"So this is it." "The end of the world." "Hundreds of comets..." "each the size of a small island... each carrying the force of 1,000 nuclear warheads... are about to come crashing... on to the earth." "We only have ourselves to blame." "My name is..." "Professor Neil Gant, ...I work for N.E.O., ...NASA'S Near Earth Object Programme." "We track the debris of creation, ...the billions of comets and asteroids ...that still orbit our sun." "And you'll see that America's very much in the line of fire..." "Ourjob is to give advance warning of potential earth impacts." "I can't sell your solution to the President and he can't sell it to the American people." "I already let one disaster happen ...and now we face annihilation." "I do not know how this story will end but it began a year ago," "How do you do little Princess?" "How do you do Mr. Kelly?" "Ladies and gentlemen this is the Captain, we hope you've enjoyed yourflight with us today, we should be landing in Shannon in about ten minutes." "I'm the Queen of the Beach today, all the Lords and Ladies said..." "Ladies and gentlemen, the fasten your seatbelts sign is on, please remain in your seats while we await informa of a change in weather conditions." "Please do not be alarmed." "Ladies and gentlemen, we will shortly begin ...our descent into Shannon Airport." "Please remain in your seats at all times." "You need to adopt the brace position immediately in preparation for emergency landing." "Abort landing, pull up, pull up!" "This is it, the epicentre." "You've been a participant in the biggest inter-dimensional cross-rip since the Tunguska blast in 1908." "I'd like to get a sample of your brain tissue." "Come on guys, you know the movie, who you gonna call?" "Come on guys, is a big movie, this is a great movie, is Bill Murray." "'Lost In Translation'" "'Ghostbusters', is, is 'Ghostbusters'." "Sorry Professorthas before ourtime." "Right... ready?" "Listen up." "Three, two, one... 7.17 am, June 30th 1908." "Three to five miles up directly above our heads... there was an airburst..." "here trees... were incinerated, stripped to the bone as the blast wave, ...moved vertically downwards." "Identical patterning was replicated in the 1950's." "...during atmospheric nucleartests." "Are you saying the event was nuclear?" "No, no, but the effects were caused by similar shockwaves." "Further out trees were felled because... the blast wave was moving closer to the horizontal when it reached them." "So what happened?" "This is the expert." "Some people think it was an asteroid made of rock or metal." "Some say it was a comet made of dust and ice." "Just a couple of hours later it would have destroyed Moscow or St. Petersburg." "Every living being in a 25 mile radiusjust would have been killed instantly." "Yeah." "In living history this, the Tunguska event, stands out as a rare, thank God, demonstration that Doomsday scenario for the human race... well is a real possibility." "This is Gant, yeah." "Hey Frank..." "Is NASA." "No we've been out in the woods for the last three days, we haven't heard of anything, why, what happened?" "I need you to contact my boyfriend, I can't get through to him on his mobile." "He was meant to meet me at Shannon Airport." "Well... maybe the networks arejust down, so..." "No, my mobile works, so does hers." "We were ten feet above the runway when the wave hit." "We could have aquaplaned into Shannon." " Are you okay to report?" " Yeah." "Well they evacuated the airport didn't they?" "Look I, I'm sure that he, he got out in time." "Really I..." "I'm sorry, excuse me." "No, no, I'm going, I'm gonna try and get back out there today." "We'll get a camera crew on standby." "The Tsunami travelled across the Atlantic ocean at speeds of over 500 miles per hour." "...slamming into coastal areas and racing inland with little or no warning." "The wave heights have been reported as high as 120 feet, ...a surging mass of water engulfing an area over 3,000 square miles." "Officials in Dublin have estimated the initial death toll... at over 10,000." "The President will be issuing a full statement in the next few hours." "Our initial data strongly suggests that the Tsunami was caused by a near earth object... impacting into the Atlantic Ocean ...300 miles off the Irish Coast." "Over 30,000 people are now homeless and hundreds of thousands of people remain missing." "NASAwill be launching a full enquiry into this event." "We're sending out a specialist team from ...N.E.O., our Near Earth Object Programme, to determine the source and composition of the impact object." "What we're talking about here ...is either an asteroid, which is essentially a rock or metal based body," "or a comet, which is composed mainly of ice and embedded dust particles." "We don't yet know exactly where it came from." "Sir, with all our satellite technology and radar telescopes, how come nobody saw this coming?" "Within 24 hours we were on a plane to Ireland desperate to find the answer." "We were to be met by Professor Brendan Kelly, eminent astro physicist from Queen's College." " Hi, Professor Kelly?" " Oh right, Brendan will do." " Josh Hayden." " Hi, Josh" "Neil Gant." "Hayden and Gant eh?" "You sound like a couple of outlaws." " Or lawyers." " Yeah same thing in my book." "This is Tam Ly our resident Tsunami expert." "Sent by the Gods." "In fact by the University of Tokyo." "You're not from Japan?" "No, no, I'm originally from Vietnam, I did my MSC in America, Santa Cruz." "Brendan's expertise was in... the microscopic particles left overfrom the creation of our solar system." "You know the thing about dust..." "Yeah, dust is so important." "Hey, evolution of dust traces our path through the universe." "You mean the accumulation of dust?" "I know what I mean." "I'm the King of Dust!" "When do you think we'll be able to get down to the coast?" "Ah access is restricted at the minute, we'll go to Shannon tomorrow, see if we can get authorisation." "I'll put a call in, get NASAto pull some strings for us." "Right, make yourself at home." "We've been trying to collate some incoming evidence, seismic data, barometric readings." "Lot of stuff coming in from India." "You know we're gonna have to give this N.E.O. A name." "Well, isn't that thejob of the Minor Planet Centre?" "Oh they're down in Massachusetts, anyway we need a standby, something a little more media friendly than... 