"I'm here in Pasadena with the NASA mission control team as they celebrate scientific history-- the first close-up photographic transmissions of Mars from the Viking Observer spacecraft-- photos that have created a stir by revealing surprising geologic information:" "the presence of large amounts ofwater locked in Mars' polar ice caps-- water that some speculate could have possibly sustained life on the planet." "Even more controversial is one image ofa land formation-- a formation that looks like a sculpted human face." "However, NASA officials are denying it as an indication ofan alien civilization." "It's nothing more than a trick oflight and shadows-- a geologic anomaly." "The only sculptors at work are the solarwinds that blow across the surface of Mars at 300 miles an hour, ten months a year." "I'm seeing-- l've got" "How's it going out there?" "There's something out here." "Can you repeat that, Commander?" "It's coming at me!" "Holy God!" "Pickup terminalsequence, M.P.S." "Youhaveago toproceed." "Boostyour hydraulicpowerunits." "This is Shuttle Launch Control with Tminus oneminute fifteensecondsandcounting." "O. T. C. to C.D.R. Howdoyouread?" "Loudandclear." "Goahead." "Rogerthat." "Portsetup two zero." "Copy." "Setup two zero." "C.D.R. Houston, howdoyouread?" "Loud and clear." "Sidehatch close out andwhiteroom configuration is complete." "Retractingorbiterarm." "O.M.S. pressure on." "Cabin ventcomplete." "Roger, wesee that." "Allsystemsgo forA.P. U. start." "Pre-startcomplete." "A.P. U. toinhibit." "Oxygen venthoodretracted." "Externaltankis atflightpressure." "Lockyour visorsandinitiate your O2 flow." "Y'allhaveagoodtrip." "Rogerthat." "T-minus20seconds andcounting." "Go forauto-sequencestart." "Boosterhydraulicpowerunits havestarted." "Go formain enginestart." "T-minus ten, nine, eight seven, six, five, four, three..." "Abortliftoff." "Abortliftoff." "System failure." "Abortliftoff." "Repeat." "Wehave anabortedliftoff." "Scully:" "What did the note say?" "just that they worked for NASA." "Theywanted to talk to somebody from the F.B.l." "Why the cloak-and-dagger routine?" "I have no idea." "Think it's a crank?" "It's beginning to look that way." "My name is Michelle Generoo." "Fox Mulder." "I sentyou the note." "Special Agent Dana Scully." "I'm sorry to have to take these precautions." "I few up from Houston this morning." "I work at the space center there." "In what capacity?" "I'm the Mission Control Communications Commander for the shuttle." "What brings you to Washington?" "There may be a saboteur at work inside NASA." "You have evidence ofsabotage?" "I don't know. I may." "Two weeks ago a shuttle mission was scrubbed three seconds before lift-off when an auxiliary power unit valve malfunctioned." "Ifthe fight had not been aborted there was a great chance the liquid fuel system and the orbiter would have exploded on the launch pad." "This was sent to me in the mail." "It's a material analysis that shows deep-grooved scoring marks inside this A.P.U. valve-- marks that could have caused a malfunction." "Evidence oftampering?" "That's what it looks like, but..." "According to the person who gave meyour names you have expertise in unexplained phenomena." "And what's unexplainable is how anybody could have done it." "How doyou mean?" "The valve is made offerrocarbon titanium." "To score that material would take extreme launch pad temperatures." "If NASA looked at that analysis theywould say no one could do that type ofdamage undetected." "Doyou have any idea who sent that toyou?" "No idea." "The official analysis ofthe malfunction was simple mechanical failure." "Does anybody shareyour suspicions?" "Ifthey do they're not talking to the F.B.l." "I believe in the space program and the people who run it but there's another launch window tomorrow." "My reasons may sound selfish, but my fiance is a Shuttle Commander on that mission." "Scully:" "Whywould somebodywant to sabotage the Space Shuttle?" "Well, ifyou were a terrorist there probably isn't a more potent symbol ofAmerican progress and prosperity." "Ifyou're an opponent ofbig science" "NASA itselfrepresents a vast money trench that exists outside the crucible and debate ofthe democratic process." "And, ofcourse, there are those futurists who believe the Space Shuttle is a rusty old bucket-- a dinosaur spacecraft built in the '70s by scientists setting their sights on space in an ever-declining scale." "And we thought we could rest easy with the fall ofthe Soviet Union." "Not to mention certain fringe elements who accuse our government itself ofspace sabotage-- the failure ofthe Hubble Telescope and the Mars Observer are directly connected to a conspiracy to deny us evidence." "Evidence ofwhat?" "Alien civilizations." "Oh, ofcourse." "Look at that-- GeminiEight." "What?" "The man we're seeing-- Colonel Belt-- nearly died on that mission." "Made an emergency landing in the middle ofthe Pacific Ocean." "You remember that stuff?" "You neverwanted to be an astronaut when you were a kid?" "I missed that phase." "Comein." "Colonel Belt." "I'm special agent Dana Scully." "And this is..." "Colonel Belt." "Fox Mulder. I'm a big fan." "It's an honor to meetyou." "You were a big hero to me." "Thankyou." "I stayed up all night when I was 1 4 to watch your space walk." "Well, now it's like a stroll around the block." "So... how can I helpyou?" "This found its way to the F.B.l." "Doyou recognize it?" "Sure. it's an auxiliary power unit valve." "Doyou have any reason to believe that the damage done to it was in an effort to sabotage the Space Shuttle program?" "No." "Any reason to suspect sabotage at all?" "No reason whatsoever." "And ifyou have any respect for this program and for the people who have devoted their lives to it you'll be careful to whom you make those accusations." "Looking at this evidence, sir would you consider postponing the shuttle fight until a full investigation could be conducted?" "I don't know whereyou got this specious artifact but every precaution has been taken to rectify the problem." "We've been waiting two weeks for a window to initiate this mission." "We've got a payload to deliver." "Has an internal investigation ever been done on this matter?" "The partyou have here has been installed, inspected, and designed by over 1 00 highly trained technicians." "With the security measures we take it would be virtually impossible for one man working by himself or two, or four men to do what you're suggesting." "I can assureyou there isn't a person in this facility that doesn't want to see that shuttle go into space complete its mission and come back like winged Victory herself." "And in about ten hours, God willing you'll seejust that." "Doyou think there would be a problem with us watching the lift-off from mission control?" "Well, being thatyou'd probably go over my head anyway please, be my guest." "It was an honor, sir." "Thankyou." "Didn'tyou want to get his autograph?" "Man:" "Where did you sayyou got this?" "Scully:" "It came to us anonymously." "This is an A.P.U. valve, all right." "This doesn't make sense." "What doesn't make sense?" "This scoring here." "This valve is made out offerrocarbon titanium." "You didn't order the analysis?" "No, but we're on outside contract to NASA." "They may have ordered it." "Wouldn'tyou order a material analysis ifa part malfunctioned?" "Every shuttle has fown with that same valve with no problem." "To do an analysis would delay the program for months not to mention the cost." "In order to avoid delays is the program being pushed ahead without proper safety precaution?" "There are about 1 7,000 things that can go wrong with the shuttle and about 1 7,000 people who make sure they don't." "Who makes the final determination as to its safety?" "We make a recommendation but ultimately, the decision is Colonel Belt's." " Thankyou." " Thankyou." "What doyou think?" "I can't believe how much faith we put in machines." "You think Colonel Belt knows more than he's saying?" "He lied about his knowledge ofa saboteur?" "I can't believe Colonel Belt would endanger the lives ofthose astronauts knowing that something might go wrong." "He was an astronaut himself." "Soyou think this X ray is bogus?" "God, I hope so." "This is Shuttle Launch Control with T-minus oneminute 45 andcounting." "Here we go." "This is Shuttle Launch Control with Tminus oneminute30." "Finalapproachsequence." "Main engines ready." "Main engine check." "Switchingoff groundsupply." "Roger, O. T. C." "Houston:" "Pick up terminalsequence M.P.S." "O. T. C. to C.D.R. Howdoyouread?" "Charge capacitorenergy storagebanksareallat241." "O. T. C. to C.D.R. Howdoyouread?" "Loudandclear." "C.D.R. to