Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets Page #2

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- (NINA) Seismic sensors are recording activity.

- It's just Yvan's footsteps.

His heart rate is higher than the simulations.

He will have to take it more slowly.

There may not be time for all the experiments.

(YVAN) 0K... (GASPS F0R BREATH)

Seismic sensor network is set.

- (THUNDER)

- This is a grim place.

It's difficult to judge distance.

And the atmosphere is so dense,

it's like walking through water.

(EXPL0SI0N)

(TOM) Orpheus Pegasus, tell him to forget

the camera. He's gotta move on.

Orpheus, do you copy?

Got a warning light. We're trying to get

a visual on that. Got a computer shutdown.

Yvan, you're behind. Suggest you move on.

(ZO) I've got one or two issues in here,

too. Let's not overstay our welcome.

(YVAN GASPS) Yes, some welcome.

0K...let's see if Venera's done any better.

(TOM) Orpheus, it's time to pace himself.

That's a 450-metre round trip.

Must be at least 50 metres.

It's difficult to see through this heat haze...

but it looks like she's still in one piece.

Just past the 28-minute mark. Suit temperature

is higher than planned. Heart rate is still up.

Some surface corrosion. I can see a little dust.

(THUNDER)

- (YVAN PANTS) It's a little bit pitted.

- Do we have any commonality...

(YVAN) The Russian robot, she's beaten Venus.

(GASPS FOR BREATH)

Robots may be tougher than us...

but we don't make the same mistakes.

(ZO) Recommend we drop

the second weather experiment.

John's in agreement, so roger that.

(ZO) Call that a wrap on Venera, Yvan.

Just rapid return to Orpheus.

All right.

(YVAN BREATHES HEAVILY)

It's uphill back to 0rpheus and his heart rate's

already too high. He needs a breather.

- The gravity's killing him. He needs a break.

- Forget it, John, he's gotta keep moving.

- I've got an update on your ascent pattern.

- He's suffering from overheating.

- He's four minutes over-budget.

- Let's work out exactly what it is she's venting.

- Ascent pattern coming up.

- (YVAN GASPS)

My air has almost run out.

- Cabin temperature 22 degrees, up 4.

- (TOM) Zo, prepare for launch.

- (W0MAN) Heart rate 186.

- Downloading a diagnostic routine.

Suit temperature 32 degrees.

- (Z0) Yvan, we've got to go. Just lost...

- (BEEPING)

(ZO) No, it's back.

- Cabin pressure holding.

- (NINA) What is the weather doing?

- Nina?

- We've just lost camera 3.

(ZO) He's inside.

(NINA) Super coolers are off.

(JOHN) Temperature falling. 150 degrees...

- ...70 degrees...20 degrees...

- (YVAN) Can we turn the air-con off?

(ZO) Contact for pressure.

Abort stage set and move onto ascent.

- Ready for launch.

- (KLAX0N BLARES)

(KLAX0N BLARES)

- Lift-off.

- (YVAN SPEAKS RUSSIAN)

0ne minute till max cue.

(ZO) We're gonna pitch and yaw now.

(ZO) OK, she's all yours.

(TOM) Five metres and closing.

Two metres.

- (YVAN) Still in one piece?

- Pegasus is doing fine, Yvan. Welcome home.

(NARRATOR) Having survived

the hellhole that is Venus,

the crew of Pegasus has experienced

at first hand

a grim warning for our own planet.

(J0HN) You can really see that haze layer.

(T0M) Hard to believe

it could ever have been like Earth.

When people ignore greenhouse gases here,

they should look at Venus.

The carbon dioxide there - from volcanoes, not

pollution - created a runaway greenhouse effect

that sent temperatures soaring

over 400 centigrade.

Mars window is open, reactor temperature

nominal, cryogens of 36 psi.

Pre-combustion chamber at pressure.

All systems are go.

Capcom, give the go-ahead for the burn.

(TOM) Event timer countdown

to trans-Mars injection.

Five, four, three, two, one.

We have ignition.

(NARRATOR) Throughout human history,

one planet has gripped our imagination

more than any other.

The one place in our solar system

most likely to support life.

Mars.

Hi. Pegasus commander Tom Kirby here.

Halfway to Mars

and time for our regular Q and A.

This week's topic

is our interplanetary home Pegasus.

We've got the email address on the screen,

so keep those questions coming.

OK, first question is. How big is Pegasus?

Well...you could fit in twelve football fields

end to end,

so pretty big.

Why do you have a Frisbee

stuck on the end of your spaceship?

We call that the disk

and that's our main shield against the sun

and the planetary atmospheres we sometimes

have to fly through to slow ourselves down.

It's also where our nuclear engines are

so, all in all, a very important Frisbee.

Some questions about the instrument panels

here in the cockpit. Why don't we take a look?

Looks impressive, huh?

Well, I'll let you in on a little secret.

(WHISPERS) Most of these

are duplicates in case of short-outs,

but don't tell anybody because

we think it makes us look coolI

(LAUGHTER)

- Let's go downstairs and see some sights.

- (MUSIC)

Kill that music, JohnI

OK, here we are in the crew area.

What about those Venus samples, Nina?

Any little green men yet?

No, not yet, but I have found

some interesting chemicals

that might have been left by living organisms.

I'll keep you posted, 0K?

John, we got a lot of questions

about the water. Is everything recycled?

Yes, viewers, I've been drinking his urine

for the last six months!

- Mmm!

- (MUSIC) # All the crazies

# Try to space me and I don't know... #

(T0M) Zero G is a lot of fun,

but too much of it's very bad for your health.

These rotating modules

provide us with some gravity

to help keep us in shape.

This is 0.5G, to be precise,

which is half Earth gravity,

and here we have Zo Lessard making up

for the time she spends in zero G

by exercising three hours a day.

- Let's take a look in Zo's sleeping module.

- No, Tom!

0h, my Lord, someone's broken in!

It's not just a mission to the planets.

We're exploring the human body.

No one knows how it'll respond to six years

in space - physically, psychologically.

It's new territory.

(T0M) Six years is a long time if you consider

time more important than what you do with it.

(NINA) I have spent more time with these guys

than anyone. We're more a family than a crew.

I don't see it as giving up anything. I just

won the lottery. It's you lot I feel sorry for.

(NARRATOR) More probes have been sent here

than any other planet, but Mars has a jinx.

Over half of them failed.

Pegasus Control, you can tell Nina

she has a go for EVA.

(FLIGHT) She should be out on the arm by now.

What was her heart rate when she left Pegasus?

(NARRATOR) Before sending a lander to Mars,

Pegasus needs to refuel.

(NINA) I have a visual on the fuel port.

You can slow the arm now.

(TOM) You got it.

(TOM) 10 metres.

(NARRATOR) Carrying enough fuel

for the whole tour would be impossible,

so giant tanks of hydrogen have been placed

at strategic locations along the route.

(TOM) One or two notches left should do it.

(NINA) OK, right...straight forward...

one metre and closing.

It may look effortless, but it takes

a lot out of you, doing an EVA.

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