One Under the Sun Page #2

---

Nice to see you again.

Mira Morganthau.

Io9.Com.

You'll be in charge of communications

for the Samsara mission,

is that correct?

That is the word on the street.

So essentially you'll be wiring Mars.

Designing the colony's

communication infrastructure, yes.

And once I'm done,

you'll never be able to say in space

no one can hear you scream.

Hiroko Okamura, NHK.

Dr. Voss.

You've said that you will be

conducting studies

into the nature

of the dark matter principle.

Yes, and expanding on

the groundbreaking work

conducted by David Klein.

Can you explain to my viewers

exactly what dark matter is?

Well, if I knew that, hiroko,

I wouldn't have to go to Mars.

Amina Labibi, Al Jazeera.

My question is for you, Dr. Biira.

Yes.

Your role on this mission is...

More observational,

less action, is it not?

Are you asking me if I'm with the band?

Forgive me my little joke.

I understand that my function

may not seem as important

as those of my colleagues.

I won't be conducting atmospheric

studies like Kathryn

or doing biomedical research

like Lucien,

but I'd like to think

my work on group dynamics

could prove useful in the future.

I'll be expanding on

the Mars 500 experiments

from 2009 to 2011,

and on the year-long

hi-seas project of 2015,

which focused on crew member

cohesion and performance.

Mars is a long way away,

and the quarters we'll be

sharing are rather small.

It's not like we can send

someone back to earth

for a time-out if they get cranky.

Speaking of that, don't you think,

given the considerable

cost of this mission,

that we should be focusing

on colonization,

not simply exploring.

I think you should consider us

more as a landing party

rather than an invading army.

Our goals are no less ambitious.

Our commitment is total

but our scope is more focused.

We are there to prepare the way.

Hmm.

Was the failure of

the Mars first initiative

forcing a re-evaluation

of this mission?

- Did science fail us?

- Suzanne, s'il te plait.

Um, the Mars first disaster

was not a failure of science.

It was a failure of trust.

And you, you trust this mission?

I do.

We'll be back.

Are you really going

to leave your dying child

to go off on this adventure?

I'm sorry, you're with...?

Dr. Liu.

Perhaps you'd like to comment

on the allegations

that your agency plans to plant

the Chinese flag on Mars

and claim all the resources

for the PRC alone?

You know about the Antarctica

treaty of 1959.

It prohibits military

activities, mineral mining,

and detonating nuclear

explosions in Antarctica.

To date, 71 nations have signed it.

The Mars treaty is fashioned

on the very same principles.

This is a scientific mission

being conducted by an international team

for the benefit of all mankind.

You mean humankind.

Have I answered your question?

Yeah, but, um...

Just one thing...

As far back as 2015,

the international academy

of astronautics proclaimed

that mineral resources found in

space are actually game changers.

They even went on to recommend as how we

can further leverage these resources.

Are you familiar with the study?

I believe one of the co-editors

was your mentor at the Beijing

institute of technology.

What is your question?

Just what does Antarctica have

that anyone would want?

Penguins?

But Mars? It'll be an

intergalactic gold rush.

Gonna be hard to stay high-minded.

This is what's wrong with capitalism.

My parents have come

to watch the launch.

My mother is cooking tonight.

All my favorites.

Will you come?

You and John and Amelia.

I have to go now, baby.

I know.

I made this for you.

That's Mars.

I was gonna draw sissy

and Elvis and Dr. Liu,

and Lucien-Pascal

but I didn't have room.

Oh, that's okay.

We can pretend they're visiting

the other side of the planet.

Okay.

I wish I could go with you.

I want to float through space.

I'll make you a deal.

When I come home, we'll float together.

- Really?

- I promise.

Daddy's sad you're going away.

He says he's happy, but I can tell.

You are just gonna take care of

him while I'm gone, all right?

Make sure he doesn't eat ice cream.

And that he smiles at least once a day.

- He really likes ice cream.

- I know.

But it's not good for him,

so remind him.

Okay.

And if I'm not here,

grandma will remind him.

Grandma?

If I'm not here.

Don't be sad if I'm not here

when you come back.

I'll make you lots of pictures.

Mom?

You're squishing me.

Sorry, sorry.

- Sorry, baby.

- It's okay.

My ride's here.

Mommy's gotta go, sweetie.

- Okay.

- Okay.

- Promise you'll come home?

- I promise.

Nothing's gonna stop me

from coming home to you.

Ignition sequence starts.

Six, five, four,

three, two, one.

Prepare for separation. One.

Call to Samsara.

Crew be advised,

we are ready to initiate

the docking sequence.

All I'm saying is,

we need to think about it.

For 70 years we've been stuck with

"one small step for man,

one giant leap for mankind."

Where is the poetry in that?

Why are you worried?

You're not gonna be the first

one out the door anyway.

Okay. So what are you gonna say?

I'll think of something.

Yeah, see, that's what I'm afraid of.

Remember Yuri Gagarin.

The first words a human

ever spoke in space.

He said, "orbiting earth

in this spaceship,

I saw how beautiful our planet is.

People, let's preserve and increase

its beauty, not destroy it."

He also said,

"I looked and looked,

but I didn't see God."

Yeah, well, he was a godless communist.

- No offense.

- None taken.

Actually, he was a Russian orthodox,

and he never said those words.

That quote came

from a speech Kruschev made.

Now he was a godless communist.

Amen, brother.

My controller's here,

looking very carefully at the situation.

Obviously a major malfunction.

We have a report from

the flight dynamics officer

that the vehicle has exploded.

Flight director confirms that.

We are looking at checking

with the recovery forces

to see what can be done at this point.

If you're just joining us,

here's what we know so far.

At 2:
57pm, the Samsara Spacecraft,

returning from

its three-year Mars mission

suffered what NASA is calling

"a catastrophic event."

The craft suffered

an in-flight breakdown

as it entered the atmosphere,

leaving debris stretching

across three states.

NASA officials have confirmed

the accident was not survivable.

Mr. Voss!

Mr. Voss! Do you know anything about...

The cable went out.

I went online

and none of the news stations

say anything about the accident.

Maybe it was a mistake,

some sort of a freak meteor

shower, you know,

and then some yahoo

at a news desk panicked

and then he went on the air.

They just don't want us to know!

She promised she'd come home.

She said nothing on earth could

stop her from coming home.

I stayed here for her.

It hurt so much, but I stayed here.

I know, honey, I know you did.

Stop it!

Take a deep breath, Amelia.

Remember what the doctor said?

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes