The First (2018) s01e02 Episode Script
What's Needed
[BIRDS CHIRPING.]
[FOOTSTEPS.]
Devon, have you packed your jacket? Yeah.
- And the tie? - Yeah, Mom, all the fancy shit.
- The green dress.
- Good.
That one looks nice on you.
Can't can't we just stay at Dad's? We have three more days.
We're spending it together.
Mandy'll keep you company.
You don't need the both of us.
No discussion.
To the car.
[SIGHS.]
His girlfriend's having a pool party, and he wanted to go.
He has a girlfriend? I liked that one.
Me, too.
We're willing to offer a sizable settlement in return for your client dropping all suits, as well as promising not to engage any further with the press.
Here is the figure we propose.
- [UP TEMPO MUSIC PLAYS.]
- [INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS.]
[MUSIC ENDS.]
- Whoo! - [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE.]
Thank you, folks.
We'll be back in 15.
Hey.
How were the chops? Perfect.
That was a good call.
- She's great.
- They are something special.
You guys staying for the next set? Uh, you know what? It's a school night.
- I think we're gonna roll.
- Are you finished with that? - Yeah.
Yeah, thank you.
- Okay.
See you at home.
- Hey, what's the damage? - No.
I got it.
- Oh, no, no.
Let me.
- Oh, it's fine.
We get a discount.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS.]
It seems like she's doing really well.
Yeah, getting by right now.
What time do you lose your sitter? - Midnight.
- Can I take you somewhere? [BUFFER WHIRRING.]
Hey.
[CLICKS, WHIRRING STOPS.]
- How you doing, Tom? - How are you? Hi.
- Thanks, Chicken.
- Yeah, you got it, bud.
His name is Chicken? [CHUCKLES.]
Did I make a mistake by bringing you here? No.
I'm glad you did.
I like remembering him like this.
[SPITS.]
All right.
I won.
Hey, uh, rematch! How many times do you want to lose? He was so competitive.
He used to get so angry if I beat him at darts.
Yeah, you cost us a lot of quality time.
[BOTH LAUGH.]
Denise went to swim camp here.
First day down there in the shallow end, she dives headfirst, - bang, straight on her head.
- Oh, no.
It's bleeding like hell.
She's not crying, but when I tell her she's not gonna be able to continue camp, it's like the horror film version of a teenager saying, "Oh, my God, Dad!" - [CHUCKLES.]
Like, you know? - [LAUGHS.]
Hey.
Did Diane do this? It's how we first met.
- This one? - One and only.
She was really talented.
Yeah, she was.
Should we roll? - Yeah.
- Let's do it.
Earth, not space, that's how we save the human race! Earth, not space, that's how we save the human race! Earth, not space, that's how we save the human race.
Earth, not space This is a fragment from the upper level of the first stage.
This portion here did not match any of the alloys we used in the build.
The composition was a mixture of copper and nickel.
It's a tradition for the Providence crew to bring a quarter into the White Room as a good luck ritual.
The quarter was given to a technician before they entered the capsule.
We believe he must have dropped it on to the transom, or it fell out of his pocket.
The quarter was then lodged onto a a spring loaded dust cover of one of the forward booster separation motors on the starboard SRB right here.
When the BSMs ignite, these dust covers, they fling open due to the 20,000 pounds of thrust generated by the BSM.
When this happened, the quarter was flung with enough velocity to puncture the LOX tank of the first stage.
The impact provided an ignition source, enabling the aluminum skin of the LOX tank to be rapidly consumed by fire, exacerbated by the presence of pure oxygen in th Madam Chairperson, if I may.
The Chair recognizes the Senator from Massachusetts.
These five lives were lost because of a coin? We design these vehicles to meet the anticipated environment in which they're supposed to function.
We consider thousands of possible scenarios.
What we didn't anticipate was the equivalent of a high-powered rifle being shot point Five lives.
That's what I'm trying to wrap my head around.
How do we justify the loss of these lives? [DOOR CREAKS.]
You're supposed to be at work in an hour.
I know.
You okay? Ohh.
Maybe you should call in sick.
I'll be fine.
It just just hits me sometimes out of nowhere.
Work's good.
It's a distraction.
- That's new.
- What? Homeless woman.
I see her a lot outside the restaurant.
- It's good.
- It's okay.
Well, maybe it's just the working nights.
You may need more sun.
Nights are better.
It's when it's the hardest.
Some of you were alive when Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon.
I wasn't, but I've watched that footage at least 100 times.
It still gives me goose bumps.
That this nation we were able to accomplish something so profound that the human race is capable of leaving our planet and setting foot on a celestial object that thousands of generations before us have have stared at with wonder and never imagining it was within reach.
It's proof of what we can achieve when we set our sights on the impossible and say, "You know what? It is possible.
" You talk of educating and feeding our youth.
Yes, we have that duty.
But we also have the duty to inspire them, Senator.
What is the point of being healthy and educated if not to strive for a higher purpose? I feel this as strongly as an astronaut as I did in the Army.
- Screen off.
- We can watch if you want.
No, no.
Let's go eat outside.
[WIND RUSHING.]
- [SPOON CLATTERS.]
- Oh.
[GRUNTS.]
[THUMPING LIGHTLY.]
Everything okay down there? - [SNORTING.]
- [LAUGHING.]
Oh, my God.
[SNORTS.]
Did you really sneak that out here? Captain "Hogerty" is a sneaky fellow.
Mm.
Captain Hogerty [CHUCKLING.]
it's been a while.
It has been [SNORTS.]
a while.
Your turn, Ms.
Hogerty.
[SNORTING.]
And maybe you shouldn't do [BOTH LAUGH.]
You know, I was thinking I'd like to start painting again.
That's a great idea.
I've saved up a bit for supplies oils, brushes.
I can help you with supplies, if you want.
I was also thinking maybe I could clean up Mom's shop downstairs, turn it into a studio.
My room's too small.
I don't want to get paint on the floor.
And the fumes I mean, if you want a place to work, we can rent you a place.
Well, that's a waste of money when the shop's right here.
Yeah, but it's so dirty down there.
- It's so dusty.
- I'll clean it, so I mean No, it's like pests - cockroaches, rats - Dad, I can clean it.
You don't have to do anything.
It's fine.
It's not about me having to do anything.
I want to work there.
It means something to me.
Finished? Yeah.
[SIGHS.]
I feel really useless sometimes.
I don't know the right thing to say.
I don't know the right thing to do.
You're not useless.
I can take you to work later, if you want.
[DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE.]
[WIND RUSHING.]
[BIRDS CHIRPING.]
If we go in the next launch window May of '33 it will only cost 22 more.
So, then my question would be whether that was $70 billion down the drain to begin with.
We all know that the explosion was not due to a design fault.
It was human error, so, no, I don't think anything Well, you know, in North Carolina, we could have used some of that money for schools, for infrastructure, job training, energy conversion.
I'm talking hundreds of programs to benefit thousands of people, not just the the jobs created in my colleague's state.
A mission to Mars will benefit all of humankind.
The technology we're developing, what we'll learn scientifically is immeasurable You know not just for Mars, but what the Colonel said about inspiration It's all well and good.
Now you go on about science and technology.
How does that help the 5-year-old with no school lunch program? How does that help the truck driver whose job has been automated by a self driving Senator, can I answer your question? - I'm not finished.
- Uh, Madam Chairwoman, I believe that Ms.
Ingram should be given the opportunity.
- Let's hear her full answer.
- Thank you.
What we're confronting is widespread drought, rising sea levels, record extinction rates.
There are currently over 900 million eco refugees worldwide.
In the States, cities like Miami are disappearing.
In my own home, New Orleans, we've only survived because of massive levee projects that are costing the taxpayers a lot more than the Mars program.
This is the world that my children are facing, that all of our children are facing.
And as a parent, I would like to secure their future and their children's future.
If we don't start to lay the foundations for interplanetary colonization now So, you're saying, "To hell with it.
Let's just go to Mars.
" Wrong.
I'm saying let's tackle both find solutions here on Earth and an exploration Well, I'm sorry, Ms.
Ingram, but I'm not giving up on Earth.
And when it comes to our taxpayers, I'm investing in their home this home not some other planet.
We need at least a 10-3 vote.
If it's a squeaker, folks will smell blood once it gets to the floor.
- We've got Chisolm, Lopez - Barnes and Pasternak I need six more confirmed yeses.
Well, give me the names, and I'll make the calls.
I don't think you're the right person.
The response wasn't so hot to your doomsday routine.
That's not how I intended it to come across.
Well, I'm telling you what they heard.
Are those French fries over there? Smells good.
I can make some calls.
[DOOR UNLOCKS.]
[MID TEMPO MUSIC PLAYS.]
Vroom! Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep! - I'm gonna catch you.
- Fucking scooter.
You opened up a Pandora's box, you son of a bitch.
Well, that's gonna be your problem, not mine.
- Oh, here she comes.
- Oh, is that so? - [NEEDLE BUZZES.]
- Dangerous woman.
[NEEDLE BUZZES.]
Well, in person would be better if you don't mind a few house visits.
- Wherever you need me.
- Castillo's testifying tomorrow.
So he didn't settle.
Said there wasn't a number high enough.
[SIGHS.]
Well, let's see who we can get you with, then.
Giddy up.
It's pony show time.
We'll see you in the morning.
Senator.
- Good night.
- Yeah.
How bad is it? Honestly? [DOOR CLOSES.]
Buddy of mine's a trainer at the Fair Grounds.
He said to me once doping a horse is never a sure bet, but the dope don't hurt.
[LAUGHS.]
I need the odds.
It's a long shot.
You got any voodoo we don't know about, now's the time to use it.
[VACUUM HUMMING.]
Maybe it's his voice they need to hear.
Maybe he needs this as much as you do.
And I ain't saying two messes make things clean.
But his dirt it's got something different than yours.
One of you is the star.
The other is the dust.
[CELLPHONE RINGING.]
Answer.
Hello, Tom.
Are you clean shaven? - Why? - Are you? - Yes.
- Good.
I want you to come to Washington.
[UP TEMPO MUSIC PLAYS.]
- What was that? - It's just for the day.
- I'll be back tomorrow night.
- Yeah, okay.
Hey, you'll take Apollo for a walk in the morning, fill up his bowl? Yeah, sure.
You know, I I don't have to do this.
Yeah, I can't hear you, Dad.
I said, "I don't have to do this.
" - I'll be fine.
- All right.
And you'll call me if you need anything? - What? - I said, "If you need anything, call me.
" Yes, yes.
I will.
Travel safe.
All right just want you to know, I started to clear out downstairs.
Dad, I really I can't hear you.
I said I started to clear out down there in the tattoo par It's too loud.
I got to get back to work.
- Say again? - I have to go.
Travel safe.
[CELLPHONE CHIMES.]
[SIGHS.]
Here you go, hon.
- Tomorrow? - Tomorrow.
Can I stay at your place tonight? My dad's out of town.
I haven't had been by myself in the house since Yeah.
Of course.
Thanks.
[PANEL CHIMES.]
If Senator Mills comes at you, just be brief.
Do not engage with her.
Yeah, and avoid the climate change argument.
That did not go down well.
I've got our NASA engineers amending the report from our end, so there's no need to go into anything too technical.
Just talk about your experiences on the Moon, the forward momentum, inspirations You're saying you want me to win them over.