'un" " No I was thinking of..." "What?" " Rockall." "Rockall." "Is the sea area the comet hit, is a little Island about 250 miles north west of Donegal." " Rockall..." " Is a good idea Brendan." "Here you go." "Hey, where did you get these images?" "American Military Reconnaissance, but we're gonna need a lot more data than this if we're gonna get a handle on Rockall's trajectory." "Find out where it came from..." "and why we missed it." "All we had had was an approximate impact site in t what we needed was an accurate trajectory to tell us where it came from." " Anyone for curry?" " No thanks Brendan." "Forget fish, curry's the thing for your brain." "Project Rockall..." "Is all in the turmeric you see." "Is full of curcumin, which is an anti-oxidant, so now you know." "Get the curry down you, ward off that mental decay." "You should have some Josh." "That was a flight attendant on 419, the plan that outran the wave, well she's got the footage on her cell phone... but she's heading back to the US tomorrow so we need to see her now." "We can go." " Thas ourterritory." " Yeah, yeah." "Here we go." "Oh we can get a time stamp on that." " And thas good?" " Oh thas very good." "Now is there any chance we could get the flight path data... to find out exactly where you were when you took t" "Yeah, sure." "If we can get a fix on your exact position we can cross-reference that with the light in this... and then ill help us get a sense of the trajectory of the N.E.O." "And then you can find out where it came from right?" "Exactly." "Have you got wireless connect on this cell phone?" "Yeah you do." "Great its worked." "Marcie, thank you very much, you've been very helpful." "So, you guys are like spacemen?" "We're not trained in aeronautics but yeah we're part of NASA." "Now N.E.O. Why is at the heart of the space industry." "You're called N.E. O?" "Like Keanu in 'The Matrix'?" "You are so cool!" "I'm kidding." "Charlie, how are you?" " Brendan..." " Any news of the family?" "No, nothing, nothing yet." "Come here, let me show you." " Excuse me, we're from..." " Just one second." "...we're from NASA, we, we need immediate access to the disaster zone, there's some permits here for us apparently." "Anyone know anything about permits for NASA?" "Be here all day." "Yes." "We need another airlift ASAP but... the main supply route is blocked, so if you can't get a runway slot we'll have to do the food drop by parachute." "Excuse me sir, are you from FEMA?" "I... well yeah, I'm just helping out with the International Disaster Response..." "Neil Gant, with NASA." "Adam right?" "You care to help out a compatriot?" "Adam Gregorski, the FEMA guy, secured us permits within the hour, we made straight forthe centre of devastation." "We needed to analyse the debris left by the Tsunami before... it was disturbed by the clear up operation." "To the trained eye this wreckage held vital clues to the origins of the N.E.O." "That had so taken us by surprise." "We'll build a map of the debris pattern, we'll learn more about the wave." "And we'll start to get a handle on Rockall." "Three days ago those rocks were at the bottom of the sea." "You know, 1,000 years from now people will come here like this was the Irish Stonehenge, and they'll be thinking "how did they get the rocks up there?" huh?" "Cliff height is about 72 feet so we know... the wave was at least that high as it hit the coast." "Maybe they'll think of it as a monument to 8/8." "The wave spilled overthe cliff and scattered the debris across a vast area." "The scatter pattern and the inclination of once vertical structures would... tell us the precise strength and direction of the wave." "The pressure must have been massive." "Josh!" "There's someone here, there's someone in here!" "I've got her head." "We've gotta get to a hospital." "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven..." "Neil, there's no pulse." "Neil, is too late." "There's an e-mail from that air hostess, she's managed to get hold of the radar data and the exact flight co-ordinates." "We need to get it into the mapping programme." " I'll do it when we get back." " Huh?" " I'll do it when we get back." " Fine." "Tsunami death toll rises..." "Turn it off!" "...authorities struggling to cope with the number of bodies." " Churches and schools are being used" " Please." " As temporary mortuaries." " Thank you." "Is been four days since the Tsunami hit." "The roads are full of mud and dirt left behind as the sea water retreated, ...and it is from this flotsam of broken walls, timbers and other debris ...that the search for survivors continues." "Stay here tonight." "Wouldn't it be betterto head back?" "I don't mind driving," " we can be in Dublin by..." " Josh, we'll stay here tonight." "Go easy on him, his father lived here." "I'm looking for Bryan Kelly." "Daddy." "We let this thing through you know, we let it through..." "Neil!" "No-one could have predicted this." "Ourjob is to watch objects in space." "If is not our responsibility, whose is it?" "Oh Neil, get real." "There's a lot less dust than I expected, if it was an asteroid it was no more than 50 metres across." "And an asteroid that small would never reach the ocean?" "No." "And even if it did, it would never have had enough powerto... generate a Tsunami with such a high amplitude," "I mean the wave height measurements were fartoo large for an asteroid of only 50 metres." "So, it was a comet?" "Then it could have been much largerthan 50 metres, two, three hundred and... even if it exploded on impact there would have been relatively little dust..." "Because unlike an asteroid is composed mainly of ice." "It would have been moving much fasterthan an asteroid too, you know, between 20 and 35 miles per second." "Definitely enough muscle to cause a Tsunami." "Yeah." "Yeah." "Lesjust match that with the co-ordinates of..." "Marcie's sighting and the satellite images... and les see if we get..." " Here she comes." " We get the point of impact." "Oh yeah, notjust that..." "Now if we trace the trajectory backwards... we should be able to find out where she came from, look the orbit is practically grazing the sun, thas why we missed her." "A sling-shot back to there..." "just to the left Betelgeuse off Orion's shoulder," " Oh gotcha - thas where she came from." "From the outset of our investigation we've known that the Tsunami was caused by the impact of a, a near-earth object, a, an N.E.O." "We've discovered that this was a small long period comet, approximately 200 metres in diameter, probably formed in the very early solar system, even before the planets existed, and now, now we know where it came from." "Why wasn't the comet spotted in time?" "Well there are teams of astronomers around the world whose... sole purpose is finding and tracking N.E.O.'s... but sadly this particular one couldn't have been predicted by them or anyone else..." "Why is that?" "Well because the comet approached earth at an acute angle, very small, obscured by the glare of the sun." "Like fighter pilots driving out of the sun to... surprise an enemy, impossible to see until is too late." "So another one could sneak up on us at any time?" "No, no." "No." "An event like the Rockall comet happens perhaps, oh, once every few thousand years." "Rockall was incredible, something I thought I would never bear witness to, but sounds a bit odd, but it was a privilege, a tragic one, with... terrible consequences but a privilege nevertheless." "The power of nature, for better orfor worse." "The scientific global community will continue to... monitorthe comet for years to come but... thanks to the work of Project Rockall the foundation of that research is now in place, and with it hopefully some sense of closure forthe families of the people... who so tragically lost their lives in this natural disaster." "So that was how it started." "The biggest N.E.O. Impact since Tunguska and we'd missed it." "How could we have known that 8/8 wasjust the beginning?" "The worst was yet to come." " We did ourjob, Neil." " Did we?" "Yes." "Our remit is to find objects over one kilometre in size." "Rockall was 200 metres and we weren't even looking for it." "May be we should have been." "We don't have those sort of resources." "Nobody does and... you know