Space Cowboys Page #3

When are the two of you gonna grow up|and stop acting like little boys?

lts my birthday and l want|the sh*t scared out of me.

l wanna do barrel rolls and loop-the|loops. All that kind of stuff.

We dont do that kind of flying.|lts dangerous and irresponsible.

-Yeah, too many lawsuits.|-Well, who does?

He does.

Sweet.

Hey, Hawk.

-This guy wants a scary ride.|-lts my birthday.

Happy birthday.

Oh, were upside-down! Oh, yeah!

Here comes the fun part.|Were going weightless.

l dont think that|thats such a good idea!

Youre crazy!

lm so sorry.

Whered you get the bright idea|to eat a big lunch...

...before you come out here|and went flying?

-lm sorry. lll clean it up.|-Thats all right. lll get it.

Congratulations!

You earned your wings today,|young man. My hats off to you!

Well done! Yes, sir.

-Splendid work.|-Thank you.

l surrender to you.

-l love you and being on the ground.|-Whats that smell?

You know what the worst day|of my life was?

The day Armstrong|set foot on the moon.

l was the only one that wanted|to commit suicide that day.

Thanks. We havent talked|in 1 2 years...

...and thats been|the big question on my mind:

What could make you commit suicide?

What are you doing here?

Filling a promise l made 40 years ago.

Was that the promise to kill me...

...or the one|to have both of my legs broke?

lt was the other one.

lm working on a little blackmail|with NASA.

Theyve got a satellite thatll crash|unless we fix it.

lm guessing you designed|that guidance system.

Yeah. Theyre desperate.|Even Gersons in on the deal.

l said ld do it if the original|Team Daedalus did the job.

Here it is, all in black and white.

Jerry and Tank are in and waiting|for us across the highway.

Old age just brings out|more of the Frank in you.

lm genuinely impressed.

But you dont need to put foolish|notions in the head of a fool.

Especially not a damned old fool.

You have a nice flight.

You werent one then,|but you are one now.

Say hello to Barbara for me.

Yeah, you say hello to Jackie.

l wished l could.

Jackie died on me, Frank.

Sorry. l didnt know that.

-He said no, huh?|-Hes not coming.

Maybe we should talk to him.

Hes the same stubborn jackass|he always was.

And you still drive slower than a|little old lady on her way to church.

That is enough to send the astronaut|miles and miles in space.

So what if l was to jump|on a trampoline in space?

You would go up and up and up...

...and youd never come down!

Could you hit a baseball to the moon?

Actually, you could.

Youd just have to knock it|halfway there.

Thats just about 100,000 miles.

And then the moons gravity|does the rest.

-Okay? Bye-bye.|-Thank you.

-Youre welcome.|-Thank you, Mrs. Holland.

lve never met a kid who didnt dream|of being an astronaut.

Ever meet a kid|that wouldnt grow up?

Sara Holland this is William Hawkins,|retired Air Force colonel.

The best pilot they ever had,|next to me.

The Hawk. lve heard of you.

Commander Jenkins told me a story|about you and him in Vietnam.

From Cliff Jenkins,|its guaranteed to be 100%%% bullshit.

lll guarantee you that.|Hows he doing?

Actually, hes dead.

While Hawk gets his foot out of his|mouth, lll introduce Tank Sullivan.

Hes a navigator.|The best one the Air Force ever had.

Hed find anything anywhere.|That is, till God found him.

Now more than ever.|A pleasure to meet you.

This is Jerry ONeill. Hes|a structural engineer and designer.

Jerry worked on the Stealth project.|You remember that.

No nickname for you?

Well, you can call me...

...anytime.

Okay.

lf you men are ready,|we have some work to do.

Would you like a banana, honey?

l dont need to remind you of|the consequences of failure here.

-Personal consequences.|-Thats the problem with you Russians.

With you,|the glass is always half empty.

These men you are sending up,|theyre not astronauts.

The last time they trained for a space|mission, cars had fins on them.

The truth is Frank Corvins|not going anywhere.

His teams not gonna pass|the physical trials.

This is supposed to reassure me?

What will you do then?

My best young astronaut|is training alongside Corvin...

...gaining proficiency|in that antiquated guidance system.

Until he does, Frank Corvins|gonna believe hes going up.

l dont know.

-We should consult--|-There will be no goddamn consulting.

No one, and l mean no one,|is to be in the loop...

...on our little problem.

Do l make myself perfectly clear,|general?

Good morning, all.

And welcome to STS-200 ops|overview briefing.

This is an unusual mission,|l think wed all agree.

Well get started|on the particulars here in a moment.

First, lets welcome the astronauts|selected for this mission:

The founding members|of Project Daedalus.

As you all know, these men|are the pioneers of this business.

They were around|when rockets were born.

Welcome, gentlemen.

STS-200 was originally slated|to deliver a structural payload...

...to the lnternational Space Station.

Circumstances have forced us to push|back that mission and undertake...

...an emergency rescue operation.

The average staging time for|a mission is 1 2 months.

Were doing this one in 30 days.

ln 1 986...

...the former Soviet Union launched|communications satellite lkon.

-lkon is a link...|-lll tell you about it later.

...in Russias|telecommunications chain.

Her orbit is rapidly decaying.

She will reenter|the Earths atmosphere in 30 days.

Your mission|is to intercept and capture her...

...using the shuttles grappling arm.

You will then have a 42-hour window...

...in which to repair|her guidance system.

From there shell be reconfigured|by Mission Control.

After that, youll shoot|her back into geosync orbit...

...using the payload assist|module rockets.

Any questions?

Question.

With all due respect to the guys,|why dont we just capture the bird...

...bring it home with a crew|trained in satellite retrieval?

lts too big, Gene.

Too big?

For the space shuttle?

How did you guys get it up there|in the first place?

There were modifications|post-deployment.

Listen up, people.

This system has to be fixed on-site.

Frank is the only engineer...

...proficient in|such obsolete technology.

Given the short amount of time...

...hes the only engineer|to do the job.

So Frank Corvins band of...

...Leisure World aviators|are going into space.

NASA agree to all this?|Did the Russians?

-Frank didnt give us a lot of choice.|-l figured that.

You hate each other way too much|to have cooked this up together.

Count me out.

l think you guys|need to get a new flight director.

You know, one thing|is driving me nuts, though.

How did a guidance system from Skylab|end up in a Russian bird?

l dont know, Gene, but apparently|lm the man who can fix it.

Grow up, will you, Frank?|Cant you be a team player for once?

Why cant you assist my astronauts|as an engineer?

lf l wasnt 100%%% sure that my guys|could do as well as your astronauts...

...l wouldnt go anywhere near it.

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