- I am.
- Got it.
[CHUCKLES.]
Good.
Okay, I'm gonna turn in.
I got a 6:00 a.
m.
with the Chief-of-Staff.
Is the President on board with this? We're trying.
Well, I should turn in, too.
Um, there's one more talking point, if you've got a second.
Okay.
- Glad to have you here, Tom.
- Good to see you, Bob.
- Yeah.
Good night.
- Night.
[DOOR OPENS, CLOSES.]
I know I'm asking a lot, but this is big of you.
- I want to acknowledge that - It's got nothing to do with me.
Yes, it does.
It was your crew.
[SIGHS.]
Tom when I relieved you of your command, it's because I thought it was the best thing to do at that time.
This is a conversation that I don't want to have with you.
Okay.
I thought I would clear the air.
I'm here for Mattie and the crew.
That's why I'm here.
It's Kayla's mission now.
I gonna make sure she finishes everything that we started.
- Good.
- That's my duty to the mission.
Mm-hmm.
My own focus right now is my daughter.
- You're back in touch? - Yeah.
She's staying with me at the house.
- How is she? - It's getting late.
Are we done? - I was just asking.
- I'll see you tomorrow.
Here's your brief.
Good night.
[DOOR OPENS, CLOSES.]
[BIRDS CHIRPING.]
I don't want to get mixed up in all this.
You know, it's not good for Charlotte.
I'm hoping only the Senator's gonna see it.
Why does it have to be me? You're the commander's wife.
If you write it, everyone else signs on.
[SIGHS.]
Okay.
I owe you one.
No.
Matt would have wanted me to.
My greatest fear was that he would be shot down and there would be no body to bury.
He survived the war, but still [VOICE BREAKING.]
there was no body to Take as much time as you need.
My son went fighting overseas to defend his country.
That I understood, even if as a parent it wasn't what I wanted.
But this there is no reason.
Space? Why? For what? This didn't need to happen.
I ask this Committee to reconsider funding for this project, so that more parents don't have to suffer the loss that we have.
Apollo! Apollo! We now invite Captain Thomas Hagerty to speak before the Committee.
Would you like to make an opening statement? Madam Chairwoman, distinguished members of the Committee, I don't have a prepared statement.
As a husband, speaking to the spouses who lost their partners, I know what it means to lose a loved one too early.
As a father speaking to the mothers and fathers who lost their children, I have a daughter, and she means everything to me.
And if I lost her, I don't know if I could handle that.
So out of respect to Mr.
and Mrs.
Castillo and to all the families, I think it would be inappropriate for me to assume to justify the deaths of their loved ones.
I would prefer not to answer questions.
And that completes my statement.
Thank you.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS.]
Tom, I flew you here to testify.
It didn't feel right.
So you say nothing? You just hand out condolences Let me do this my way.
Mr Mr.
Castillo? Ma'am? May I speak to you for a moment? Hey.
Yeah.
Good boy.
Nothing showed up for a week.
Searched downriver all the way to Venice and back no body, though.
We buried the casket empty, just like you.
I get it, that feeling of helplessness.
Yeah, I'm sorry you lost your wife.
But it's not the same.
- This was preventable.
- [BREATHES DEEPLY.]
What we do is dangerous.
People are gonna die.
That's what we're trying to stop.
You won't.
Not as long as there are people like your son and, I suppose, myself.
I would have given anything to have been on that rocket with him.
Let me ask you, would he have been happy as a lawyer or anything else? He'd be alive.
Would he have been happy? He hated me for criticizing That's not true.
- He did.
- No.
- Thanksgiving.
- He was drunk.
- He told me he was sick of me - He didn't mean it.
for making him feel small.
He did not mean it.
Well, you saw his eyes.
[SIGHS.]
Did he ever tell you how much he hated me? No, sir.
What did he say about us? He never spoke to me about his family.
You see? Your son loved what he did that I know.
Here.
I'm gonna show you.
Video.
P Foxtrot Four.
Back to start.
You, too.
- Sync video.
- [BEEPS.]
- Sync video.
- [BEEPS.]
Play.
The aurora.
At that altitude, you can touch it.
Every color colors you've never seen before and lights moving all around you.
The universe.
And it's right there.
And I always think of Sagan's words "Everyone you ever heard of, every human being that ever was, lived out their lives on a mote of dust, suspended in a sun beam.
" And your boy rode that beam.
And the two of you gave him a life that let him live that dream.
I don't see the Castillos' name on this.
Senator, the Castillos are reconsidering their position on the lawsuit.
I spoke to them.
Look, the letter is moving.
But I have to think about the bigger picture.
I'm considered about eleven five.
I mean, you cut corners, where are we a year and a half from now? You're showing me another one of these letters.
The transit vehicle can survive for two years.
Everything pre placed on Mars is fully operational no new builds.
We can do this safely at half the cost.
Eitan's been through it line by line.
I'm confident we can make this number work.
Well, it has been a long day, so I have to process all of this.
Does that mean we have a maybe? That's means I got to get home to my kids.
I'll walk you out.
She wants to make a deal.
She never would have taken the meeting if she didn't.
Can you hang around a couple of more days? - However long it takes.
- How about you two? Well, I I thought we were heading back tonight.
I got the crew doing sim training tomorrow.
Tom? I have to talk to my daughter.
Well, you know, I I can cancel if you need me to stay.
No, you should stay on schedule.
Jason.
Jason.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS.]
Could you get the jet ready? At Reagan? [PIANO MUSIC PLAYS.]
[MUSIC STOPS.]
- Are we leaving? - You are.
[PIANO CHORD PLAYS.]
I need to stay.
You're not coming back with us? - I can't.
- I want to stay here with you.
I was just calling her.