that." "Look, I'll see you at the gate." " Neil?" "Hey." " Hey." "Are you heading home?" "Yeah, the projecs all wrapped up so... they got you working again already huh?" "Yeah, the Dublin route." "Is kinda quiet but thall change." " You look beat." " Yeah." " Do you wanna walk with me?" " Yeah." "I'm just curious, what is your star sign?" "Oh..." "I don't." "Oh okay, well what do we know?" "You have a big sense of responsibility, you take everything very personally, and I would say that you are kinda cautious." "I would say thas about the stupidest thing I've ever heard." "And I would say that you are a Scorpio." "Wow!" "I am impressed." "So..." "how about you?" "Pisces." "Really?" "What are they like?" "Oh we're warm-hearted, idealistic, sensitive..." "Just the good traits huh?" "Oh God no, we're lazy and scatty too, but that tends to be balanced out by our ideal partners," "Cancer or..." "Scorpio." "This is me, so..." "Oh... maybe I'll see you around?" "Yeah, I hope so." "Hey who knows, maybe is in the stars?" "Ground Control to Major Tom!" "Are you receiving me spaceman?" "I'm sorry I gotta do this, is really important." "I'll see you in the morning." "No, take a look." "Orion is amazing tonight." "Betelgeuse, is as red as a berry." "Betelgeuse?" "Is a star where Rockall came from." "Welcome to my world." "Since 8 it seemed every astronomer//on the planet was hun all sightings found their way to my inbox." "No matter how trivial I had to log them, calculate the trajectories and... estimate potential impact dates." "Expert opinion was that it would not be happen in our lifetime, but i had to be ensure that." "I've got something to show you." " Hey boss." " Check this out." "'Science' has accepted it for publication next month." "Oh and if you flip it overthas a list of Universities... who want us to, to deliver a key note lecture." "Josh I have a backlog of a hundred unmapped N.E.O.'s here... any one of which could be headed our way so I real don't see how glad-handing universities makes it to the top of our To Do list." "I've got Kimberly Marshall on hold." "Do you want me to put herthrough?" "No, no, I'll take it in my office." "Read it!" "Is your work." "Unbelievable." "Unbelievable." "A new sighting from Australia, an N.E.O. Discovered by two astronomers Gibden and Bell." "Our sentry programme calculated a rough trajectory and impact date." "The date was chillingly familiar." "A second sighting, the same N.E.O." "And then a third." "Looks like is only gonna be famous from the lectures out here." "Seriously the good news is is raised public awareness of what we're doing..." " Hey Josh." " What N.E.O. Does..." "Look at the date of approach, August 8th 2009." "What?" "We're getting different observations on the same comet chain, 15 sightings so far, so put it all into SENTRY to get a date closest to approach, and what comes out?" "August 8th, same date as the Irish impact." "Which means that one year on, earth could be right back in the firing line again." "This is comet Rockall's trajectory and... this is what we've got so far on the new sightings potential comet chain." "Now what I wanna do is get images from the Lincoln telescope and... reports from Russia, Australia..." "Fine, yeah fine." "Run with the precovery." "Try and keep it in perspective, this is conjecture, not fact." "Hey, hey, hey... ah... ah..." "I, I, I know we were gonna go to Vegas this weekend," "I..." "I gotta go to Catalina tonight." "Catalina?" "Who's she?" "The, the Catalina Sky Survey, Arizona." "Oh!" "Arizona!" "Wow." "Yeah, I'm really sorry, I just..." "I've really gotta" "Is fine." "Lets go." "Oh you don't wanna come, is like an eight hundred mile round trip." "Well..." "I tell you what, I will drive and you can pay the speeding fines." "So what happens at Catalina?" "Precovery." "Is a little technical." "I understood the Matrix Trilogy Neil, indulge me." " This is it?" " Yeah." "This is where the guardians of the planet watch over us?" "Is there a problem?" "No, no, no, no." "I wasjust expecting something a little, you know, cooler, a little more 'X Men'." "This is it." "This is a photographic log of the constellation of Orion." " Is divided up into sections." " I get it." "The computer stores images of the last few weeks and months." "And we need to find evidence of the comet chain before today, before it really registered as a moving object." " Precovery?" " Precovery." "Right..." "The hard thing is telling the comet from the stars." "Isjust one tiny speck of light amongst... thousan but we've got one thing going for us... stars don't move, N.E.O.'s do." "If you take pictures of exactly the same part of the sky but weeks apart then flip between them, find a starthas moved, it ain't a star, is an N.E.O." "What time is it?" "Just to the left of Betelgeuse off the shoulder of Orion, exactly the same place as Rockall came from." "Neil?" "It was a long period comet probably ten to 12 miles in size originally, the same as Haley's comet, probably broke up around 1,000 years ago and formed a chain." "Now what hit Ireland was a fragment... that got a little bit ahead probably due to out-gassing, and what we're looking at now is the rest of the mass coming back around... in the same orbit and intersecting with us again." "Thas a lot of probably's." "Probably." "And you're talking massive error margins." "Your mapping's rudimentary and there simply isn't enough data yet." "Well I'm, I'm, I'm getting it, but Josh we're looking at a Torino scale 6 here." "Oh, but you're using a scale thas only been used for asteroids and relating it to comets." "They're completely different animals, you know that." "Comets are way more unpredictable, outgassing for a start." "You can't talk about Torino 6." "We cannot afford to get this wrong Josh, you know what happened last time." "Josh, I want you to take this threat seriously, forward my report to Lampanelli and get NASA behind us on this..." "Neil, Neil you keep doing this to me." "What report?" "You've got some half-assed daubings on my office wall, you're a mess man!" "I'm not gonna be responsible for giving a false alarm, we will monitorthe situation no, yes, yes we will monitor it but what we will not do... is go off half-cocked and..." "look like a bunch of amateurs." "Is that all you care about these days Josh?" "How you look." "You need to get some sleep, and take a shower while you're at it." "In fact... take the rest of the day off." "Is not a suggestion." "An event like the Rockall comet happens perhaps, oh, once every few thousand years." "The power of nature, for better orfor worse." "65 million years ago, an asteroid or comet... impacted the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, creating 100 mile wide crater." "The KT Extinction Event." "Is estimated the impact of the force... was equivalent to six million Hiroshima bombs." "It created a vast dust cloud which blocked the light of the sun and prevented photosynthesis for many years." "The KT Extinction Event was the death knell forthe majority of life on earth." "According to leading comet expert Professor Neil Gant it could all happen again." "Breaking newsjust in from the United States, a NASA scientist has reported that... comet Rockall, which caused such devastation in Western Ireland, may have been part of a chain of comets... which could