Houston." "Howdoyouread?" "Loud and clear." "Sidehatch closeoutandwhiteroom configuration complete." "Retractingorbiterarm." "Allsystemsgo forA.P. U. start." "WehaveA.P. U. start." "B.B.S.R. powerdown andready forlaunch." "Transfertointernalpower." "Main engines complete." "Aerosurfaces in launchposition." "Militaryrecorder is running." "Okay." "Copy." "Oxygen venthoodretracted." "Externaltank isatflightpressure." "Okay, C.D.R., lockyour visors andinitiateyour O2 flow." "Y'allhaveagoodone." "Rogerthat." "Go forauto-sequencestart." "Boosterhydraulic units havestarted." "Go formain enginestart." "Tminus tenandcounting." "9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4," "3, 2, 1." "Zero." "Ignition." "Wehave liftoff." "C.D.R. to Houston." "Greatjob." "Roger that." "1 0-4." "Roger." "Throttleback." "Main engine at 65percent." "Roger." "Throttleat 1 10percent." "Roger, O. T. C." "I have to admit that I fulfilled one ofmy boyhood fantasies." "It ranks right up there with getting a pony and learning how to braid my own hair." "You have to admit that was exciting" "Mission control, countdown..." "Mulder!" "Wait!" "Something's gone wrong." "What happened?" "Something's wrong with the shuttle." "We had some trouble with the solid rocket boosters but we fixed it." "Got a phone call 20 minutes ago." "Communication with the shuttle had gone down." "We've got to get back to Houston." "They have a press blackout in effect." "Chances are, the media doesn't know about it." "Sabotage?" "Things go wrong all the time." "But they usually fix them." "Usually." "She's turning." "Michelle!" "I can see her." "Michelle!" "Help!" "You all right?" "I'm stuck!" "Can you move?" "just get me out ofhere!" "I'm wedged in." "You all right?" "I'm wedged in." "Come here." "Can you push with your legs?" "Be careful." "just get me out ofhere!" "Come on." "Okay." "It's okay." "Don't try to move." "Oh, I got to get back to Houston." "What happened?" "I don't know." "Something came at me in the fog and next thing I knew, I was upside down." "Was it some kind ofan animal?" "No. lt had a face." "It was... lt was grotesque." "I don't know what it was." "You okay?" "Yeah." "Orbiter, this is Houston." "Doyou copy?" "Your transmission isbreaking up, Houston." "What's happening?" "A malfin the O.M.S. and R.C.F. systems." "They can't get the orbiter into attitude rotation." "Cabin temperature is 1 03 and they have downlink transmission..." "What happened toyou?" "I had an accident." "What's their position?" "just over eastern Africa." "Try patching them into the Seychelles Tracking Station." "All right." "Hang in there, O.T.C." "The orbiter maneuvering systems malfunctioned." "They need to rotate the shuttle away from the sun to keep the orbiter cool." "Drop in cabin pressure 21 kilopascals and declining." "They're going to burn up." "Where's Colonel Belt?" "On his way." "On his way." "What happened?" "Backup system failed." "Can we auto-activate their systems from down here?" "We cannot." "It's like someone's screwing with the uplink communications from this end." "Can you trace it?" "Digital processor." "They'd have to be in the data banks." "Where's that?" "Come on." "Scully:" "Mulder?" "I'm a Federal Agent." "Come on out ofthere." "What areyou doing in here?" "I work here." "Let me seeyour clearance." "There was a malfunction in one ofthe processors." "Did you find it?" "No." "Did you see anybody else here?" "Call security." "I don't want anybody coming in or out ofthis building who doesn't have proper clearance." "( garbledtransmission )" "What's the attitude ofthe orbiter?" "They're fying tail first, sir belly towards the sun." "Flash evaporator system is working but it's not enough to cool them down." "Cabin temperature 1 1 6." "Where's..?" "Somebody'sjamming our transmissions." "Somebody or something is interfering with our ground communications and scrambling our uplink telemetry." "The shuttle is not responding to override signals." "I'm cutting off telemetry." "We might lose contact for good." "We have to give it a chance." "We have to bring them down." "We have to give them control ofthe ship to perform that rotation maneuver and deliver the payload." "What ifthey can't?" "We could be stranding them." "Abandon telemetry." "Go to fy-by-wire mode." "They're cutting off ground control to the orbiter." "The astronauts will be