Uh, she didn't answer.
Tom, we really need you here.
Uh, it's just the first time that she's been in the house alone without me.
Okay, so do you want me to send someone to check on her? No.
I could hold the plane for a while if you want to try her back.
No.
Let me send someone.
I don't want her to feel that she's being - New message.
Denise.
- Oh.
Play.
Hey.
Can't call you back right now.
It's a hectic night here, but no worries if you need to stay in D.
C I'll be fine.
Also, I wanted to say thank you for what you did downstairs.
It means a lot to me.
Okay, good luck.
See you when I see you.
- Love you.
- [CELLPHONE CHIMES.]
I'm sticking around.
- Madam President.
- Laz.
Madam President.
I must say, it's quite an honor to meet you, Captain.
If you truly honored what we do, you'd call Senator Mills, tip her off the fence.
Doing nothing honors nothing, and that would be disgraceful towards those who died.
[CHUCKLES.]
Clarksville, Missouri.
That's where you're from.
Yes, ma'am.
We Midwesterners don't mince words, do we? Doers, not talkers.
I've been to Clarksville pretty poor stretch of the river.
I'm proud of my hometown.
My mother was a lock operator.
That's why I was raised there.
What I'm trying to do is make places like your hometown a little better off.
There's only so much money to go around.
Spending it unwisely that's disgraceful.
You lost Missouri, and you're not gonna win it next year, so forgive me if I have a difficult time pretending that you're gonna be sending the money that way.
I think that you're resistant because this is a project of the previous administration.
Hmm.
Did you speak to my predecessor like this? I didn't have to.
We went to the Moon.
We brought back more of it than all the Apollo missions combined.
We did it for the country.
We did for science.
And I was able to bring him back one of these from the Kepler Crater.
Is this a bribe? No, ma'am, it's a challenge.
Get us past the Moon.
Own it.
We're not asking for public support, just the call to Mills.
You can distance yourself politically for now, and then, when we succeed, it's all yours.
[COINS CLINKING.]
[JUKEBOX PLAYING.]
[SIGHS.]
It's gorgeous.
I want it right here.
- Uh, your Dad would divorce me.
- It's fine.
He can move to Houston, and then we can have the place to ourselves.
[CHUCKLES.]
Right there.
You're so much more talented than I am.
We had a perfect record: not a single incident.
All it takes is one five people lose their lives.
All it takes for what? For human error in a single incident to frighten a country away from its aspirations, the very ideals that built it in the first place? No.
We we can't lose our courage.
And when I'm talking about courage, I'm not talking about the courage it takes for someone to step on the Moon or on Mars.
I'm talking about the courage of all of us to be the best version of ourselves.
The honor of being an astronaut comes because, despite your training, despite the thousands of people that work so hard to keep you safe, there's always the chance that you'll make the ultimate sacrifice, and that's only palatable if you know that the country will support, continuing to carry that torch.
Ellen Dawes the wife of Commander Dawes she wrote a letter.
She said that ending the Mars program would, quote, "Dishonor her husband's death.
" - Strong words.
- Honest words.
And I agree with her.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS.]
You can vote no if you need to save face, but I need you to get Spritzer and Langford off the fence.
[CONVERSATIONS CONTINUE.]
Come on.
You fought the good fight, Ed.
[GLASS THUMPS LIGHTLY.]
Installments.
No lump sum.
Fair enough.
There's an aluminum factory in Durham Oh! Now we're getting somewhere.
Hey, another, uh, vodka soda for my friend, and I'll have another bourbon.
Anything else, sir, before we land? Oh, I'm good.
Thank you.
Ma'am? Oh, um, some Advil if you have it.
Let me check.
Out cold.
Yeah, I wish I could sleep like that.
- Flaring up? - It always gets bad on planes.
I didn't take any meds this morning.
My mother always told me that I said "thank you" and "sorry" too much, so I stopped saying either.
But I owe you both.
Not necessary.
Team effort.
You took us over the top.
Well, I wouldn't count your chickens.
[CHUCKLES.]
Well, 48 hours ago, I didn't have any chickens, and now I can hear some clucking.
Would you consider coming back? I I know that Denise is your first priority, but since you said that she's doing Coming back how? Training? As commander.
Could I get a cup of coffee, please? I mean, obviously, I'd have to talk to Bob and and get NASA approval and Where's this coming from? Um.
[CHUCKLING.]
I've put a lot of thought into it.
Well, it seems pretty sudden.
I didn't ever want you to leave.
It was a mistake to let you go.
- Kayla could be your second.
- It's her crew.
We've got one shot at this and I need the best team.
Is that the reason, or is it because I can help you get the money? That's a big part of it.
We'd have to cut someone.
So we cut someone.
None of the rest are anywhere near as qualified.
[SIGHS.]
Denise is doing well now.
I don't know how she'll be in a year.
I don't know how she'll be tomorrow.
I understand.
I'm willing to take that risk.
Well, I don't know if I am.
[P.
A.
CHIMES.]
All right, everyone.
We're about to make our final descent.
We should be on the ground in about 10 minutes.
Mandy.
Seat belt.
[SEAT BELTS CLICK.]
Ohh.
I hate landings.
[ENGINE ROARING.]
It's just the flaps.
If you're still enough for long enough, the lights will go off.
Mom and me used to play that game.
I thought you were at work.
Called in sick.
- You sick? - No.
[CHUCKLES.]
It looks great.
It's a start.
Really still In about a minute, they'll go off.
You have to barely breathe.
They want me back.
They want me to command.
NASA might nix it.
I don't even know if I want to.
You're the most important thing, and tell me to say no, I'm gonna say no.
But if I did do it do you think we could make that work? I mean, you're so much better than I've seen you in so long.
I think we can make it work.