collide with planet earth in eight months time." "Switch the telly on." "Professor Gant has named the comet chain Gibden-Bell... afterthe two astronomers who first discovered it..." "Reports of another possible comet impact have sparked fear in the worlïs media." "Stocks crashed in the blackest day for Wall Street in living memory..." "Interest rates... soared and Banks closed their doors... as trading ceased across the globe." "You'vejust wiped ten billion dollars off the DowJones Index, and now the panic's rippling around the rest of the world." "You've embarrassed N.E.O." "It looks as if we were covering it up." "Weren't we?" "Lampinelli called." "NASAwants us both in Washington." "General Harris has demanded a debrief." "Who?" "The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff." " Oh that General Harris?" " Yes, that General Harris." " Hi Frank." " Morning Josh." "The General's ready for you both." "I hope you've said your Hail Marys." "I'm not interested in the politics of who said what, when or why right now," "I just want facts." "Is earth in danger of being hit by another comet?" "There is a potential threat, yes sir." "Our calculations suggest a one percent chance... of a collision somewhere on the earth's surface." "One percent?" "You put the fear on everyone on this planet for one percent?" "If there was a one percent chance there was a rattlesnake in your back yard, would you let your kids go out and play hide and seek?" "We're currently working on predicting the comes chain's ellipse, its trajectory, but thas not something we can nail down in a matter of weeks." "What are you saying?" "The further away the comet chain, the less accurate our predictions." "We need to send a NASA probe out there, get a better handle on the comet chain's size and its structure." "Okay, I'll back it." "Whas the situation with the Japanese and European space agencies?" "We're liaising with them now." "Good, and I want a report on our response options to this thing." "We've gotta be ready." "I'm gonna need to put a team together sir." "Whatever you need." "Looks like you gentlemen have your work cut out." "Today NASA announced the first tracking of a cosmic probe to... investigate Gibden-Bell, the comet chain scientists... fear could be on a direct collision path with earth." " Hey welcome." " How are ya?" "Yeah, good." "Back at N.E.O. We set about refining our calculations for Gibden-Bell's trajectory." "As the comet got nearer our calculations improved." "It was not good news." "Each time the potential comet path narrowed... it seemed to be honing in on planet earth." "Spotlight Voyager Seven, NASA report progress on the preparation of the cosmic probe." "Designed to carry out detailed reconnaissance of t the probe could bejust days from launch." "What we're trying to create here is a spread of a Tsunami envelope." "If a fragment of Gibden-Bell does hit there's a high probability, it will impact in one of our major oceans." "If is a land impact then the dust composition will be critical." "For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." "Are these the samples from the Stardust mission?" "I'm just trying to see if the fragments we record from Rockall can give us an idea..." " as to the composition, go on take a look." " Oh great, thanks." "If a high percentage of those particles contain sulphur... we could be heading for another Ice Age." "So deadly, yet so pretty." "Oh gosh they're beautiful." " How are things with Josh?" " Yeah..." "If there is an impact this is the bad boy we need to worry about." "Roughly a mile in diameter he's about the size of Central Park... and coming at us at 40 kilometres per second." "If any fragment is gonna impact, it will be this one, the largest of the fragments Gibden-Bell A." "Who's gonna tell the General?" "As the threat of comet impact increases..." "NASA announces that the launch of probe Voyager Seven is imminent." "Mission focus will be the largest comet Gibden-Bell A." "Anything Neil?" "I've been working on the Whipple shoot issue forthe probe, the launch team is saying there's not enough space on the launch vehicle... but I think is essential if we're gonna protect the probe from comet debris." "Whas up with you?" "Still working on those radar images from Arecibo." "They'll be nothing like the probe can give us but... worth having a back-up." "Arecibo, the most powerful radio telescope on earth." "Wishful thinking on Josh's part, the comet chain was still too distant for us to see anything useful." "We desperately needed the probe." " D minus ten" " Guys, is going." "NASA scientists have worked tirelessly to ready the probe for launch." "Now their efforts are complete, we have lift-off." "Voyager Seven ascends towards the stars, its mission to conduct a thorough analysis of the comet Gibden-Bell." "As the likelihood of an impact continues to rise, this essential information will confirmed or denied the possibilies to collision with earth" "With it go the hopes and fears of all mankind." "God speed Voyager Seven." "If a comet impacts in the ocean, it will create a Tsunami 20 times the size of the one that hit Ireland, and if it hits the Pacific... well, we can say goodbye to the whole of the West Coast." "The countries of Central America will be devastate as will Japan... and is no betterforthe Atlantic." "We'd lose every coastal county in New England," "Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida." "The waves produced would annihilate Ireland and the British Isles and cause..." "Ireland again eh?" "...and cause chaos in mainland Europe, the Caribbean, North West Africa... we'd be looking in the death tolls of tens of millions." "What if we don't let it hit?" "What if we try and deflect it?" "Well your man at Imperial College thinks it can be done but... they're still finessing the figures on the mass to thrust ratios." "No I'm not talking about kinetic impact." "Given the time frame, a stand-off nuclear explosions are the only viable option." "This is a possible solution that... we could present to General Harris next week." "Josh the... the implications of using thermo nuclear weapons..." "I know, but it is an approach thas actually got a chance of working." "Give it a read." "Les at least try going with this." "Well Josh has got a possible solution, but it could make things a whole lot worse." "Can't you two broker a ceasefire or something?" "You know, forthe sake of mankind?" "Well the thing is Josh might be right." "Whoa, whoa, whoa, you said that he was wrong." "Yeah well there's no empirical proof either way, thas whas driving me nuts." "Nobody's ever been in a situation like this before, is all on us and if we screw up... we could wind upjust like wiping out the whole planet." "Marcie?" "You'd betterfix this Neil." "Gentlemen." "Professor." "The comet chain Gibden-Bell." "Now this is the fella which most concerns us." "A one mile size fragment we're calling Gibden-Bell A." "Ourforecasts now suggest a 60 percent chance of collision." "Oh is coming gentlemen and in four months time." "Now if you look at the ellipse pattern, you'll see that America's very much in the line of fire, either via a giant Tsunami if the impact occurs in... either ocean orthrough a direct land strike," "which would devastate thousands of square miles." "Now here's how we persuade it