fying the shuttle all by themselves." "is it gonna work?" "O.T.C., this is Houston." "How's the weather up there?" "Sunny and warm, Houston." "What's the forecast?" "O.T.C., we're going to fy-by-wire mode." "We're going to abort ground control to see ifyou can bring those systems back up." "Roger that, Houston and leave the driving to us." "David... you take care." "Whatjust happened?" "They cut offcontact with the shuttle." "Generoo:" "45 seconds." "lftheywere able to execute they'd have done it by now." "Standing by." "60 seconds." "Go to reestablish uplink communication." "Video signal's failed." "O.T.C., this is Houston." "Doyou copy?" "O.T.C., this is Houston." "Where areyou?" "Howdy-do, Houston." "Looks like we fiinally got thisbirdto flyright." "O.T.C., doyou hear that?" "Music to ourears." "Cabin temperature stabilizing." "O.T.C., this is Mark Belt in Houston." "How's the crew holding up?" "They're lookinggood, sir." "Y'all get some rest." "We'll get back to work at about 0700." "Roger, Houston." "Let's get to work on that telemetry problem." "We got a big day ahead ofus." "Belt:" "Let'sjustlet the electronicpress get their sound equipment set." "Are we set up in here?" "Doyou want to test this mike?" "( shoutingquestions ) I knowyou have a lot ofquestions." "I'll get to them." "How did he know it was going to work?" "He didn't." "They could have died and there would have been nothing we could have done." "They'd have been a ghost ship stuck in orbit." "Whywould he take that risk?" "Bring those men back without delivering that payload?" "That's millions ofwasted dollars." "That's all congress would need to shut down NASA." "Belt:" "As of2200 hours the crew has been conducting on-board tests and tasks and resting up for their first full day in space." "I'm happy to say after a beautiful night launch the shuttle orbiter has performed magnificently." "( reportersshoutingquestions )" "So much foryour boyhood hero." "Colonel Belt?" "Colonel Belt?" "Can I talk toyou for a moment?" "You want to know why I lied to them." "You're asking yourself ifthis means I'd lie toyou." "You know what it means to be an astronaut, sir?" "You riskyour life every timeyou get into your spacecraft for nothing more than the good progress ofmankind." "No argument from me." "You're true American heroes." "Heroes?" "We made headlines when we did ourjob right." "Now they buryyou in the back ofthe paper." "Name me two astronauts on the last shuttle." "You make the front page today only ifyou screw up." "They only know your name ifyou're the unlucky S.O.B. sitting on 500 tons ofdynamite." "That's what they're reallywaiting for." "Sir, I have to ask." "I'm sorry, it's myjob." "Doyou think someone is sabotaging the shuttle?" "My answer toyou, sir, will be to bring those men back safely to earth." "Oh, God." "How's it going out there?" "There's something out here!" "Can you repeat that, Commander?" "It's coming at me!" "Holy God!" "Houston, wejustheard something weirduphere." "O.T.C. Houston, can you describe it?" "Sortofa dull thump, likesomethingbumpedtheship." "Gotanyideasabout that?" "( banging )" "Thereitis again." "Pull it out?" "Yeah." "That one right there." "They've got an oxygen leak onboard the orbiter." "Our O2 gaugesaregoing allscrewy, Houston." "We got problems." "We've got an O2 leak in the main tank." "What happened?" "They don't know." "Theyjust said it was a thump." "An astronomer in Winnipeg just spotted a gaseous cloud a mile long trailing in our orbit." "That's the liquid O2 leaking into space." "This happened to Colonel Belt on an Apollo mission." "How much time do they have?" "We're doing the calculations but it will be a guesstimate." "I need some answers." "And where is Colonel Belt?" "He was due 90 minutes ago to begin payload deployment." "Houston?" "We're wondering when wehave tostartholdingourbreath." "We're working on it." "I need those calculations and a worst-case scenario." "We don't know ifboth O2 tanks are damaged." "Worst-case scenario!" "And someone find Colonel Belt." "We'll find Colonel Belt." "They've got 30 minutes ofbackup oxygen." "Why does she need Belt?" "She doesn't know how serious the leak is." "It's an oxygen leak." "Even I know what happens when you run out ofoxygen." "Colonel Belt's been in the same situation." "He'll know what to do." "Where the hell is he?" "Colonel