I think we could.
Would you say something, please? Shh.
[FOOTSTEPS.]
Devon, have you packed your jacket? Yeah.
- And the tie? - Yeah, Mom, all the fancy shit.
- The green dress.
- Good.
That one looks nice on you.
Can't can't we just stay at Dad's? We have three more days.
We're spending it together.
Mandy'll keep you company.
You don't need the both of us.
No discussion.
To the car.
[SIGHS.]
His girlfriend's having a pool party, and he wanted to go.
He has a girlfriend? I liked that one.
Me, too.
We're willing to offer a sizable settlement in return for your client dropping all suits, as well as promising not to engage any further with the press.
Here is the figure we propose.
- [UP TEMPO MUSIC PLAYS.]
- [INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS.]
[MUSIC ENDS.]
- Whoo! - [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE.]
Thank you, folks.
We'll be back in 15.
Hey.
How were the chops? Perfect.
That was a good call.
- She's great.
- They are something special.
You guys staying for the next set? Uh, you know what? It's a school night.
- I think we're gonna roll.
- Are you finished with that? - Yeah.
Yeah, thank you.
- Okay.
See you at home.
- Hey, what's the damage? - No.
I got it.
- Oh, no, no.
Let me.
- Oh, it's fine.
We get a discount.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS.]
It seems like she's doing really well.
Yeah, getting by right now.
What time do you lose your sitter? - Midnight.
- Can I take you somewhere? [BUFFER WHIRRING.]
Hey.
[CLICKS, WHIRRING STOPS.]
- How you doing, Tom? - How are you? Hi.
- Thanks, Chicken.
- Yeah, you got it, bud.
His name is Chicken? [CHUCKLES.]
Did I make a mistake by bringing you here? No.
I'm glad you did.
I like remembering him like this.
[SPITS.]
All right.
I won.
Hey, uh, rematch! How many times do you want to lose? He was so competitive.
He used to get so angry if I beat him at darts.
Yeah, you cost us a lot of quality time.
[BOTH LAUGH.]
Denise went to swim camp here.
First day down there in the shallow end, she dives headfirst, - bang, straight on her head.
- Oh, no.
It's bleeding like hell.
She's not crying, but when I tell her she's not gonna be able to continue camp, it's like the horror film version of a teenager saying, "Oh, my God, Dad!" - [CHUCKLES.]
Like, you know? - [LAUGHS.]
Hey.
Did Diane do this? It's how we first met.
- This one? - One and only.
She was really talented.
Yeah, she was.
Should we roll? - Yeah.
- Let's do it.
Earth, not space, that's how we save the human race! Earth, not space, that's how we save the human race! Earth, not space, that's how we save the human race.
Earth, not space This is a fragment from the upper level of the first stage.
This portion here did not match any of the alloys we used in the build.
The composition was a mixture of copper and nickel.
It's a tradition for the Providence crew to bring a quarter into the White Room as a good luck ritual.
The quarter was given to a technician before they entered the capsule.
We believe he must have dropped it on to the transom, or it fell out of his pocket.
The quarter was then lodged onto a a spring loaded dust cover of one of the forward booster separation motors on the starboard SRB right here.
When the BSMs ignite, these dust covers, they fling open due to the 20,000 pounds of thrust generated by the BSM.
When this happened, the quarter was flung with enough velocity to puncture the LOX tank of the first stage.
The impact provided an ignition source, enabling the aluminum skin of the LOX tank to be rapidly consumed by fire, exacerbated by the presence of pure oxygen in th Madam Chairperson, if I may.
The Chair recognizes the Senator from Massachusetts.
These five lives were lost because of a coin? We design these vehicles to meet the anticipated environment in which they're supposed to function.
We consider thousands of possible scenarios.
What we didn't anticipate was the equivalent of a high-powered rifle being shot point Five lives.
That's what I'm trying to wrap my head around.
How do we justify the loss of these lives? [DOOR CREAKS.]
You're supposed to be at work in an hour.
I know.
You okay? Ohh.
Maybe you should call in sick.
I'll be fine.
It just just hits me sometimes out of nowhere.
Work's good.
It's a distraction.
- That's new.
- What? Homeless woman.
I see her a lot outside the restaurant.
- It's good.
- It's okay.
Well, maybe it's just the working nights.
You may need more sun.
Nights are better.
It's when it's the hardest.
Some of you were alive when Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon.
I wasn't, but I've watched that footage at least 100 times.
It still gives me goose bumps.
That this nation we were able to accomplish something so profound that the human race is capable of leaving our planet and setting foot on a celestial object that thousands of generations before us have have stared at with wonder and never imagining it was within reach.
It's proof of what we can achieve when we set our sights on the impossible and say, "You know what? It is possible.
" You talk of educating and feeding our youth.
Yes, we have that duty.
But we also have the duty to inspire them, Senator.
What is the point of being healthy and educated if not to strive for a higher purpose? I feel this as strongly as an astronaut as I did in the Army.
- Screen off.
- We can watch if you want.
No, no.
Let's go eat outside.
[WIND RUSHING.]
- [SPOON CLATTERS.]
- Oh.
[GRUNTS.]
[THUMPING LIGHTLY.]
Everything okay down there? - [SNORTING.]
- [LAUGHING.]
Oh, my God.
[SNORTS.]
Did you really sneak that out here? Captain "Hogerty" is a sneaky fellow.
Mm.
Captain Hogerty [CHUCKLING.]
it's been a while.
It has been [SNORTS.]
a while.
Your turn, Ms.
Hogerty.
[SNORTING.]
And maybe you shouldn't do [BOTH LAUGH.]
You know, I was thinking I'd like to start painting again.
That's a great idea.
I've saved up a bit for supplies oils, brushes.
I can help you with supplies, if you want.
I was also thinking maybe I could clean up Mom's shop downstairs, turn it into a studio.
My room's too small.
I don't want to get paint on the floor.
And the fumes I mean, if you want a place to work, we can rent you a place.
Well, that's a waste of money when the shop's right here.
Yeah, but it's so dirty down there.
- It's so dusty.
- I'll clean it, so I mean No, it's like pests - cockroaches, rats - Dad, I can clean it.
You don't have to do anything.
It's fine.
It's not about me having to do anything.
I want to work there.
It means something to me.
Finished? Yeah.
[SIGHS.]
I feel really useless sometimes.
I don't know the right thing to say.
I don't know the right thing to do.
You're not useless.
I can take you to work later, if you want.
[DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE.]
[WIND RUSHING.]
[BIRDS CHIRPING.]
If we go in the next launch window May of '33 it will only cost 22 more.
So, then my question would be whether that was $70 billion down the drain to begin with.
We all know that the explosion was not due to a design fault.
It was human error, so, no, I don't think anything Well, you know, in North Carolina, we could have used some of that money for schools, for infrastructure, job training, energy conversion.
I'm talking hundreds of programs to benefit thousands of people, not just the the jobs created in my colleague's state.
A mission to Mars will benefit all of humankind.
The technology we're developing, what we'll learn scientifically is immeasurable You know not just for Mars, but what the Colonel said about inspiration It's all well and good.
Now you go on about science and technology.
How does that help the 5-year-old with no school lunch program? How does that help the truck driver whose job has been automated by a self driving Senator, can I answer your question? - I'm not finished.
- Uh, Madam Chairwoman, I believe that Ms.
Ingram should be given the opportunity.
- Let's hear her full answer.
- Thank you.
What we're confronting is widespread drought, rising sea levels, record extinction rates.
There are currently over 900 million eco refugees worldwide.
In the States, cities like Miami are disappearing.
In my own home, New Orleans, we've only survived because of massive levee projects that are costing the taxpayers a lot more than the Mars program.
This is the world that my children are facing, that all of our children are facing.
And as a parent, I would like to secure their future and their children's future.
If we don't start to lay the foundations for interplanetary colonization now So, you're saying, "To hell with it.
Let's just go to Mars.
" Wrong.
I'm saying let's tackle both find solutions here on Earth and an exploration Well, I'm sorry, Ms.
Ingram, but I'm not giving up on Earth.
And when it comes to our taxpayers, I'm investing in their home this home not some other planet.
We need at least a 10-3 vote.
If it's a squeaker, folks will smell blood once it gets to the floor.
- We've got Chisolm, Lopez - Barnes and Pasternak I need six more confirmed yeses.
Well, give me the names, and I'll make the calls.
I don't think you're the right person.
The response wasn't so hot to your doomsday routine.
That's not how I intended it to come across.
Well, I'm telling you what they heard.
Are those French fries over there? Smells good.
I can make some calls.
[DOOR UNLOCKS.]
[MID TEMPO MUSIC PLAYS.]
Vroom! Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep! - I'm gonna catch you.
- Fucking scooter.
You opened up a Pandora's box, you son of a bitch.
Well, that's gonna be your problem, not mine.
- Oh, here she comes.
- Oh, is that so? - [NEEDLE BUZZES.]
- Dangerous woman.
[NEEDLE BUZZES.]
Well, in person would be better if you don't mind a few house visits.
- Wherever you need me.
- Castillo's testifying tomorrow.
So he didn't settle.
Said there wasn't a number high enough.
[SIGHS.]
Well, let's see who we can get you with, then.
Giddy up.
It's pony show time.
We'll see you in the morning.
Senator.
- Good night.
- Yeah.
How bad is it? Honestly? [DOOR CLOSES.]
Buddy of mine's a trainer at the Fair Grounds.
He said to me once doping a horse is never a sure bet, but the dope don't hurt.
[LAUGHS.]
I need the odds.
It's a long shot.
You got any voodoo we don't know about, now's the time to use it.
[VACUUM HUMMING.]
Maybe it's his voice they need to hear.
Maybe he needs this as much as you do.
And I ain't saying two messes make things clean.
But his dirt it's got something different than yours.
One of you is the star.
The other is the dust.
[CELLPHONE RINGING.]
Answer.
Hello, Tom.
Are you clean shaven? - Why? - Are you? - Yes.
- Good.
I want you to come to Washington.
[UP TEMPO MUSIC PLAYS.]
- What was that? - It's just for the day.
- I'll be back tomorrow night.
- Yeah, okay.
Hey, you'll take Apollo for a walk in the morning, fill up his bowl? Yeah, sure.
You know, I I don't have to do this.
Yeah, I can't hear you, Dad.
I said, "I don't have to do this.
" - I'll be fine.
- All right.
And you'll call me if you need anything? - What? - I said, "If you need anything, call me.
" Yes, yes.
I will.
Travel safe.
All right just want you to know, I started to clear out downstairs.
Dad, I really I can't hear you.
I said I started to clear out down there in the tattoo par It's too loud.
I got to get back to work.
- Say again? - I have to go.
Travel safe.
[CELLPHONE CHIMES.]
[SIGHS.]
Here you go, hon.
- Tomorrow? - Tomorrow.
Can I stay at your place tonight? My dad's out of town.
I haven't had been by myself in the house since Yeah.
Of course.
Thanks.
[PANEL CHIMES.]
If Senator Mills comes at you, just be brief.
Do not engage with her.
Yeah, and avoid the climate change argument.
That did not go down well.
I've got our NASA engineers amending the report from our end, so there's no need to go into anything too technical.
Just talk about your experiences on the Moon, the forward momentum, inspirations You're saying you want me to win them over.
- I am.
