To the Core and Back Page #2

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Doesn't make you the commander.

And the commander lands the bird.

You got to be the youngest person

ever in space. You should say,

thank you, be happy. Now.

[man] Endeavour, Houston, at this time

we show you go for re-entry.

[Beck] Houston, Endeavour descending

through 400,000 feet

- coming upon entry interface.

- Endeavour, this is Flight.

Weren't able to annoy the commander

into letting you bring her in this time?

That's a negative, Stick. I'll

have to be more annoying next time.

- Is that even possible?

- [laughs]

[man] Endeavour, we see you

in good entry config.

[Beck] Roger, Houston.

[Tim] Advise.

[Bob] I'm seeing

those plasma trails now.

- [Tim] All right, mark 24 and a 1/2.

- [Bob] So, a minute to air.

[Beck] I don't believe in be/ts.

Just get me through the Earth's

atmosphere in this spaceship.

- [beeping]

- Com dropout.

- [Tim] Start the I Com.

- [Bob] Let's wait till the, uh...

Com restored.

[alarm beeping]

- [chattering]

- Quiet!

We are out of position here.

Guidance shows us on energy

and on course.

Well, I've made this approach

- We're not where we should be.

- Where the hell are we?

[Stick] Endeavour, guidance is bad.

You are now 1-2-niner miles off course.

Roger, Houston.

We sort of noticed. Is that...?

Los Angeles. That is confirmed.

We are 1-5 thousand feet.

We got maybe two minutes

of glide time left.

Doesn't make sense. The guidance,

the beacons are all wrong?

We're heading straight for downtown.

We're not gonna crash

into Los Angeles.

They're going to hit

downtown LA at 300 knots.

Bob, you know LA?

Because I have an idea.

Houston, those buildings

are getting mighty big.

- Can you clear a freeway?

- OK, thank you.

Come on. Come on.

It's rush hour, Commander,

and it's bumper-to-bumper.

Sir, I have an alternate.

If you turn to heading 1-7-5...

It's Houston's call. Houston?

- Computers are still plotting.

- Come on.

[rumbling]

[crowd murmuring]

Houston, we are running

out of time here.

- Sir, I have an alternate.

- All right, Beck, what do you got?

Houston, I have coordinates for an

alternate landing site. Can you confirm?

- Endeavour, give them to me.

- I show possible touchdown

at 33-55 north, 1-18-10 west.

- [Stick] Bill?

- It's theoretically possible.

Endeavour, that is confirmed.

Turn right, heading 1-7-5.

Expect visual contact

with Los Angeles River in five seconds.

No, that will not work, Houston.

We got bridges every few hundred yards.

Our wingspan alone

is going to fold us up.

I've figured the "L" over "D" max.

We can make it

if you can bring us straight in.

We're coming in high and hot.

Two-ninety feet, 320.

- Two-seventy, 3-0-5...

- Arm the gear.

- [Tim] Gear on.

- Gear down. Now.

[Tim] Gear in transition.

Two-forty feet, 290.

[Bob] Hang on.

This isn't going to be subtle.

Two-ten feet, 265.

Get out of the way! Move!

- Derotate.

- [Bob] Inward.

- 230... 210...

- Speed brakes!

- One hundred per cent.

- [Bob] We're way too fast.

- Deploy the chute.

- No. We'd snag the bridge.

We'll tear the tail off.

Banking right.

[Beck] Commander, that next bridge!

Watch it! We're way too high

for that one!

- Suck up the gear!

- Not yet. We'll lose all steering.

We hit, it's over!

And... gear up now!

Lock your harnesses.

It's out of my hands.

[all shouting]

- Let's get out of here!

- Run! Let's get out!

[grinder buzzing]

' [grinder off]

' [gasps]

- [Endeavour powering down]

- [exhales]

[breathing deeply]

[sirens approaching]

[man] Dr. Zimsky?!

Will you make sure my assistant

has your number, darling?

Sure.

- Dr. Zimsky!

- Hello. No, it's all right.

- Hello.

- Thank you, sir.

- Dr. Zimsky.

- Yes. What's your name?

- Josh Keyes.

- Josh.

No, sir, I don't need you to sign it.

I need you to read that.

[laughs] I'm sorry, I don't have time.

- I'm late for the White House, please.

- Sir...

I need you to confirm my results, sir.

Young man, do you have

any idea who I am?

Yes, I do, sir. Please read this.

[camera clicking]

What's it about?

It's the end of the world.

[papers rustling]

[sighs]

No, I... this is impossible. I'm sorry.

aughs]

I... I can't have missed this.

You... You have to be wrong.

I mean, look, I'm sure with careful

comparison to my own work,

we'll find that you are mistaken.

No of fence, but...

Well, I mean,

we'll know soon enough.

The bigger effects will start up

any day now.

[beeping]

- Rebecca?

- Only you and Dad ever call me that.

Right, Beck.

So, what brings you to sunny D.C.?

The Board of Review is next week.

Just trying to get a sense

of the mood upstairs.

- How bad is it?

- Your crew crashed the space shuttle.

Now, how good do you

think it could be?

- Sir, this is my life.

- Well...

I was studying for the academy

when I was 13.

It still is and has

always been my life.

It's over.

It's over, Rebecca.

I'm sorry.

- [elevator dings]

- [chattering]

- [man] Really?

- It's like the 4th of July.

- What the hell's the hurry here?

- [cell phone rings]

Rebecca, would you excuse me, please?

Excuse me.

- Purcell.

- Thomas, um, look...

...it seems that destiny

may have caught up with us.

Did Zimsky really try

to give you his autograph?

Ah, Monsieur Zimsky.

Conrad Zimsky. Herr Zimsky.

Superstar.

Ahh. [exhales]

I think I skipped drunk.

Went right to hangover.

[low-tempo music plays]

I spoke with the kids.

They don't sleep at night.

They look at the sky, and...

and they think it's pretty.

- Is there any chance you're wrong?

- No. The sky, man.

The sky... I mean,

that's just the beginning.

- That's high-altitude static discharge.

- I know.

[man] Dr. Keyes...

...your presence is

required at the Pentagon.

Ahh! It's my best buddies. Hey!

Why don't you join us for a drink?

We'd be grateful if you could

join us for a ride, sir.

And if I were to say no?

- Just asking.

- Yeah.

- Well, we have no sense of humour.

- That's true.

- Oh.

- And we're armed.

Thank you.

- [Tom] Dr. Keyes, welcome.

- Thank you.

Dr. Zimsky informs us

that you made a useful contribution

to his investigations, so he wanted you

to assist him with the briefing.

That's very generous of you,

Dr. Zimsky.

Science is a selfless business,

dear boy.

Now, why don't you begin,

and I'll fill in all the difficult bits.

[clears throat]

All right, I'll put this

as simply as I can.

[sighs] Everybody on Earth

is dead in a year.

And let me explain why.

Wrapped around the Earth

is an invisible field of energy.

It's made up of

electricity and magnetism,

so it's called, creatively enough,

the electromagnetic field.

It's where we get our magnetic

North Pole and South Pole,

and it protects us

from cosmic radiation.

- So this EM field is our friend.

- But now...?

But now, that field is falling apart.

- Why?

- [scoffs] Why?

This here.

Does somebody have a can

of air freshener?

Uh... Quick and dirty.

The thin skin, that's the Earth's crust.

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