, same handicap.
Easy now. That's my wife
you're talking about.
Terri just happens to be
one hell of a shortstop.
Fast-pitch, no steals,
batter calls his own strikes.
- Thousand bucks make it interesting?
- Winner take all.
Good.
You bring the balls.
The best thing about our mission...
On Mars Two, technically I outrank her.
So for the first time in our marriage,
she's gonna have to do
everything I say, right?
- Yes, honey.
- "Yes, honey, sir,"
with a little salute helps.
- Yes, honey, sir.
- Yeah. I like it. It's good.
- Take that corn up there, all right?
- Yes, sir.
I'm not sure how I feel
about NASA allowing couples...
to go on this type
of mission together.
Nothin' personal, Terri. I mean...
It's just that it's a funny feeling
for those of us staying behind.
Yes, but all the research shows
that marriage will provide stability...
on these
long-duration trips.
Then they haven't studied
some of the couples I've known.
Luke. Come on, baby.
He's not coming.
This isn't right.
I mean, Jim deserves this too.
All of his friends are here.
- I know.
- It's my last night here.
Hey! It's your last night
with us too.
- I know. I'm sorry, baby.
- Mm-hmm.
I love you, Deb.
I love you too.
Maybe you should
spend some time with Bobby.
- Yeah, where is he?
- Up in his fort.
Oh. Okay.
Millions of miles away.
Deep space.
So lonesome, so cold.
So lame, Nick.
Knock, knock.
Bobby?
Your friends are
out there playing.
What are you doing
up here?
Who's gonna read
to me now at bedtime?
Your mother will.
But... I like
when you do it.
- Now we're never gonna finish our book.
- Bobby.
Listen, I've been thinking
about that too, okay?
And what I figured out was...
How about if I bring along
my own copy?
Then, every night, wherever I am,
I'll read a little bit more of it.
And you and Mommy can read a little bit
more of it wherever you are.
It'll be kind of like we're reading it
together. 'Cause I don't know about you,
but I'm kind of anxious
to find out how old Ben Gunn
got marooned on that island.
You think that's
a good idea?
- Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
- Yeah? Yeah?
Okay.
Well, we were afraid
you wouldn't come.
I caught a whiff of your barbecue.
Uh-huh.
- After that,
- Yeah?
I was, uh, helpless.
Tsk. All the way
out in Galveston?
- Something like that.
- Mmm.
It's his night, Deb.
I didn't want to spoil it.
"Spoil it"? He has been
going crazy looking for you.
Don't ever do that to me again.
- How ya doin'?
- Hey, I'm doin' good.
- Here.
- Thanks, man.
- A lot of people are gonna be
glad to see you, you know that?
- Yeah.
Come on.
Let's go in.
You remember him?
- Just let that go.
- As soon as you admit that
it was a no-go situation.
- It was a go situation.
- Three months, no data stream,
- you're gonna land the ship?
- Just 'cause you keep bringing
it up doesn't make you right.
- Just because you get loud
doesn't make... Jim, settle it.
- No, don't...
- Just because you get loud
doesn't make... Jim, settle it.
- No, don't...
- Settle it.
- Don't look at me.
- It was a go situation.
- This is exactly what I'm talking about.
- It's hard to admit, I know that.
Three commanders, one ship.
I don't think that's gonna work.
There's not enough rocket fuel
in the world to get those egos
off the ground. Come on.
Ah, we would've made
a great crew.
Maybe. If this man
was left seat.
- Yeah.
- Guys, come on.
I'm a pretty good stick jockey.
Call me if you want a flight test.
- What is a stick jockey?
- "I'm a pretty good stick jockey."
Come on, Mr. Cover
of Time Magazine.
- The guy who landed
the crippled Block II shuttle.
- Yeah.
- That's the stick jockey.
- The stick jockey did that.
- Yeah, Mr. StickJockey.
- Okay, I made a little noise,
but putting the first
footprints on Mars?
That's for guys who wrote their Ph.D.
thesis on how to colonize the place...
and for guys who read too much
science fiction as a kid...
and still wear these little Flash Gordon
rocket ships around their necks.
- Very mature.
- You read every damn
science fiction book I did,
and you're just not man enough to wear
jewellery, that's all there is to that.
- Yeah.
- You know you want Flashy.
Ain't gettin' him!
Maggie would have loved to see
you two clowns just one more time.
I'm gonna go
and get a beer.
I don't know, Woodrow.
I think it's about time
you donated this baby to the museum.
- Internal combustion, boys.
Accept no substitutes.
Jim, listen.
If there's, um...
If there's anything Terri and I can do,
you call us, all right?
- I'm okay. Really. Thanks.
- All right. Luke.
- Yeah?
- I'll see you when I get to Mars.
Listen, don't solve all
the mysteries of the universe.
- Leave a little something
for the next guys.
- I'm not promising anything.
- Just bring some expensive beer.
- All right.
Will do. Godspeed.
Thanks, buddy.
It should've been
your mission, Jim.
Yours and Maggie's.
Nobody ever wanted Mars the way
you two did, not even Woody.
You two were 12 years training for
this thing, hoping for this assignment.
Well, that's...
that's all over now.
If Maggie hadn't gotten sick,
if you hadn't pulled yourself...
- out of the rotation
to take care of her, you...
- Luke...