- Got it.
[CHUCKLES.]
Good.
Okay, I'm gonna turn in.
I got a 6:00 a.
m.
with the Chief-of-Staff.
Is the President on board with this? We're trying.
Well, I should turn in, too.
Um, there's one more talking point, if you've got a second.
Okay.
- Glad to have you here, Tom.
- Good to see you, Bob.
- Yeah.
Good night.
- Night.
[DOOR OPENS, CLOSES.]
I know I'm asking a lot, but this is big of you.
- I want to acknowledge that - It's got nothing to do with me.
Yes, it does.
It was your crew.
[SIGHS.]
Tom when I relieved you of your command, it's because I thought it was the best thing to do at that time.
This is a conversation that I don't want to have with you.
Okay.
I thought I would clear the air.
I'm here for Mattie and the crew.
That's why I'm here.
It's Kayla's mission now.
I gonna make sure she finishes everything that we started.
- Good.
- That's my duty to the mission.
Mm-hmm.
My own focus right now is my daughter.
- You're back in touch? - Yeah.
She's staying with me at the house.
- How is she? - It's getting late.
Are we done? - I was just asking.
- I'll see you tomorrow.
Here's your brief.
Good night.
[DOOR OPENS, CLOSES.]
[BIRDS CHIRPING.]
I don't want to get mixed up in all this.
You know, it's not good for Charlotte.
I'm hoping only the Senator's gonna see it.
Why does it have to be me? You're the commander's wife.
If you write it, everyone else signs on.
[SIGHS.]
Okay.
I owe you one.
No.
Matt would have wanted me to.
My greatest fear was that he would be shot down and there would be no body to bury.
He survived the war, but still [VOICE BREAKING.]
there was no body to Take as much time as you need.
My son went fighting overseas to defend his country.
That I understood, even if as a parent it wasn't what I wanted.
But this there is no reason.
Space? Why? For what? This didn't need to happen.
I ask this Committee to reconsider funding for this project, so that more parents don't have to suffer the loss that we have.
Apollo! Apollo! We now invite Captain Thomas Hagerty to speak before the Committee.
Would you like to make an opening statement? Madam Chairwoman, distinguished members of the Committee, I don't have a prepared statement.
As a husband, speaking to the spouses who lost their partners, I know what it means to lose a loved one too early.
As a father speaking to the mothers and fathers who lost their children, I have a daughter, and she means everything to me.
And if I lost her, I don't know if I could handle that.
So out of respect to Mr.
and Mrs.
Castillo and to all the families, I think it would be inappropriate for me to assume to justify the deaths of their loved ones.
I would prefer not to answer questions.
And that completes my statement.
Thank you.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS.]
Tom, I flew you here to testify.
It didn't feel right.
So you say nothing? You just hand out condolences Let me do this my way.
Mr Mr.
Castillo? Ma'am? May I speak to you for a moment? Hey.
Yeah.
Good boy.
Nothing showed up for a week.
Searched downriver all the way to Venice and back no body, though.
We buried the casket empty, just like you.
I get it, that feeling of helplessness.
Yeah, I'm sorry you lost your wife.
But it's not the same.
- This was preventable.
- [BREATHES DEEPLY.]
What we do is dangerous.
People are gonna die.
That's what we're trying to stop.
You won't.
Not as long as there are people like your son and, I suppose, myself.
I would have given anything to have been on that rocket with him.
Let me ask you, would he have been happy as a lawyer or anything else? He'd be alive.
Would he have been happy? He hated me for criticizing That's not true.
- He did.
- No.
- Thanksgiving.
- He was drunk.
- He told me he was sick of me - He didn't mean it.
for making him feel small.
He did not mean it.
Well, you saw his eyes.
[SIGHS.]
Did he ever tell you how much he hated me? No, sir.
What did he say about us? He never spoke to me about his family.
You see? Your son loved what he did that I know.
Here.
I'm gonna show you.
Video.
P Foxtrot Four.
Back to start.
You, too.
- Sync video.
- [BEEPS.]
- Sync video.
- [BEEPS.]
Play.
The aurora.
At that altitude, you can touch it.
Every color colors you've never seen before and lights moving all around you.
The universe.
And it's right there.
And I always think of Sagan's words "Everyone you ever heard of, every human being that ever was, lived out their lives on a mote of dust, suspended in a sun beam.
" And your boy rode that beam.
And the two of you gave him a life that let him live that dream.
I don't see the Castillos' name on this.
Senator, the Castillos are reconsidering their position on the lawsuit.
I spoke to them.
Look, the letter is moving.
But I have to think about the bigger picture.
I'm considered about eleven five.
I mean, you cut corners, where are we a year and a half from now? You're showing me another one of these letters.
The transit vehicle can survive for two years.
Everything pre placed on Mars is fully operational no new builds.
We can do this safely at half the cost.
Eitan's been through it line by line.
I'm confident we can make this number work.
Well, it has been a long day, so I have to process all of this.
Does that mean we have a maybe? That's means I got to get home to my kids.
I'll walk you out.
She wants to make a deal.
She never would have taken the meeting if she didn't.
Can you hang around a couple of more days? - However long it takes.
- How about you two? Well, I I thought we were heading back tonight.
I got the crew doing sim training tomorrow.
Tom? I have to talk to my daughter.
Well, you know, I I can cancel if you need me to stay.
No, you should stay on schedule.
Jason.
Jason.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS.]
Could you get the jet ready? At Reagan? [PIANO MUSIC PLAYS.]
[MUSIC STOPS.]
- Are we leaving? - You are.
[PIANO CHORD PLAYS.]
I need to stay.
You're not coming back with us? - I can't.
- I want to stay here with you.
I was just calling her.
Uh, she didn't answer.
Tom, we really need you here.
