Solar Strike AKA Solar Attack

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Hows it going?

We've compiled the latest telemetry

which shows us to be

at about 96% of optimum.

That's well done.

Patel, I understand

you finished re-calibrating the sensors.

Yes, I have.

Show me the last transmission.

We are getting first-rate data now.

We lost the signal from the probe.

Let me replay the data

from the auxiliary sensors

to see where the problem lies.

A C.M. E?

We may have lost the probe for good.

What the hell?

But we've had no

advance warnings of CME activity.

This morning, Dr. Lucas Foster,

the billionaire entrepreneur

is spending nearly100 million dollars

of his own money to launch the Galileo

A manned scientific exploration vehicle

also known as a MAV.

Which he hopes will help mankind survive

what he calls "an uncertain future".

But which his critics

are calling "Lucas's Folly"

Stay tuned for a press conference

followed by the space plane

launch here at Foster Aeronautics.

I don't care what you do up there, Joe.

Just make sure you...

bring back some hard data

we can use to convince these geniuses.

I better get up there.

Have yourself a hell of a ride.

I will.

Hey, Jim, check the Q7 readout.

Looks a little high to me.

Yeah, she's been in flux all morning.

Don't worry, L, she's still well

within operating parameter.

So you gonna go talk

to the vultures out there?

Vulture is such a dirty bird, Jim.

Say it with me.

The media is our friend.

You really want me to say it with you?

Yes.

- The media is our friend.

- I was kidding, Jim.

You need to relax.

Yeah. Relax.

Nothing really happening here

today, right?

Not at all.

Good morning, everyone!

I'm afraid my remarks

are going to be abbreviated

because launching a vehicle

into orbit is a complex job.

Especially when I have to

make every penny count,

unlike my former employers

in the public sector.

But the question

which is really on your minds is:

Why would anyone be damn fool enough

to waste one hundred million

to send a vehicle into low-earth orbit

to study greenhouse gases.

We all know how man-made pollutants

are wreaking havoc in our atmosphere,

and how these deadly emission

are increasing exponentially

the more fossil fuels we burn.

What you don't know is

that last year alone,

methane concentrations

inside our atmosphere tripled

with potentially disastrous

consequences for the environment.

We need to do something.

The problem is... we don't know what.

My pilot, Joe Johnson is taking

the Galileo up to collect data,

so that we may find that answer.

- Any questions?

- Yes, um, Your old boss Bradley Stamp,

categorized this launch as sheer lunacy.

Is he right?

It isn't the first time

he's called one of my ideas crazy.

I think Brad is still a little upset

I didn't let him invest in my company

before it went public.

Hilarious.

Would you explain why you're

using a Russian-built craft today

instead of an American one?

It was cheaper.

But the MAV Joe will be piloting

doesn't skimp on quality or safety.

Russian-built products are as good

as anything we can make in the West.

I'm sorry we had to cut this short,

but time is money and...

I've got to go burn both.

Thank you. Thank you.

The man's a magician.

That was Lucas Foster explaining...

Lucas is making ninety-eight

million dollars go up in smoke.

Control, this is Carrier 1.

We are on the taxiway ready for take-off.

Need clearance.

Galileo? How's the startup coming?

So far so good.

How's it compare to the simulator?

I seem to remember having a bit

more legroom on the test launch.

Lucas, next time

the Russians offer you a deal,

make sure it's one designed

for humans, not chimpanzees.

In your case

there might be some confusion.

Where is this in from?

Bruny Island's radio spectrometer.

This is huge.

Yes. Too huge. It must be an error.

Bruny's not known for their errors.

You think the probe

was in direct line of this CME?

Patel, a normal CME is

an ejection of super-charged particles

from the sun's surface.

If this is correct, then that is not

just a coronal mass ejection,

that's a solar explosion on a scale

we've never seen before.

Check the databases.

In your 12 years here,

have you ever seen a CME this big?

- Now, let's not jump to conclusions.

- I'm not jumping to conclusions yet.

The NSO in Japan

has offered to send us data,

so has Anchorage, so has Chile so...

So the probe was taken out 46 hours ago

and this just showed up from Bruny.

If this is accurate...

Then it looks like this thing

is heading right for us.

I'm not gonna sit on my hands

and wait for this thing to hit.

We need to talk to the Europeans again,

and call the NSO and find out where the

data is that they promised me hours ago.

Are you going to

watch Lucas Foster's launch?

It'll go on any minute now.

I see my ex-husband makes a fool

of himself enough times already.

A two-hundred million dollars of

sensor probe is gone on my hand.

So please, focus on our priority.

- We need to track that CME.

- Yes.

Gentlemen, this bird is in flight.

At 10:
15 Eastern Standard Time,

we have the launch of Lucas Foster's

manned aerospace vehicle.

As we can see in this replay,

the MAV is being carried piggyback

by a converted 727,

which will climb to an altitude

of 38 thousand feet,

where the Galileo will separate

from the carrier plane.

It will then fire its own rockets

and ascend into the high reaches

of the upper atmosphere

- to fulfill its experimental mission.

- Good for you, Lucas.

According to Doctor Foster,

the focus of this mission

will be to measure methane levels

in the thermosphere.

The Galileo will be visiting areas

Dr. Foster's team believes to have high

concentrations of these deadly gasses,

- in order to prove once and for all...

- That he is a self-absorbed lunatic!

Carrier 1 has reached launch altitude.

MAV, I have you at 38,000 feet

and I'm initiating the drop countdown

in t-minus 10.

Carrier one, beginning roll out,

the sky is yours, Galileo.

Roger that.

Separation successful.

Firing booster rockets.

And we have MAV ignition!

Atta boy, Joe.

All onboard systems are well

within the operating parameters.

Damn!

This is one hell of a ride, Lucas!

This is where he always screwed up

in the flight simulator.

Oh, man! What's that red light?

It's in the rear-view,

coming up fast behind me.

It's a cop.

I musta broke the speed limit.

Galileo is out of visual range.

Switching to tracking display.

Tracking telemetry operational.

Climbing to 80 miles altitude.

OK. He's very close to

the first methane checkpoint.

He should be reaching it in...

- six point three seconds.

- Exactly.

Joe, how're you doing there?

Just fine, I'm about the switch all

the sensors and monitoring equipment.

Uh, Larry, we have

an alarm in Sector III.

Maybe a malfunction.

Give me a reset and full diagnostic?

Joe, do you read me?

We're showing an alarm in Sector III.

Give me your status.

We've lost telemetry.

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