No, Jim. Wait a minute.
I wanna say this.
Look, I wanted
this assignment, all right?
But not like this, Jim.
I would give all of this up in a second
if it would bring Maggie back to us.
I know that.
Look, all the years of training
and planning for this mission
have been a privilege.
Mars is yours now.
Go get it.
I will.
You take care
of yourself, Jim.
You too, buddy.
Okay.
I'll see you
when I get back.
Hey, Luke.
Have a great ride.
I always do.
Luke, you read me?
Here, Renee.
Luke, I just got ARES-8
on-line, and...
Well, we think you're gonna
want to see this for yourself.
Okay, copy that.
- Now, is this the cinder cone?
- No, it's too smooth.
- It's too angular.
Volcanic upwelling, maybe.
- No. No fissure, no caldera.
No, it's an upwelling for sure,
but maybe not volcanic.
Look at the color and how shiny it is.
That almost looks like...
It looks like ice.
- This far south?
- Impossible. You can't
have ice at this latitude.
I mean, not unless
there's, like, a...
Okay, how far away
is that?
Sixteen kilometers, northeast.
Take us 20 minutes to get there, chief.
We're gonna send a packet to Micker.
We're going out there.
- Keep working.
- Okay.
Careful. Watch your step.
- Is it possible to take picture?
- Oh, picture.
- Here we go.
- Let's have a picture.
Say, "Cheese."
This is a truly anomalous formation.
It's unlike anything
ever seen so far.
The structure appears
to be crystalline,
at least from the angle that's
displayed by ARES-8.
We're trying not to go too nuts up here,
but we think there's a good chance...
that this could be an extrusion
from some subsurface
geothermal column of water.
And, of course,
if that's correct,
then we may have found the key
to permanent human colonization.
- We think it wise
to suspend judgment...
- Let geology and hydrology...
know we need to scramble
on this... full court press.
So we're gonna head out there ASAP
and take a look at this thing,
try and get an idea
of its composition.
By the time you receive this,
we should just about be on site.
Anybody else hearing that?
Yeah. What is it?
I don't know. It sounds like
interference from the rover.
- Can you fix it?
- Hey, skip, I can fix anything.
Love that modesty.
Break out the radar.
Let's see what this thing's made of.
Oh, there's one more thing.
This is a very important, very special
day for a good friend of ours back home.
We know he's there right now.
He hates it when anybody
makes any kind of a fuss about him,
so I'm not gonna
mention his name.
Because the last thing
I would want to do would be...
to embarrass someone
like Jim McConnell!
Was that loud?
Oh, well. It's done now.
It can't be right.
It says there's metal under there.
- Solid metal.
- No, that doesn't make any sense.
- You're reading a vein of ore, Renee.
- No, it...
It says it's under
the whole mountain.
All right. Move it closer, up the
power, and we're gonna try it again.
Hey.
Okay, everybody.
I want you to take a look at Jim.
Is he all red with one of those
fake "Oh, I'm-a-good-sport"
grins on his face?
That's right.
Now, everybody, take a look at Ray.
Does he have one of those...
"This-wasn't-in-my-mission-plan"
looks on his face?
Uh-huh. I thought so. There's nothing
you can do about it, Ray.
We're a hundred million miles away!
Okay, let's blow it out.
- We're all set here, chief.
- Let's crank up the juice,
see what's in this sucker.
What happened?
Oh, my God!
- Are you getting that, Sergei?
- Uh-huh.
Oh, my God!
Renee!
Oh. Oh, my God.
Oh, Jesus. Oh, Jesus.
Ahhh!
Problem: hatch door malfunction,
backup power fail,
manual override fail.
- Solution?
- Replace optical relay.
Piece of cake.
God, who dreams up these nightmares?
- Don't try to change the subject.
- I'm not.
- We're talking about
your sister's wedding.
- No, we're talking about...
dancing lessons
before my sister's wedding.
Do you mind? I'm in the middle of a
catastrophic power failure here. Check.
- Not effective.
- Not effective?
- Replace optical relay.
- You're distracting me.
We're a married couple.
Would it kill you to invite me...
out on the dance floor
just once in a while?
- We danced at our wedding.
- No, that's not dancing.
That's you shuffling your feet around
while you grab my butt.
I'm talking about
real dancing, you know?
Cha-cha-cha, rhumba,
jitterbug.
Darling, face it.
Some couples dance, some go to Mars.
That's life.
- Test.
- Effective.
I'm serious. As soon as we get
back home, we're starting lessons.
Woody, if we never dance, people are
gonna think there's something wrong.
If they see me dance,
they'll know there's something wrong.
This is highly unprofessional.
"This is highly unprofessional, sir."
You keep forgetting that "sir."
Cockpit, this is Control.
- Cockpit, this is Control.
- Control, this is Cockpit.
Terri, it's Phil. They want
us all to report to Micker ASAP.
- Who says to report to Micker?
- The little men who live in my head.
That's a negative.
We're in the middle of
a catastrophic power failure right now.
Yeah, Woody, it was Ray Beck.
He told me to round up the team, now.
The exact same moment
we lost the data stream,
they picked up this intense
burst of energy from Mars.
- What do you mean "intense"?
- Catastrophic.
What about the crew?
The level of energy
in the pulse...
didn't seem survivable.