to go away." "Stand off nuclear diversion." "A series of nuclear devices will be launched to the comet, programmed to detonate alongside it, far enough away to avoid a fracture." "The intense heat will vaporise the surface of one side of the comet causing... that side to outgas altering its trajectory, thrusting it away from the earth." "What model basis did you use?" "The Icarus Project developed at M.I.T. In 1967." "That was a, a hypothetical collision with earth by the asteroid 1566 Icarus." "But Icarus assumed that they had 15 months for the deflection, you're saying we only have four?" "NASA has been preparing a delivery system since the threat was first registered." "The plan will require international co-operation, besides American launch bases, we'd look to use sites in Europe and China." "We've already received a pledge from the Russians." "Well I presume our French Gowandan base would be suitable, however gentlemen I cannot stress enough the time factor here." "The schedule is achievable if we move quickly." "Oh clearly, clearly time is of the essence..." "We cannot rush into a nuclear deflection strategy." "Right now we have no idea of the stability of the comet, thas why we need to wait forthe results of the probe." "If Gibden-Bell A is unstable and we try to deflect it, it could break up and the cometesimals released would be like multiple re-entry warheads, they would smash into our atmosphere at 160,000 miles an hour." "Thas not what the Deep Impact mission found." "Comet 9P-Tempel was, well a lot tougherthan we thought." "Yeah well what about Shoemaker-Levy 9?" "Jupiter's gravity... tore it to pieces, it turns out that its structure was weakerthan fresh powder snow." "The point is that each one of these N.E.O.'s is structurally unique, thas a fact." "Sorry gentlemen, my colleague Neil Gant, he thinks we have time." "I don't." "Until we get the results of that probe we can only guess as to the comes composition, but one thing is for sure, deflecting a comet is an entirely different proposition than deflecting an asteroid." "Icarus was designed to deflect an asteroid, which is made of metal or rock not... a comes made of ice..." "of carbon-based compounds, you wanna throw nukes at that?" "That is like playing baseball with a water melon!" "Neil thank you, thas enough!" "Sit down." "No, no, no, no." "I wanna hearthis." "Alright." "If this is the blast radius of the comet fragment that... caused the Tunguska event in Siberia in 1908... then this would be Washington DC... today." "If that comet breaks up we're gonna create thousands of projectiles of this kind of powertha could impact anywhere on this planet," "London, New York, Paris, Rome... the destruction globally of multiple impacts would be... ten times greaterthan that of a single impact to America and... of course there's no way to predict the impact zone," "so no warning, no evacuation, no planning is possible." "Just death and destruction on an unimaginable scale," "If you're against deflecting the comet, what alternative strategy are you proposing?" "America has to take the hit." "Are you suggesting we sit back and do nothing?" "No, we spend the next four months preparing in every detail an evacuation strategy." "Ten days before impact we will know exactly where is going to hit." "We spend those ten days executing the plan." "If is gonna hit in the sea then we evacuate the coast, if is gonna hit land then... we evacuate half the country." "We couldn't clear New Orleans in one week for Katrina, and you wanna play musical chairs with 100 million people?" "It would take all the help of all of our allies and, probably most of our enemies too, but this is our best option." "Is impossible." "Even if we could evacuate, what about everything in the impact zone?" "Cities, farms, factories." "It would be economic suicide." "America would be blasted back to the Stone Age." "Allowing the comet to hit could create a cloud of dust and... sulphur aerosols that would block out the rays of the sun." "Food production then becomes impossible." "Millions would die through the immediate impact events, millions more through starvation." "It could be an Ice Age all over again." "Brendan Kelly, Queen's University." "I'd like to add something." "An impact winter is not a certainty." "It depends on how much sulphurthere is in the comet, how much sulphurthere is in the impact zone." "The comes precise mass and speed, the truth, the truth is... we won't know" "...until is too late." "Thank you, and if we don't know then how can we commit to such an extreme course of action..." "Gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen..." "...thall be all for now." " Frank..." " Sir?" "...could you stay back a moment?" " Absolutely." "You knew that he would go forthe nuclear deflection... because he gets to use all his little toys... and he gets to play the big military hero and that is why you suggested it." " But if it works, it works." " What if it doesn't, Josh?" "We're scientists, we're allowed to disagree." "Not at this stage we're not, and not after I'd laid out very clearly what that strategy would be." "...listen up." "General Harris hasjust green lit the nuclear option." "But, but, but he's also considering other plans." "The final decision will hinge on the outcome of the probe, is that understood?" "Yes sir." "In the meantime, since you two are unable to agree on a single thing," "I suggest you stay out of each other's way... and find out exactly where GBA is gonna hit... to the nearest millimetre." "Adam Gregorski, sir." "Post New Orleans, several people whose opinions I'm supposed to respect have told me... you're the best man FEMA has." "What I'm about to say to you is highly classified." "I'm a professional." "General, I assume thas why you called me in." "I need FEMAto work up an emergency mass evacuation strategy." "It needs to exceed the remit of the National Response Plan." "Back in the eighties the DCPAwas tasked with... creating a Crisis Relocation Plan..." "Designed to evacuate citizens from urban centres in the event of a nuclear attack." "...Right, and if we continue to fund the programm update it with regular drills the catastrophes we faced during... hurricanes Rita and Katrina could have been mitigated." "The sad fact is we didn't and the crisis we're facing now, makes Katrina look like a walk in the park." "You want me to resurrect CRP?" "I need you to look at the research it was based on and... adapt it for something different and far greater in scope." "Thas our starting point." "Urban or rural evacuations?" "Both." "Multiple locations." "Cities, towns, it could be north, south, east or west, it might be a concentrated geographic area, it could well be scattered over many states." "Gregorski, I want you to put together a plan to move 100 million people." "Rumours from Los Alamos, New Mexico suggest that... recorded earth tremors are in fact nuclear calibration tests." "At Houston leaks suggest that... engineers are secretary adapting rockets to deliver warheads to deflect Gibden-Bell A." "Injust two days, Voyager Seven will start beaming back information... on the precise trajectory of the comet chain, informations NASA scientists insist will be... critical to the success of any future mission." "There's a story that Eisenhower instructed that... for every