Uh, it's just the first time that she's been in the house alone without me.
Okay, so do you want me to send someone to check on her? No.
I could hold the plane for a while if you want to try her back.
No.
Let me send someone.
I don't want her to feel that she's being - New message.
Denise.
- Oh.
Play.
Hey.
Can't call you back right now.
It's a hectic night here, but no worries if you need to stay in D.
C I'll be fine.
Also, I wanted to say thank you for what you did downstairs.
It means a lot to me.
Okay, good luck.
See you when I see you.
- Love you.
- [CELLPHONE CHIMES.]
I'm sticking around.
- Madam President.
- Laz.
Madam President.
I must say, it's quite an honor to meet you, Captain.
If you truly honored what we do, you'd call Senator Mills, tip her off the fence.
Doing nothing honors nothing, and that would be disgraceful towards those who died.
[CHUCKLES.]
Clarksville, Missouri.
That's where you're from.
Yes, ma'am.
We Midwesterners don't mince words, do we? Doers, not talkers.
I've been to Clarksville pretty poor stretch of the river.
I'm proud of my hometown.
My mother was a lock operator.
That's why I was raised there.
What I'm trying to do is make places like your hometown a little better off.
There's only so much money to go around.
Spending it unwisely that's disgraceful.
You lost Missouri, and you're not gonna win it next year, so forgive me if I have a difficult time pretending that you're gonna be sending the money that way.
I think that you're resistant because this is a project of the previous administration.
Hmm.
Did you speak to my predecessor like this? I didn't have to.
We went to the Moon.
We brought back more of it than all the Apollo missions combined.
We did it for the country.
We did for science.
And I was able to bring him back one of these from the Kepler Crater.
Is this a bribe? No, ma'am, it's a challenge.
Get us past the Moon.
Own it.
We're not asking for public support, just the call to Mills.
You can distance yourself politically for now, and then, when we succeed, it's all yours.
[COINS CLINKING.]
[JUKEBOX PLAYING.]
[SIGHS.]
It's gorgeous.
I want it right here.
- Uh, your Dad would divorce me.
- It's fine.
He can move to Houston, and then we can have the place to ourselves.
[CHUCKLES.]
Right there.
You're so much more talented than I am.
We had a perfect record: not a single incident.
All it takes is one five people lose their lives.
All it takes for what? For human error in a single incident to frighten a country away from its aspirations, the very ideals that built it in the first place? No.
We we can't lose our courage.
And when I'm talking about courage, I'm not talking about the courage it takes for someone to step on the Moon or on Mars.
I'm talking about the courage of all of us to be the best version of ourselves.
The honor of being an astronaut comes because, despite your training, despite the thousands of people that work so hard to keep you safe, there's always the chance that you'll make the ultimate sacrifice, and that's only palatable if you know that the country will support, continuing to carry that torch.
Ellen Dawes the wife of Commander Dawes she wrote a letter.
She said that ending the Mars program would, quote, "Dishonor her husband's death.
" - Strong words.
- Honest words.
And I agree with her.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS.]
You can vote no if you need to save face, but I need you to get Spritzer and Langford off the fence.
[CONVERSATIONS CONTINUE.]
Come on.
You fought the good fight, Ed.
[GLASS THUMPS LIGHTLY.]
Installments.
No lump sum.
Fair enough.
There's an aluminum factory in Durham Oh! Now we're getting somewhere.
Hey, another, uh, vodka soda for my friend, and I'll have another bourbon.
Anything else, sir, before we land? Oh, I'm good.
Thank you.
Ma'am? Oh, um, some Advil if you have it.
Let me check.
Out cold.
Yeah, I wish I could sleep like that.
- Flaring up? - It always gets bad on planes.
I didn't take any meds this morning.
My mother always told me that I said "thank you" and "sorry" too much, so I stopped saying either.
But I owe you both.
Not necessary.
Team effort.
You took us over the top.
Well, I wouldn't count your chickens.
[CHUCKLES.]
Well, 48 hours ago, I didn't have any chickens, and now I can hear some clucking.
Would you consider coming back? I I know that Denise is your first priority, but since you said that she's doing Coming back how? Training? As commander.
Could I get a cup of coffee, please? I mean, obviously, I'd have to talk to Bob and and get NASA approval and Where's this coming from? Um.
[CHUCKLING.]
I've put a lot of thought into it.
Well, it seems pretty sudden.
I didn't ever want you to leave.
It was a mistake to let you go.
- Kayla could be your second.
- It's her crew.
We've got one shot at this and I need the best team.
Is that the reason, or is it because I can help you get the money? That's a big part of it.
We'd have to cut someone.
So we cut someone.
None of the rest are anywhere near as qualified.
[SIGHS.]
Denise is doing well now.
I don't know how she'll be in a year.
I don't know how she'll be tomorrow.
I understand.
I'm willing to take that risk.
Well, I don't know if I am.
[P.
A.
CHIMES.]
All right, everyone.
We're about to make our final descent.
We should be on the ground in about 10 minutes.
Mandy.
Seat belt.
[SEAT BELTS CLICK.]
Ohh.
I hate landings.
[ENGINE ROARING.]
It's just the flaps.
If you're still enough for long enough, the lights will go off.
Mom and me used to play that game.
I thought you were at work.
Called in sick.
- You sick? - No.
[CHUCKLES.]
It looks great.
It's a start.
Really still In about a minute, they'll go off.
You have to barely breathe.
They want me back.
They want me to command.
NASA might nix it.
I don't even know if I want to.
You're the most important thing, and tell me to say no, I'm gonna say no.
But if I did do it do you think we could make that work? I mean, you're so much better than I've seen you in so long.
I think we can make it work.
I think we could.
Would you say something, please? Shh.