How about the REMO?
It went into Mars' orbit last week.
Maybe it could give us some clue.
That's just what
we tried next.
Right. The, uh,
resupply module checked out fine.
No instrument failures. Orbit holding
steady. But there was something else.
The REMO's computer
contained an uplink message...
a very faint, highly-distorted
transmission from Mars One base camp.
- Someone's alive.
- Yes, yes, yes. Put up the message.
Still concentrating on the audio,
but we've got a long way to go.
Show us whatever you've got.
Show us.
I have to make this...
make this fast.
I may not get another chance to...
to make...another chance...
chance... to the site...site.
There was a low sound that...
a low sound...sound...a low sound...
Something came out of the top
of the mountain, and it hit us.
And... it hit us...
it hit us...
Oh, my God!
They're dead.
God. Nick...
Man! Dead.
That's it.
I don't know.
Luke must be in pretty bad shape...
if he hasn't just blasted out of there
in the Earth Return Vehicle.
That thing's designed so even one
crew member can fly it back to Earth.
Even if Luke was in great shape,
he couldn't get home.
An energy pulse of that magnitude
would have fried the E.R.V's computers.
Other than the computers,
how do we think the E.R.V. fared?
So far, our modeling says
it should be in pretty good shape.
Which means it's gonna be up to us
to get new motherboards,
drives and software to Mars
as fast as we can.
- Right.
- Slow down, slow down, slow down.
- It's gonna take us weeks
just to analyze this data.
- Right.
But in the meantime, we've
gotta be working up a mission plan.
- Luke needs us now.
- Luke may already be dead.
And even if he's not, it's doubtful he
is going to be able to transmit again.
So... we wouldn't know
whether it's safe to land...
until we were almost there.
What about SI MA?
What about SI MA?
The Saturn imaging probe.
It's gonna slingshot around Mars
on its way through the solar system.
It could be retasked to take pictures,
read radiation levels
of Mars One base camp.
Wait, wait, wait.
We are getting ahead of ourselves.
You're forgetting the bigger problem.
The orbits are all wrong.
Our first decent launch window
is almost eight months from now.
Yes, but we can go earlier
and get there faster...
if we reconfigure the payload
for extra fuel.
- We've modeled that, Ray.
I've modeled it.
- On paper, yes.
But those stresses have
never been tested in space.
- The ship can take it.
- Oh, "ship can take it."
I wasn't thinking of
just the ship.
You're right.
I know the protocols for a Mars
recovery mission better than anybody...
because I designed them.
And I'm telling you,
these guys can do it.
He's right, Ray.
We've got a real shot here.
Hmm.
Well. Give me an updated
mission plan by 0800 tomorrow.
You'll have it by 0600.
Let's go to work.
Chief, can I have a word?
Go ahead.
- I no longer have the right crew.
- What do you mean?
- Bjornstrom can be up here
on the next shuttle.
- Bjornstrom is a geologist.
He's good, but not for this. My people
just lost eight months of training.
This is a different mission
with a different objective.
- I haven't approved the mission yet.
- Yes, but when you do,
it ought to be given
its best chance for success.
I want McConnell
to fly right seat.
Oh.
Jim McConnell is no longer
on mission status.
- Yeah, because you washed him out.
- He washed himself out.
He only had to pass
a few more psych evaluations,
but... he refused
to take them.
His wife was dead.
He didn't want to lay on the couch
and share it with strangers.
That was his call,
but I had to make one too!
It was tough as hell,
but I'd do it again!
For Christ's sake, Ray.
She wasted away in front of his eyes.
What was he supposed to do,
suck it up? Get with the program?
What was his crime?
That he showed a little emotion?
I couldn't trust him!
When Maggie died,
it knocked the hell out of him.
It knocked the hell
out of all of us.
But you know and I know
he's still the best we've got.
He and Maggie
wrote the book on Mars.
He's had more hours in the sims
than the rest of us put together.
We can do this. You give me McConnell
as copilot, and we will bring Luke home.
It's a promise.
Hey.
- What's that?
- That is the exact
genetic composition...
of my ideal woman.
Hmm.
Hey, hey, hey. Hey.
My baby.
- Now what is it?
- A frog?
- Hey, skip.
- Hey. Take a look.
Damn.
What do you make of that?
Dust storm.
Southern hemisphere,
coming from the east.
Big fella too.
- Headed straight for Mars One base camp.
- Yep.
- Could get a little hairy
right about landing time.
- Yeah.
Listen, we're gonna have to be able to
move fast. Maybe even advance our E.T.A.
These bad boys can cover a whole planet
and last up to a year.
- When does SI MA do her flyby?
- Tomorrow morning, 0600.
That's when we find out whether
we've come all this way for nothing.
My money's on Luke.
All those interested in dance lessons,
please report
to the promenade deck.
- And what, may I ask, brought this on?
- Zero "G," my friend.
My last chance
to be graceful.
Once we're in Mars' gravity,
it's back to shuffling my feet
and grabbing her butt.
Incoming packet.
Incoming packet.
It's SI MA.
Enhanced look at base camp.
- It looks deserted.
- It's still standing, though.
So's the E.R.V.
And look, there's the greenhouse.
Well, we know Luke survived
for at least a few hours.
Now, are there any signs
of recent activity?
There. Scan northeastern
quadrant of base camp.