Belt?" "Colonel Belt!" "I'm going to go get security." "Colonel Belt." "Areyou all right?" "Yeah. I wasn't feeling well." "They need you at mission control." "There's been another accident." "O.T.C." "is your orbital maneuvering system still operational?" "Roger, Houston." "We're ready forreentry." "Justsay the word." "How bad's the leak?" "We have no way to determine." "O.T.C., what's the condensation on your cabin?" "Windowsaregetting alittlesteamy." "Carbon dioxide buildup." "Okay, O.T.C." "Everything's going to be fine." "I wantyou to get in your spacesuits and de-pressurize your cabin." "And then I wantyou to vent that CO2." "Andthen what?" "I wantyou to stay in your suits." "I wantyou to prepare to use your emergency oxygen systems." "And then I wantyou... to... deliveryour payload." "Those are men up there." "You're out ofline." "You want to tell me how to do myjob?" "I've been up there in that situation, Miss Generoo." "There's more at risk here than your personal life." "Ifyou can't accept that or operate effectively in these circumstances then maybeyou'd better leave the decisions to people who can." "O.T.C." "Doyou copy?" "Roger, Houston." "We're waiting on those O2 calculations." "( sniffling )" "Scully:" "Michelle!" "They're going to die." "You don't know that." "It's unconscionable putting that payload before those men's lives." "I think she's right." "He's losing it." "He saved their lives earlier." "Did he, or did he put their lives injeopardy?" "lfhe can't deliver that payload" "Congress kills the space program." "Killing astronauts won't have the same effect?" "I think somebody must have sabotaged the Space Shuttle." "I think Colonel Belt has known about it from the beginning." "We've got to stop him." "We've got to pull them out oforbit." "He doesn't want those men to die." "He put them up there." "He may be the only person who can get them down alive." "How can you be certain that what he's doing won't save their lives?" "I need access toyour records in a hurry." "Mulder:" "I need everything on the Hubble Telescope the Mars Observer, the Shuttle Challenger and the current orbiter mission." "That's tens ofthousands ofdocuments." "What are we looking for?" "X rays, diagrams, schematics-- any proofthat Belt knew about a sabotage." "A needle in a haystack." "Payloaddeployment initiated." "Roger that, O.T.C. Tracking it now." "Looksgoodfrom here." "Payloaddelivery is complete, Houston." "We'reawaiting yourorder." "System check for reentry de-orbit burn." "HolyGod, there'ssomething outside theship" "HolyGod, there'ssomething outside theship" "There'ssomeone outside theship!" "Can you repeat that, O.T.C.?" "There'ssome kindofghost outside theship!" "No!" "( whimpering ) No, no, no!" "( screaming )" "Mulder I found it." "This is the same diagram that was sent to Michelle." "Ordered by Colonel Belt, which means he knew about the faultyvalve." "This is from the Challenger." "It's the O-ring fitting that failed." "It's dated one week before the Space Shuttle blew up." "The analysis was ordered by Colonel Belt." "You're saying he might have known about the Challenger defect?" "Something weird is going on here, Scully." "Colonel Belt's collapsed." "He's in his office." "He wasjust here." "( whimpering )" "Scully:" "Oh, my God." "Generoo:" "What's wrong with him?" "Mulder:" "Get a doctor." "( whimpering )" "Help me." "Help me." "How can we helpyou, Colonel?" "He's having some kind ofa seizure, Mulder." "Come on, come on!" "Belt:" "It's tearing me apart!" "See ifl can get a pulse." "( moaning )" "Help me." "Oh, help me." "I'm bringing that shuttle down." "No!" "It's out there!" "Easy, easy." "Belt:" "Spacesuits!" "Give him" "Diazepam." "No." "He's going to hurt himself." "He's trying to tell us something." "Those men are running out ofoxygen." "They don't have to die." "I wantyou to focus." "Focus your breathing." "Focus your pain." "Right here." "Blood pressure 1 74 over 1 20." "Vitals are rising." "Mulder you're risking an aneurysm." "Focus." "Nowyou're focused." "Right here." "Now, you're going to save those astronauts and you're going to tell me how to do it." "The shuttle can't survive reentry." "No." "He's lying." "How doyou know it can't survive?" "The fuselage..." "The fuselage is damaged." "The silicone tiles are destroyed." "How does he know?" "How has it been