five miles of highway they built, it was mandatory that at least one mile be absolutely straight." "Well, thas a myth, but I did some digging around... and what is true is that Congress considered using a flight strip programme in their Federal Aid Highway Act of 1944, and that got me thinking." "Besides utilising all the military and commercial air bases on the West Coast, why should we not also use ourfreeways and... use them as improvised landing strips?" "Now this here is a map of the Utah desert." "Interstate 80... mile after mile of straight road." "Can you work this up state by state?" "We're already doing it." "Of course some parts are not feasible... and they will require several levels of adaptation, bulldozing the central reservations, removing power lines and signs." "Reinforcing the ground to take the weight of small aircraft, but if we have to move people fast we can move them, and en masse." "Our roads become our runways." "Thas the idea." "Injust 12 hours, Voyager Seven will start its analysis of comet Gibden-Bell." "Reports of military activity on several continents appears to confirm that... a nuclear deflection strategy is moving into an advanced stage." "Evacuation capacity index." "Our 37 largest urban areas." "How is the index calculated?" "Traffic flow, highway capacity, accessibility to cars." "The report also shows information on the transit dependent." "How bad is that?" "Those 20 cities will be harderto evacuate than..." "New Orleans was after Katrina." "Are you saying is impossible?" "Nothing's impossible." "We'll have international help, offers are flooding in." "Les get it ready." "The world holds its collective breath as the comet Gibden-Bell, the single most terrifying threat that mankind has faced is revealed forthe very first time." "These simple somewhat hypnotic pictures live from the probe Voyager Seven show... the comet chain in all its terrible beauty." "Only now will we learn the true nature of the threat that we all face." "Entire nations have come to a standstill." "Factories, offices, schools, all closed ...as people gaze in awe at the simple images that we see here." "The comet chain, Gibden-Bell as it hurtles towards the earth." "Pasadena..." "lost transmission." "Please confirm." "Land impact confirmed, civil unrest breaks out." "Curfew imposed from dusk til dawn, ...as America wakes up to the news." "Unless scientists can stop it, comet Gibden-Bell will hit North America." "The probe was destroyed before it had a chance to feed back any data, the official announcement will be made tomorrow, but I wanted you all to hear it first hand." "The decision has been made to go ahead with the nuclear deflection strategy... scheduled for six o'clock tomorrow." "Doing nothing is unacceptable." "I can't sell your solution to the President, and he can't sell it to the American people." "My responsibility is to protect the United States of America." "And who's gonna protect the rest of the world when the comet splits up into a thousand pieces?" "If it breaks up, and ain't we all part of the same planet?" "What is wrong with you people?" "It is so clearly betterto go into the terrible situation with a known risk than... to take an alternative with an ambiguous outcome... where the hazards are much worse for Americans and the whole world and General with all due respect if you weren't so worried about your career..." " then you could sell this to the President..." " Neil." "Get him outta here." "...you could sell it to the President." " Someone get him outta here." " You could sell it to the President..." " Get him outta here..." "Forget it Brendan, just forget it." "This report here pertains to gold reserve transfer, art and items of a cultural interest... here, for instance here sir, we have an example of plans to dismantle relocate the Statue of Liberty." "My recommendation is that we allocate the bulk of our resources into saving our people." "Of course." "Well we've also made provisions for animal preservation and transportation, cattle, sheep and swine movements will have to be assessed, that is here sir..." "The President has given his go-ahead for the nuclear option." "I understand." "But if that should fail, God hope it doesn't, then this plan will be invaluable." "This is good work." "Professor Gant, isn't it?" "We met in Ireland briefly at Shannon Airport, your, yourfellow compatriot?" "Yeah right." "What are you doing in the road there's a curfew on, they'll pick you up." "Get in." "This is brilliant." "Thank you, thanks." "It could really do this huh?" "They could really pull this off." "Are you sure the deflection plan will backfire?" "No." "It could work... but in my opinion there is a far greater probability that it won't, based on all the information that we have and... especially everything that we don't have." "I am 100 percent convinced that the deflection strategy is the wrong way to go." "The outcome of this is still in your hands Neil." "You'vejust gotta persuade General Harris to go against every military bone in his body." "Oh is that all?" "Yes thas all." "Listen, you'vejust gotta come up with something, you've gotta give him something, I don't know what, some intel, pictures, reports, just somethin" "Arecibo." "Whas that?" "Oh Neil, I'm such an idiot." "Arecibo is an observatory in Puerto Rico," "Josh was trying to get images up before, there's still a chance they might have some radar images, can you drive me somewhere please?" "World leaders meet to discuss the impending comet threat." "The President is expected to make an official statement at six pm tomorrow, where he is widely tipped to announce the nuclear deflection option." "Around the world people of all faiths gather in prayer and... contemplation as the earth awaits its destiny." "Oh the return of the native!" "Where have you been, we've been worried." "Have you seen Josh?" "Yeah he's playing pool, is not a pretty sight." "We're gonna convince General Harris to change his mind." "Well this might come in handy, sulphur results from Rockall, the levels are practically zero." "If the comet hits us there's no chance for nuclear winter, the earth would survive." "Fantastic Brendan, we've got something pretty great here too." "Hey..." "I wanna apologise to you, to all of you, my behaviour was totally unacceptable," "I'm sorry I never intended to make anybody look bad." "You made us all look bad." " Did you see Brendan's report?" " I did." " What do you think?" " Is not enough on its own." "Oh Josh please, please, please..." "Gibden-Bell A is held togethertoo weakly... to be able to absorb the kind of energy thas gonna be required to make a deflection work." "I think you know that Josh... because if we fire those missiles up there isjust gonna explode... and the fall out... the fall outs gonna kill all of us." "Do you remember Adam Gregorski, the FEMA guy who fixed us up in Ireland?" "General Harris asked for him to develop an evacuation strategy." "The Joint Chiefs were seriously considering it actually." "I've seen the plan, Adam thinks that he can pull it off, I do too." "So... if we let the comet hit yeah is gonna be a major catastrophe, but we can manage it, we can plan for it, we can save lives." "If it breaks up..." "Is not going to break up." "Think about what we saw in Ireland." "The people, the places." "That