What the hell are those?
Graves.
Wait a minute.
There's only three of them.
- That means Luke's still gotta be alive.
- Phil, no, no.
It just means there was
no one left to bury him.
- Check the radiation levels.
- Check rad levels.
Normal.
- Go to disaster site.
- Go to 41 by 9.
- What's wrong?
- I don't know.
Magnetic interference?
- Go infrared.
- Switch to infrared.
It's gotta be a problem
with SI MA.
I don't see how an earthquake six months
ago could cause this kind of distortion.
That was no quake.
We are going to continue
analyzing this data...
and try to determine what
the problem is with those images.
We agree that the evidence
of the graves is, uh,
inconclusive...
and that a ground search
is advisable.
Frankly, we are as stumped
as you guys, but we'll keep on it.
- Beware there are little
sandstorms kicking up...
- Bureau babble.
near Mars One base.
But the big one you spotted
is turning south.
It shouldn't be a factor.
We are all pretty excited
around here,
and we are sure you must be
feeling the same.
- Enjoy your meal,
and get a good night's sleep.
- Say it.
- We anticipate...
- Say it.
- that tomorrow morning...
- Say it.
you will be go.
Yes! Yes!
Thank you.
Thank you.
Hooray for baby Jimmy!
Yes, Jim's first spaceship
was seriously underpowered.
Maggie was
always a little starstruck.
Show us those beautiful teeth.
I am gonna get you guys for that!
When they met at
the Air Force Academy, it was
love at first flight. Woody's line.
Later, during NASA training,
things got a little tough.
Yes, Maggie always did
keep Jim on a short leash.
Jim was always trying
to explore a heavenly body.
- Where are they going?
- Ten thousand mile-high club.
Until...
- Mission accomplished!
- Oh!
- Man, what a fun wedding!
I was so whacked.
Uh, I'm going in. T-minus three,
T-minus two, T-minus one,
contact.
Oh. Okay, we can stop there.
Stop it there.
Fast forward.
Okay, you guys.
They are adding a wonderful chapter
to their incredible story,
and it's
a pretty historic one.
- To the newly appointed co-commanders
of Mars One, Jim and Maggie!
- Hear, hear!
I will drink to that.
- Thank you.
- Hold it. It's not over.
- Show 'em, show 'em.
- Yeah, we got a little addendum.
- Check this out, guys. Here we go.
- It's Phil's best work.
Look, it's Mars.
You can pick up these postcards
at your local NASA souvenir shop.
When you two land up there,
it will prove once and for all...
- that there really is
no intelligent life on Mars.
- All right, touch.
- You're gonna eat those words.
- I don't think so.
- Give me the camera.
- Uh-oh, here we go.
- What if I'm right?
- What if she's right?
You okay?
Can't it just be about science?
- We'll do the science,
and do it really well,
- Yeah.
because that's what
we've trained for.
But what if there's more?
In all our myths,
in every human culture, Mars has
always held a special attraction.
I mean, what if
that means something?
The universe is not chaos.
It's connection.
Life reaches out for life.
That's what we
were born for, isn't it?
To stand on a new world
and look beyond it to the next one.
It's who we are.
You know,
she may have been right.
If that wasn't a quake down there,
then something else caused it...
or planned it.
You're thinkin'
the same thing.
It's never been
out of my mind.
I think she
knew something, Woody.
She was the only one of us
who ever really believed...
there might be
something down there.
Yeah, well, we're not leaving
till we find out.
Deal?
Deal.
Range: 6,783 and closing.
Sixty-five minutes
until Mars Orbital Capture.
Okay, people, let's look sharp. We're
gonna run this simulation one more time.
Remember, if we overshoot,
there's no coming back.
Yeah, and drifting through
eternity will ruin your whole day.
Okay, Delta-V systems initialized.
Charge primary A.P.U.
Engaged and charged.
Select H.P.U. fuel cells for run.
- Engaged.
- Tie main bus to systems.
- Power ready.
- Select H202 H.P.U.
and fuel cells for open.
H202 fuel valves open.
Charge flow.
Charged and on-line.
- Reset P. W.
- Set.
Transfer protocol
data from E.V.A. station.
Transferred.
Awaiting track confirmation.
- Ah!
- Jesus. Oh!
Micrometeoroids.
Kill those alarms!
Critical systems alert.
- Critical systems alert.
- Breach hit's in the hull.
- We're outgassing, losing pressure.
- Woody, seal the breach.
It looks like
it's behind Jims helmet.
Ninety percent atmosphere.
Critical systems alert.
Critical systems alert.
We're losing pressure fast.
We're gonna decompress.
Computer, how long
till zero atmosphere?
Four minutes, nine seconds.
We're still outgassing
in the lower hab.
There must be another hole down there.
It's gotta be a big one.
Everybody switch to
suit oxygen. Jim, you've got the ship.
- I'm going E.V.A.
- Copy.
Come on, people.
Let's work the problem.
Eighty percent atmosphere.
Jim, you've got to go get
your spare helmet.
Copy that, Jim?
There's no time.
All the systems have crashed.
I gotta shut down the hab
from below.
We're losing pressure, Jim.
You could embolize.
Seventy percent atmosphere.
Phil, you've got to get
the nav computers back on-line.
Uh, Jim,
I've got an idea.