damaged?" "I'm responsible." "Did you sabotage the shuttle?" "No, but I couldn't stop them." "Nobody can stop them." "Stop who?" "Pulse 1 94." "You'll kill him." "Stop who?" "They don't want us to know." "They don't want us to know." "Who?" "It came to me." "It lives in me." "It's comingatme!" "It's comingatme!" "( screaming )" "And now" "Help me!" "It's coming back!" "Generoo:" "That's the face I saw in the fog." "We're losing him." "Defib." "Hereyou go." "Clear." "Hit it." "They're out ofoxygen." "They've got exactly 30 minutes left in the backup system." "They're going to suffocate up there." "I've got no choice but to bring them down." "It's the only chance I've got." "Again." "O2 standing by..." "Hold on." "We've got vitals." "Scully:" "We've got to get him to a hospital." "O.T.C., this is Houston Mission Control." "Doyou copy?" "Roger, Houston." "We'vegotsomespookystuff uphere." "O.T.C., we're going to bring you down." "We wantyou to instigate de-orbit burn and begin deceleration." "Roger, Houston." "I washopingyou'dsay that." "Activating O.M.S. rockets." "Allsystemsgo forreentry." "They're bringing the shuttle down." "You said the shuttle would burn up on reentry." "is there anything we can do to save it?" "Change the trajectory." "Change the trajectory to what?" "Change the reentry trajectory to 35 degrees." "We've got to change the reentry trajectory." "Generoo:" "What?" "Change it to 35 degrees." "30 seconds to ionosphere reentry." "Belt... I can't." "25 seconds." "It's your only shot." "We'd have to change landing site and inform them before blackout." "1 5 seconds to blackout." "What's the weather in Albuquerque?" "Are we go for an emergency landing?" "Weather in Albuquerque?" "Landing conditions go in Albuquerque." "T-minus five seconds to blackout." "O.T.C., this is Houston." "Changeyour trajectory to 35 degrees." "You'll be landing in Albuquerque." "lonosphere reentry." "They get that transmission?" "Two minutes to reestablish." "Damn it." "How much oxygen do they have?" "1 6 minutes." "O.T.C., this is Houston." "Come in, O.T.C." "O.T.C., this is Houston." "Come in, O.T.C.!" "Anything?" "What's the point oftheir new reentry?" "West of Hawaii." "Hawaii's picked the shuttle up on radar." "They made it." "Not necessarily." "Albuquerque, doyou have radar confirmation?" "Negative, Houston." "Nothingon thescreen." "O.T.C., this is Houston." "Come in, O.T.C." "O.T.C., this is Houston!" "Come in, O.T.C.!" "Houston, this is O. T. C." "Youknowagoodplace to eat inAlbuquerque?" "We couldmeet fordinner." " Whoo!" " O.T.C., welcome home." "You're looking real good." "Man:" "Yes!" "The Space Shuttle touched down today at 1 0:56 Central Standard Time." "The orbiter delivered its payload afterjust 1 3 orbits and returned to earth without incident." "We at NASA are looking forward to our next shuttle mission and to future successful explorations ofspace." "For mankind and for the future ofmankind." "( beeping )" "No..." "No more!" "( dooropens )" "I just heard." "Something had possessed him-- something he must have seen out there in space." "The doctors who examined him said he was experiencing severe dementia." "I don't think he ever really knew exactly how it was working through him or that he ever knew that he was... responsible for his own actions." "He ordered those X rays ofthe damaged parts." "I think he was trying to warn her." "I think that he sent Michelle those X rays like he was trying to reach out to her without quite knowing why as ifhis own instinctual impulse was to save those men." "While simultaneously trying to kill them?" "Scully, we send those men up into space to unlock the doors ofthe universe and we don't even know what's behind them." "I thinkwhatever it was, he took it with him." "And in the end, that was the onlyway he knew how to stop it." "There's an investigation, you know." "They haven't ruled out foul play." "He gave his own life." "He was an astronaut." "That was something he was prepared to do." "Colonel Marcus Aurelius Belt devoted his life to the exploration and understanding ofspace-- learning its mysteries and experiencing it notjust for himself but for humanity." "Lord, take this man's soul and let it rise up toyour heavens, higher than he could ever go as a man." "Let him know the true nature ofthe universe that he sought to learn." "Boy:" "I made this."