Approaching the Unknown Page #2

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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 f***

are you talking about?

I'm just f***ing 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 f***,

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 f***?

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!

F***! Anyone?

Skinny, come on.

Can anyone hear me?

Stanaforth, what's going on?

Skinny, where the f***

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 sh*t 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

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