If you guys can save
enough atmosphere,
I'll disconnect the power in the main
computer bay and jump-start the systems.
- I'd basically be doing a hard boot.
- Has that been tested?
Are you kidding?
These machines
are way too expensive.
- Do it.
- Okay.
I think this'll work.
Sixty percent atmosphere.
Jim, how we doing
on the A.G?
Just... hang on one second, Woody.
Fifty percent atmosphere.
- Come on!
- Jim, I've got oxygen.
- Come on.
- Voice print identification.
- Mc... McCon...
- Not accepted.
Voice print identification.
- McConnell!
- Accepted.
Shut down... gravitational rotation.
Shutting down
artificial gravitational rotation.
Jim, I've got the oxygen
for you.
- Hang on!
- Forty percent atmosphere.
- Are you okay?
- Yeah, yeah, I'm fine.
I'm topside, Jim.
Do you know which sector?
I'm working on it.
- You'd better get some oxygen, Jim.
- Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine.
Come on.
Jesus.
It's like looking
for a needle in a haystack.
Okay, come on.
Come on. Where are you,
you little bastard?
Give me some light on the hull
so I can locate it.
I got a better idea.
Gotcha!
Terri.
Squeeze out the liquid!
S- S-Stay there!
- Squeeze it out!
- Jim.
Okay. Okay.
Please work.
Thirty percent atmosphere.
Woody, the breach is between
sectors five and six.
Five and six.
- Do you copy?
- Copy. I'm heading there now.
Son of a bitch.
We never did that
in the simulator.
Twenty percent atmosphere.
Jim?
Ten percent atmosphere.
Jim!
Jim, talk to me. It's Terri.
- Jim.
- Come back.
- Breathe!
- Come back!
Gotcha.
Pressure stabilizing.
Pressure stabilizing.
Jim?
Twenty percent atmosphere.
Hi.
Welcome back.
Thirty percent atmosphere.
It worked! Yes! It worked!
Way to go, everybody!
All right!
Yeah!
There's a lot of scarring out here.
I'm gonna check for other punctures.
Orbital insertion
proximity alert.
Orbital insertion
proximity alert.
Negative, Woody. That is a negative.
You have to get back inside.
We have to do our checklist
for orbital insertion.
Copy. I'm on my way.
Hello, beautiful.
Prepare to initiate burn.
Prepare to initiate burn.
Okay, we're ready
to light this candle.
Go/no go for braking burn
and M.O.I. Engines.
- On-line.
- Go.
- Systems.
- On-line.
- Go.
- Nav.
- On-line.
- We are go for the burn.
I am fueling engines.
Flow charge on-line.
Flow charger activated.
Optimum angle of entry
in minus seven degrees.
Countdown to initiate
burn for orbital insertion.
Six.
Five.
Orbital insertion proximity alert.
- Four.
- Optimum insertion angle approaching.
Jim?
Three.
Optimum insertion angle imminent.
Two.
- One.
- Let's go to Mars.
Jesus!
Attitude incorrect.
Shut down the engines.
Engines negative. No response.
I have got no attitude control.
- Manual separation.
- Negative. The control module...
doesn't have enough thrust
to correct this rotation.
We're too steep.
We're falling into the atmosphere.
Christ, at this angle
we're gonna burn up.
- How much time we got, Phil?
- I don't know. Three minutes?
I don't know.
- Where's the REMO?
- The resupply module? Why?
There's no way to link up.
Where is it?
Resupply module located.
Resupply module located.
- It's close.
- How close?
- I don't know.
- Figure it out.
- We don't have time, Phil.
Figure it out now.
- Jim, we're dead stick.
There's no way to maneuver
this ship into linkup.
Not the ship.
Just us. We go E.V.A.
- You want us to transfer in suits?
- If we don't make it...
- If we miss the REMO...
- There's no other choice.
Phil, how close?
Intersection orbit with REMO.
Course intersection plotted.
One kilometer.
That's the best I can do.
Prepare to abandon ship.
Let's go!
- What are you looking for?
- Earth.
Hey.
When we get back home, we really
will have to try this out in the sim.
How are we doing
on the fuel, Woody?
I'm at 50 percent.
I don't see the REMO.
There it is.
Forty-five left, forty-five down.
Oh, Jesus.
She's not where I thought she'd be.
- We're gonna miss her.
- What do you think?
You can't catch it.
Not like this.
Use the tether. You'll have one, maybe
two shots before she's out of reach.
Negative. It's too risky.
If we miss it, we got nothin'.
I'll leave you the gun.
Run a line out to the REMO.
I got enough fuel
left for that.
- You'll be goin' too fast.
- I'll aim to overshoot.
I'll brake like hell and arc it in.
Piece of cake.
I'll see you
in a flash.
Unhook me.
Good to go.
Okay, I'm on a path to overshoot.
I'm going to take the edge off.
I'm out of fuel.
Coming in hot. Still long.
Abandoning the unit.
I'll brake with suit jets.
Jesus. Jesus.
Suit jets gone.
I'm gonna make contact.
- What velocity?
- Impact's gonna be a little rough.
- At what velocity?
- Thirty-two.
I'm gonna use the gun
to slow you.
- If you slow me, I'll fall short.
- It's too fast, Woody.
No choice! I'll be okay.