was one Tsunami." "We risk creating multiples with this strategy and their size could totally dwarf Rockall." "I think I've got everything I need right here but unfortunately I can't do it without you, so... the Arecibo Conservatory came through, you were right about having a back-up." "Look at it man, look at it, is smooth which suggeststhat is fragile." "Yes, well smooth does imply is more likely to break apart." "Right." " But hardly definitive." " Oh come on Josh!" "Is Occam's razor, Josh." "All things being equal, the simplest solution is the right one, and there's nothing much more simple than this." "We can't fight nature." "We've gotta live with it." "General, this report is based on the latest intelligence we have." "It clearly backs up our worst case scenarios for the nuclear deflection plan." "Our worse case scenarios?" "You convinced me to go with that plan, you championed it, you're its chief architect." "This is true but there's new evidence now." "The nuclear deflection plan has to be aborted," "Gibden-Bell A must be allowed to land unimpeded." "Why have you changed your mind?" "This latest intelligence report and..." "the input and... intuition of one of the finest scientific minds in the world." "General, NASA is now 100 percent behind the evacuation option." "The radar images from the Arecibo observatory have now been... backed up by new images from the Goldstone solar system radar in California." "Now, we believe that togetherthey present sufficient evidence to suggest that... nuclear deflection runs too great a risk of fracturing the comet." "You'd see America exposed?" "Our infrastructure decimated?" "Our way of life immeasurably altered?" "The alternative is a world in a kind of chaos that it will not survive." "America will survive sir, I believe that." "These men are my specialists." "General, I trust them absolutely." "Sir, is it true you were awarded the Medal of Honour in Vietnam?" "Yes." "Have you heard the story of one of yourfellow Medal winners, Marine Private Jack Lee Lucas?" "The name's familiar." "He earned his medal at lwojima aged 17." "Private Lucas was with three other men crawling through a ravine... when the Japanese launched a hand grenade attack." "He threw himself on two of the grenades to save his companions, the blast blew him into the air, ripped chunks out of his chest, but he survived." "Lucas didn't ask to be a hero, he took the shrapnel from those grenades because... it was the only thing to do." "America needs to step up and take that hit because... because it can." "Thas a very nice story Professor, but like you." "I preferto make my decisions based on the evidence before me." "Gentlemen." "Leave me to think this through." "Tonight the North East of America is on the move." "Instead of the widely expected strategy of nuclear deflection, the President unveiled a comprehensive Federal Evacuation Plan, now 15 US and two Canadian States are being relocated." "The authorities havejust four weeks to safely evacuate 100 million people." "Tonight the mass exodus of Washington starts, with scenes such as this being repeated in towns and cities all across the Eastern States, as people living east of the line of separation flee their homes in their millions." "International support has been described as "overwhelming"." "Ships, aircraft and essential supplies are being... directed to the evacuation zone from around the world." "Navies from Russia, India, Great Britain and France are... assisting with the evacuation of the eastern sea port." "The plan has been hailed as comprehensive in its application, ...encompassing all aspects of historical and contemporary existence." "On Liberty Island the rescue programme is underway for New York's most famous cultural landmark." "Where should we draw the line?" "From muzeums to zoos, thas the question facing officials as the hours tick by." "Sir, they're suggesting that we re-commission the bunkerfacility... in the Greenbriar Hotel in West Virginia." "Forget about Greenbriar, strike it off the list." "Even though they survive the impact... they'll be crawling into a burning desert, is no good." "Elephant or Picasso?" "Sir?" "Triage, which would you save?" "Er... you know, aside from human beings, the elephant is the only other land animal that actually sheds tears." "Thas very touching Leon but is not true." "Many animals produce tears to lubricate the eye, it does not imply emotion." "But apart from us the elephants are the only ones that seem to grieve... when they lose a family member, when an elephant walks past the spot where they lost a loved one... theyjust stop still." "They mourn their dead." "Across the impact zone... airports, military and private airfields are working around the clock to maximise the evacuation." "In the rest of the world flights have ground ...to a halt as national airlines donate theirfle" "Military aircraft and cargo carriers are being adapted to ferry evacuees at unprecedented rates." "More planes are being put in the air in one hour than are normally undertaken in an entire day." "I've been told that even crop sprayers are being utilised to help airlift people out... of the impact zone, but is in the large international airports such Dulles that... the true scale of the evacuation can be seen." "Freeways, highways, just about anywhere an aircraft can land has been requisitioned by FEMAto accelerate the exodus." "Skies above major Southern State cities are filled with planes." "Volunteer air crews, emergency and military personnel will be those at the front line, risking themselves to the very end to ensure that as many people as possible get out alive." " Josh!" "Any sign of Marcie's transport?" " Not yet." "I don't want you to do this, I want you to be so efficient, just get on that flight and never look back." "Nobody forced me, I volunteered remember?" "Well don't take too many trips and," "I mean don't leave it too long to get yourflight out of there okay?" "Is here!" "This is it." "Is... not for Marcie, is for us." "Sorry." "Marcie, I..." "I know." "You've gotta go, so..." "Go." "I do too." "Be safe." "I will." "Five days before comet impact and civil unrest spreads throughout the impact zone." "Despite the massive numbers successfully transported to safety, panic is spreading amongst those for whom time is running out." "Josh!" "Josh we got it, we've got the target, is Pennsylvania, is Pennsylvania." " You sure?" " Yeah, is Pennsylvania." "Okay." "Yeah, can I speak to General Harris please?" "Urgently." "Hi, is Josh Hayden here, we've got the target, is Pennsylvania." "The State of Pennsylvania has been identified, ...as the likely epicentre of the comet impact." "Prioritised now for evacuation resources are being swiftly... directed towards the State and the surrounding areas." "Exact impact possibilities now... include the Pennsylvanian cities of Harrisburgh, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Johnstown, or Altoona." "I wanna thank you for all the hard work your people put in." "We're not gonna have time to get everyone out sir." "We're looking at five percent of the population of the Eastern States being left behind." "We can only do whas in our powerto do, and you've done what you can Adam." "Well not yet, I'm co-ordinating the final stages for Virginia from Dulles airport." "Good