Here we go!
Gotcha.
Woody!
Woody!
Woody! Woody!
Woody!
- Woody!
- No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no.
- Terri.
- What?
Take the gun.
Take it.
Phil, hang on.
Go!
- Woody, what's your status?
- Well, uh,
my suit jets are gone, and I'm still
carrying a good deal of velocity.
Soon as we get hooked up,
I'll come get you.
I'd have to say negative on that, Jim.
- Negative on the transmission?
- No, I heard ya.
Negative on the maneuver.
- I am not retrievable.
- Woody,
you're not going that fast.
Well, it all comes down
to the amount of fuel, honey.
Suit jets are designed
for attitude control, not travel.
- Retrieval just won't work.
- Well, it's gotta work.
Hey, listen. I don't like it
any more than you do.
- Run the numbers, Jim.
- I am.
You hang tight, Woody.
We'll get in the REMO,
drop her down and come scoop you up.
Sounds good, Jim.
It's gonna take half an hour...
to get the REMO reoriented. Woody will
be in the atmosphere by then!
Then we'll just have to
get her moving faster.
- We don't have time.
- Listen to Jim, honey.
It's a good plan.
No.
We're gonna come get you.
- Okay, get ready for brakes.
- Come on, now.
On my mark. Three, two, one.
You can do it! You can do it!
- Come on! Come on!
- Mark.
Yeah! Yeah!
- Everybody good?
- We're on, Jim.
Way to go. Way to go.
Good job.
All right. There won't be
enough room for us inside.
Soon as I get the hatch open,
let's start dumping the cargo.
- Copy that. Hang on, Woody.
- Will do, Jim.
Hello, beautiful.
- Come on.
- All right. It's open.
Terri, no!
Terri! Come back!
- You'll never make it!
- Terri, what are you doing?
I'll tell you what I'm not doing, Woody.
I'm not gonna watch you die.
- Terri.
- You'd do the same for me.
Phil, get inside, dump the cargo
and start the systems. Now!
- No, I wouldn't.
Not if it was impossible.
- I can do it!
No, you can't! You don't have enough
fuel to come get me and get us back.
Listen to me, goddam it.
- You have to stop,
and you have to stop now.
- He's right, Terri.
It's no use.
Okay, honey.
You gotta go back now.
The hell I do.
Yeah.
What are you doing?
I'm gonna jet in
a little closer and try again.
Terri, you spend any fuel
getting closer, you won't get back.
And if anyone tries to get you,
they'll die too.
- Honey, please.
Please go back.
Go back and help the others
to the surface.
I am not losing you!
I can't let you do it.
I can't let you die.
I'm sorry.
Wait.
What are you doing?
- I Love you, honey.
- Woody!
No! No!
- God, how I love you.
- Woody! Don't!
Woody! Woody!
Woody! Don't!
No!
No!
Please, God, no!
Woody.
Woody.
Come back, Terri.
He's gone.
No.
- No!
- Terri.
- We need you.
- Woody.
No.
No. No.
No.
No.
Please, Terri.
Come back.
Ray, we've got some
new data just coming in.
We just...
It doesn't make any sense.
We're not sure
how to read this.
- Data?
- Yes.
Telemetry reports the REMO left its
orbit and reached the Martian surface.
- Crashed?
- No, sir.
- Under power.
- What?
Sixty-three minutes
after Mars Recovery went off-line.
Sir, the graph shows
a controlled descent,
but that doesn't make any sense.
They used the REMO
as a lander.
It's... It's Jim McConnell.
It's got to be.
Nobody else could have pulled this off.
Nobody else.
Son of a bitch.
I've got access to the E.R.V.
I'm going to go inside.
Terri, is the oxygen generator okay?
Yeah. It's gonna take a while to get it
back to 100 percent capacity, though.
Okay, I'm
entering the hab.
There's still
oxygen in here.
This is
a little spooky.
I don't like the dark...
at all.
Need some lights.
Need some lights.
Okay.
Where are we?
Here we go.
E.R.V. appears to be
structurally intact.
Yeah, but just as we thought,
the computers are fried.
Copy that.
I got busted filters here.
Clogged intakes.
Hell of a cleanup job,
but so far, no major damage.
I'm in the greenhouse.
You gotta see this.
What is it, Jim?
It's working.
I'll be damned.
Luke.
You're not here!
You are not here!
Your wife is Debra!
- Your son is Bobby!
- No!
You're reading
Treasure Island with him.
Luke...
It's all right.
It's me.
- Jim?
- Yeah.
No, wait!
No, no, no, wait, wait!
He's all right.
He's all right.
Phil.
Terri.
Jim... Jim, what are you...
What are you doing here?
You're not supposed to be... You're not
supposed to be here. How are you here?
- How are you here?
- This is a rescue mission.
Woody wanted me
right seat.
I can't...
I can't believe...
Well, where is he?
Where's Woody?
He didn't make it.
God.
Ohh. Ohh.
Oh, no. No.
Oh, God.
Oh, no.
Well, it works, you know?
I give them...
CO2 and light,
and they give me oxygen and food.
It's... It's actually
not a bad arrangement.
It's like a marriage, really,
except not as many... not as many fights.
- I mean, some fights.
- Luke.
Tell us
what happened here.
We fired the radar,
and it... it came and...
they all died.
They all...
They all died.
W-What do you mean?
What came?
The force came out of the top
of the mountain and... and... and...
everybody died,
but I was spared.
Why? Why?
It had to be
for a reason.
And then all of a sudden,
I knew the reason why.
It's so someone would be left
to figure out the secret.
You know, it's...
J-J-Just come.
Just come, come, come, come.
Come, come.
Is it just me, or is he
a few meal packs short of a picnic?
Long-term exposure to low gravity
can have an adverse impact on the brain.
Or then, he could be suffering
from some form of asphyxia.
Or maybe his whole crew died, and he's
been marooned alone on Mars for a year.
It's a miracle
he survived this long.
I'd better bring him
up to speed.
Great. Great.
Great, great, great, great.
So, let me be sure
I understand this.
Your ship blew up
with all its supplies,
then you emptied
all the cargo out of the REMO,
and it was totaled on landing.
You got no food,
no water,
no spare oxygen.
Nothing other than what
I'm looking at right here.
What k... What kind
of rescue mission is this, Jim?
- That kind.
- Check it out.
New nav boards
for the E.R.V.
I got four round-trip tickets,
baby, right in here.
Thank you, God.
Oh, thank God.
When I came to
and dug myself out of the sand,
my faceplate was cracked.
It was... leaking,
leaking badly.
I barely made it
back to base.
It was weeks before I could work up
the nerve to go back out there...
and look for...
and look
for their bodies.
Renee was the only one
I could find, but it just...
didn't seem right somehow
to just dig one grave.
Oh, God.
- Has it been blowin'
like this for a while?
- Yeah.
We saw a big storm on our screens,
but Micker said
it was turning south.
If it holds course.
Luke, this...
this whatever it was...
this... this force...
You said it came directly
out of the top of the mountain?
Don't you believe me?
That's okay, Jim.
You don't believe me, that's okay.
But I'm not crazy, I know that much.
- I'm not crazy.
- What'd you mean by its "secret"?
What secret?
Listen, hundreds of millions of years
have gone by, okay? You've got erosion,
lava flow, sand storms,
meteor impacts.
Hell, in that time the whole surface
of the planet would have changed,
so it's no wonder
we never saw it before.
I mean, we saw it,
but not like they meant us to.
There was too much
dirt on it.
Saw what, Luke?
Saw this.
Jesus.
Oh, my God.
Luke, what are you trying to tell us?
- Are you trying to tell us
that's a face?
- That's the face.
It's the face. It's real.
Somebody put that thing there,
and it's not us.
Jim...
It's not possible.
Jesus.
- Look at that.
- My God.
I know.
Luke, what about that sound
you heard before the explosion?
Oh, yeah, good, Jim.
That's the key. That's the key.
You hear that?
Yeah.
- Those pauses.
Do you hear the pauses?
- Mm-hmm.
See, that's what made me
realize it's a pattern.
It's a repeating pattern.
- Mathematical?
- Mm-hmm.
That occurred to me too.
There are distinct blocks
within each pattern,
and within each block,
the tones come in groups of three.
It's three-three-three,
three-three-three.
Always three-three-three.
It's always the same.
For months, I struggled to analyze it,
trying different constructs,
and then I thought about dimensions.
- X-Y-Z coordinate.
- Exactly. Three groups
equals three dimensions.
So I-I assigned different graphic values
to each block, group and tone,
and I came up with this.
- Hello.
- Oh, my God.
Is that what I think it is?
- DNA.
- You see it?
Yeah.
It's a model of DNA.
So...So somebody
left that thing here. Okay.
Somebody other than human.
But, uh,
what is it?
It's a signature.
It's a self-portrait
of whatever species created the face.
Yeah, but that DNA
looks human.
No, it's not. It's missing
the last pair of chromosomes, see?
- It's close. It's damn close.
- Close?
The difference between
man and ape is less than
three percent genetic material.
But that three percent
gives you Einstein, Mozart.
Jack the Ripper.
Yeah, he's right.
Four pallets,
oral, topical medications,
splints, bandages,
one complete med pack.
With eight tubes
of antifungal cream.
Well, at least we won't
rash to death.
Luke.
- How do you feel?
- Lighter.
- A lot lighter.
- Welcome back.
Thanks, man.
The backup generator is salvageable.
So are two of the solar panels.
I'm pretty sure I can get the oxygen
still back into production.
So we're not in
such bad shape, considering.
That's good, Terri.
Good work.
Jesus.
Look at this.
Phil's idea of absolute essentials.
Of course.
Hey, hey, hey!
Hey!
My baby.
It's not a signature.
What?
The noise from the face.
It's not a signature.
It's a test.
It's asking us for the right answer.
It wants us to put in
the missing pair of chromosomes.
- Why?
- To prove that we're human.
We fired radar into that thing,
concentrated radio waves,
and you're saying...
Which it interpreted
as the wrong answer.
It's... It could be like
a security alarm.
When it gets an incorrect response,
it defends itself.
So what happens when it
gets the right answer?
Well,
I don't know that,
Phil.
But we gotta find out.
Luke, what if we
work this the other way?
We figure out which tones would be
equivalent to the missing chromosomes,
and then dub them into
your recording of the signal.
- Is that possible?
- Yeah.
- Yeah, I-I think so.
- Good, good, good.