luck." "When do you leave sir?" "I'll be turning out the lights." "Last man standing sir?" "The Federal Authorities today claimed a 90 percent rate of successful evacuation of the impact States" "Cities across North East America stand empty afterthe mass re-location of some 90 million people." "With less than 48 hours to go those remaining in the impact zone are urged to... make their way to the congregation points at ports and airfields to ensure their safe evacuation." "We have 15 minutes to turn this aircraft around." "Quickly as you can please." "Fill in from the back ...and sit down as soon as you're inside." "Wait, don't close the door." "Don't close that." "I, I was with my brother, I'm, I'm not sure where he's gone." "Well if he's not on this flight sir he'll be..." "I have to find him, I'm getting off." "Look this is your last ticket out of here, you miss this you won't get out alive, now get back to your seat... now... sir." "Ladies and gentlemen, for everybody left standing, there are straps and rails provided, please hold on to them with both hands very tightly." "I can get three more planes back in the sky in an hour, but we've lost half ourfuelling crew, I need more men." "You carry on loading, I'll worry about the crew, you're doing a goodjob, keep it going." "Sir... you may need this." "Is starting to spiral." "Guys... is Pittsburgh." "So Pittsburgh will take the full force of Gibden-Bell A." "In the first few seconds after impact a... 25 mile wide fireball will vaporise everything in its path." "The shock wave will thunder outwards like a million express trains, leaving shattered buildings and bones in its wake." "As far as Chicago, Washington, Toronto and New York, the shock wave will hit these cities at 600 miles per hour and... will be followed by a force nine earthquake." "God help anyone left behind." "I wanna thank you for your bravery and patience." "Now we're looking at the last few calls, sections one and two will leave on the first transport, likewise Frank there's nothing more for your people to do here, you're all on the next chopper." "If you say so sir." "Les go team." "I'd like to stay please." "This is the best place to keep tabs on things and..." "I just wanna make sure that my calculations are absolutely correct." "A little late in the day forthat." "Yeah I know but... can we please stay?" "Very well." "You'll be on the last transport with me." "I'd like to stay as well." "We're witnessing history in the making and... we can't step in the same rivertwice." "Guess I'm in too." "And me." "No, not you." "I won't have it." "Is that fair?" "I wanna stay." "When was anything everfair?" "If things go wrong here we're gonna need scientists on the West Coast and... you're so much smarterthan us." "Hey." "One day to impact and with time running out, special rescue teams are targeting those unable to get to designated assembly points." "All able-bodied people are urged to get to an evacuation centre as soon as possible." "We're in the final stages of the evacuation here at Dulles, and the last flights are now leaving." "With three hours left to go before impact, ...it is finally time to say goodbye to our Nation's Capital." "Is weird but I feel... kinda relieved now, you know." "You're relieved?" "Finally you're relieved!" "Morning death, we've been expecting you." "What is that?" "Is that, is that some quote by a famous Brit or something?" "It is now." "Is that yours?" "Yeah!" "Do you like it?" "You know what, e-mail it to someone just in case... we don't make it outta here." "Jeez you noisy monkeys, what time is it?" "This is it then eh?" "The helicopter's on its way, time to go gentlemen, that includes you son." "26,000 men and women worked within these walls, tomorrow there'll be nothing but dust." "Wejust lost the chopper." "Lost contact?" "Sir, it, itjust disappeared, I have no idea what happened." "Have you tried to raise Bravo Six?" "They're out of range." "We're trapped here aren't we?" "Adam Gregorski's at Dulles airport, civilian evac." "Change of plan, we're going by road." "Authorities have advised that there will be no more flights leaving forthe impact zone." "Flights out will continue forjust one more hour." "Marcie, hey, hey where are you?" "We'rejust coming into Dulles airport now, but where are you?" "We're on our way to Dulles right now." "Well how far are you?" "We're close, how long can you hold it for?" "Marcie?" "Marcie?" "Marcie?" "You need to re-direct those people at Dulles, and it has to be done in stages, do you understand?" " We're swamped here already." " Yes, sir." "But i can't." "You get them on the transports, have the men escort them in groups of 300, stagger it every half hour, you can do this Leon." "Please be advised that we are re-directing all inbound planes, there will be no further landings." "Prepare final craft fortake off." "Quickly as possible folks, if you couldjust ...move on, move along, quickly as possible." "Fill the seats up as soon as you're inside, forthose of you left standing, there are rails and straps fitted, please hold on as tightly as possible." "Dead end." "Alright Sergeant, ten more, go!" "Come on, straight up, straight up." "Les go." "Go, go." " Get out of the way..." " Don't shoot..." " We're getting on, let me through." " Don't shoot, don't shoot." " We're getting on." " Sir, you've got your daughter with you..." "Get back!" "Do not do this with your daughter..." " Stand back!" " Do not do this sir, now I need you to help me sir, I promise you, you'll make it out..." "I said get back!" "I know you're scared, we're all scared... but if we work together we can make this through." "Now I promise you, you and your daughter will be on a plane out of here... but you've gotta help me." "Please... give me the gun." "At least save my daughter!" " Close up the plane." " Yes sir." "I need... two more minutes please." "I'm sorry Marcie, we can't wait any longer." "Preparing to taxi, hold tight ladies and gentlemen." "Is still here, is still here." "Everybody's going." "We're too late." "Get out of the way!" "I've gotta find Marcie." "Stay where you are, don't move!" "Don't move." "Hold your weapon soldier, there's a FEMA officer in charge here, take us to him." "Come on, les go, come on." " Yes sir." " Les go." "Marcie, Marcie?" "Hey, hey, where are you?" "We're on the runway, where are you?" "We're on the plane at the far side of the runway." "She's on that one, les go." "Get him outta here, Get him outta here." "Hold the crowd back, hold them back." "Are you alright mate?" "Come on..." "What you doing?" "I've gotta go back, I've gotta go back, I've gotta go back, get on the plane..." " Marcie we're here, we're here." " Okay, I'm gonna let you in." "Rear door unsecured, what the hell's going on back there?" "We've to leave right now." "Come on, don't restrain me, get on the plane." "Go..." "Hold 'em back... come on hold 'em back." "Gimme that gun." "Josh, come on!" "Secure the rear door." "We gonna leave right now." "When the impact was exhausted the North American landscape would be changed forever." "A scorched, broken wasteland." "No-one yet knows how many died." "Five million, maybe more... but in this moment we have survived." "In this moment we have come through the worst." "The world will keep on turning... and mankind will find a way." "This time."