What about the radar gun?
Will it accept the input...
so we can transmit
a completed signal back to the face?
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Hold on, Jim.
What if you're wrong?
Whoever
goes out there...
I mean, what if you're wrong?
Three people have already
died over that thing.
Four.
Terri.
If we leave here without getting
some answers, they all died in vain.
We don't...
We don't have to
go out there.
Got a lot of static here.
Something's interfering.
Yeah. The antenna got knocked
around pretty badly in the blast.
This is the best resolution
I think we're gonna be able to get.
All right, guys.
I got the nav boards.
I'm sealing the air lock.
- Check the video feed.
- Video feed looks good.
- How close do we have to get?
- I'm not sure.
Maybe I'll stop it
right over there by that rock.
Do it. Good.
Okay.
Here we go.
Look at that, Jim.
It worked.
Oh, God, it worked.
Guys, I don't know
what the hell we just did,
but does that look to you
like a hostile gesture?
No. More like
an invitation.
Or another test.
- Check for radiation.
- Normal.
Seismic normal.
Anemometer steady.
Luke, does the rover
still work?
Phil, do you read?
Yeah, Jim. Your signal's breaking up
a little in the storm, but I read you.
We're at the face.
We're gonna need a few minutes here.
Same deadline.
Launch at 1950 with or without us.
Copy?
Copy that.
Jim, you sure
you want to do this?
I'm not sure
about anything any more.
But I didn't come 100 million miles
just to turn back in the last ten feet.
Yeah.
Please work.
This is gonna work.
Yes. Yes.
Computers are on-line.
I am going to start
loading software.
The surface... seems firm and level.
Roger that.
- The texture's smooth.
- I've got good footing.
No obstructions.
Let's check our P.S.I.
Guys, I gotta tell you...
We're losing visibility here
really fast. Over.
It's solid. We're trapped.
Don't move.
Just keep this orientation.
Guys?
Luke? Terri? Jim?
Phil, can you
still hear me?
Is anyone there?
Over.
God. That's it.
There's no handles. We're not gettin'
out of here unless they let us out.
- Jim, what are you doing?
- What are you doing?
Stop it! Stop it!
- You're depressurizing!
- Seal your suit now!
- There's pressure in here.
- Above Mars atmospheric.
It's impossible.
We're millions of miles from Earth
inside a giant white face.
What's impossible?
There's 12 P.S.I.
in here.
Nitrogen and oxygen.
Otherwise known as air.
Hey, wait Jim. I haven't checked for
lethal trace gases, and I haven't...
What the hell.
Look.
- Is that what I think it is?
- Yeah. It's Mars.
That's where they went.
Look. One stayed behind.
Earth.
Before the continents separated.
My God. That's it.
Hundreds of millions of years ago, there
was a sudden explosion of life on Earth.
The first multi-celled plants
and animals appeared.
No one has ever understood
why or how it happened.
They seeded Earth.
They seeded Earth.
They're us.
We're them.
Luke? Terri? Jim?
Anyone?
E.R.V. to rover.
Rover, this is E.R.V.
Does anyone copy?
Does anyone copy?
E.R.V. to rover. Rover, this is E.R.V.
- Do you copy?
- Phil?
- Oh, thank God.
- Phil, we read you.
Listen, this storm is
getting really bad.
It's going to totally sock us in in
a few minutes. You've got to get back.
- Phil?
- I repeat: You've got to
get back to the ship.
Phil?
We're in a ship.
This... is a ship.
And the...
countdown's already started.
- He's right.
- Yeah.
Yeah, let's get
the hell outta here.
Jim? Jim?
Come on,
we gotta go.
- I'm not comin' with you.
- What?
What are you
talking about?
You've gotta get home.
That's where I'm going.
Don't you see?
That's... That's what
all this is for.
Terri, you were right.
This is an invitation.
This is an invitation
for us to follow them home.
I'm going.
It's what
I was born for.
Like Maggie said.
To stand
on a new world and...
and look beyond it
to the next one.
I know this is right...
for me.
You're running
out of time.
You gotta get back to the E.R.V.,
and you gotta get off this planet.
Thank you for
saving my life, buddy.
It was a privilege.
I wish Woody were here
to see you.
He is here, Terri.
We wouldn't have made it
without him.
He would have
wanted you to have this.
E.R.V. to rover.
Rover, this is E.R.V. Do you copy?
E.R.V. to Rover.
Rover, this is E.R.V. Do you read me?
Phil, this is Luke.
Do you copy?
- He's not reading me.
- I can barely read you.
- Let's get the hell out of here.
- Yeah.
I've lost
the base camp beacon.
- We're driving blind.
- I'm just going to keep going
on a straight line, okay?
That's our only chance.
- 1949, Terri. We're not gonna make it.
- No.
I've worked with Phil for four years,
and I know Jim gave him a direct order,
but he is not
gonna leave without us.
Please. Luke?
Terri? Jim?
E.R.V. to rover.
Rover, this is E.R.V. Do you read me?
Phil, do you read?
This is Luke. We're coming in.
Phil?
- Phil?
- Phil isn't here right now.
He, uh, left for Earth
five minutes ago!
Please leave a message
after the beep!
Where is Jim?
He caught another ride.
- Dear God, look at that.
- Is that him?
Have a great ride, Jim.