"Hey, buddy." "Space is great." "I miss you guys." "We're a long way away now." "I can't even see, uh" "I can't even see Earth anymore." "And, uh... it's peaceful." "You know?" "Don't tell your mom this, but I think" "I actually sleep... better up here, away from her snoring." "Over." "Tanks B-7 and B-9 are showing early signs of freezing." "Over." "What would you do if you get out there and you find nothing?" "Well, even if we found nothing, it's in effect a discovery." "It would make me very frustrated." "I know there's something there." "Check on NAV bays 3 and 4." "You might want to update..." "Mission Control, repeat please." "Over." "Come in, Europa One." "Do you want me to show you how to beat 'em?" "William, I've got some static in the comm array feed up here." "It looks like a radiation spike." "Have you tried recycling the system?" "Rosa, we've lost your feed." "Europa One, come in." "Europa One." "Europa One." "These were the last images we received from the Europa One craft." "At the time, it had already gone farther than any human being had ever traveled before." "For 16 long months I've been asked the simple but loaded question:" ""What happened?"" "All" " I'm sorry." "We have to tell his family." "We can't." "The communication fix was never completed." "The system is fried!" "Last sync with Mission Control was 19 hours ago." "We're all alone now." "So what happens?" "Do we go on?" "I was on a plane, a transatlantic flight, when the mission feed went dark." "When I landed, Mission Control was still saying" ""Maybe it's just a transmission delay."" "But, by the time I made it into Mission Control, we were looking at over 15 hours of dead feed." "After James was lost, the joy of the mission, the exhilaration of it all just" "it just left." "I stopped feeling like a kid on a family trip." "The mission has stretched on ahead of us, somehow longer than it had been before." "No one at home knows we're alive." "We're doing the right thing, right?" "Absolutely." "Andrei, have you looked out at Jupiter yet?" "It's something to be excited about." "Are you okay?" "You haven't said a word to me in a week." " I woke up one morning" " Okay." "I woke up at some point and... didn't recognize myself." "Objectively, I know it's the zero g and the isolation that changes you." "But that doesn't make it any less strange." "It doesn't stop you from slowly breaking." "I started living my life in tune with the mission that I hoped was still going on." " That's good." " Okay." "How's your appetite?" "I'm fine." "And you're sleeping kind of" "I'm not." "It's been a year since we lost him." "Tell me we can still..." "Good morning." "I am very" "We are all very excited to be here today." "It has certainly been a long road and all of us up here started with the shared dream of space and possibility." "And this really is a new first-step for mankind." "From one perspective, you can say our mission actually began 400 years ago." "That's when Galileo first saw..." "Jupiter and its moons through his telescope." "For something this big, you get one shot." "An unmanned mission simply wasn't going to cut it for us." "You put men and women into space because they have strength in the face of cosmic odds." "Europa One is cleared for launch." "T-minus 10, nine, eight," " seven, six..." " All vents open." " five, four..." " We're go for main engine." "three, two, one." "Ignition." "Liftoff!" "On the trek to Europa." "Our engines at 98% thrust." "Fuel rate is nominal." "Rolling right in zero-point-six degrees." "Telemetry nominal." "Loft at 225 meters-per-second." "Altitude, 2.3 nautical miles." "And in three, two, one." "We have good booster separation." "Vehicle is supersonic." "Command module jettison in three, two, one." "We have a good shell separation." "Initial burn is complete." "Staging in three, two, one." "Copy." "We have good stage separation." "We have visual of command module." "Beginning turn for docking." "Trajectory is good." "Thrust is good." "We hadn't left near-Earth orbit since 1972." "Our company was tasked with moving forward where the space programs of the 20th century had left off." " 10 meters to docking." " I believe if you have the scent of a discovery this big..." " Five meters." " you do not simply wait and see what happens next." "Contact." "You go after it." "Copy." "We are green on hard dock." "Locks B through D are green." "Connects are stable." "Repeat:" "We are green on dock." "Mission Control, we are proud to report that we are officially underway." "Roger that." "We'll be here for you when you get back." "We've prepped some light traveling music for you." "Internal cam check is a go." "Must be peaceful up there." "External cam check is a go." "Come on in!" "Hello." "Please don't vote me off." "There's a camera." "What do ya know?" "Reality TV." "Okay, Jamie, this is your own personal tour of Europa One." "Oh, look, it's you, Jamie." "Hi, Jamie." ""Hi, Dad."" "Hey, Dan." "You still upset that you got the bottom bunk?" "How did you know I was thinking about that?" " I really was thinking about it." " The top is just so much better." " I was supposed to have that." " Look at that." " Here's Daniel down here..." " I'm supposed to have" ""I'm so cramped." Look at my spacious bunk." " Film me for a second." " Okay." "Okay, so this is actually one of two living quarters." "What they do is they rotate around the core module so this gives us simulated gravity." "But watch this." "We also get to experience real gravity-free space excitement." " And the head rush that goes with it." " Crew meeting" " in one hour, guys." " Okay." "Now the thing about zero gravity is that it makes our bones and muscles really weak." "This is why we spend as much time as possible in these living modules." "Yeah, okay." "Just pass it up." "I got it." "Okay." "And there's the lovely Katya." "Now these are some of the science tools that we're using to test for life on Europa." "And your dad has to fix them if any of them break." "When you're done playing tourist, you can come over here and help me." "If you're not afraid to chip a nail." "Now-- this is the cockpit." "Mission Control... sync." "Copy, Rosa." "We have sync." "And Rosa, our pilot, used to fly jets before she started flying us around." "And what's she doing?" "She's setting up the camera system which monitors everything that happens on the ship." "Smile for Jamie, Rosa." "And now-- last thing I want to show you-- have a look at this." "The view." "Kind of ironic, really." "So little space in here and so much space out there." "As the ship passed the moon, it had already gone farther than any human being had ever traveled before." "I mean, think about that." "Across all of human history, that moment was the farthest anyone had ever gone." "But they still had millions upon millions of miles to go." "Our craft was heading for a moon of Jupiter known as Europa." "This mission is riding on the shoulders of many great men and women." "And so if we have any legacy at all," "I would hope that it would be that we would inspire those who come after us to keep exploring, to keep questioning, to keep pushing the boundaries, to keep looking for the answers to those really tough questions" "Who are we?" "Why are we here?" "Where do we come from?" "And... are we alone?" "For a very long time," "Europa has seemed to be just a solid sphere of ice." "But even just looking at its surface, there are clues, you know?" "There might be water underneath the ice." "And then in the fall of 2011, scientists realized-- they released data showing the presence of sub-surface lakes-- of liquid!" "And" "Wherever we have found water-- we have found life." "But what came next was... even more startling." "NASA discovered heat signatures under an area known as the Conamara Chaos." "Well, they teased the idea that-- that simple mono-cellular life in our solar system might not just be possible, it might be probable." "I wanna go to Europa and go ice fishing." "Cut through the ice, lower a submersible, look around, see what's there." "See what swims up to the camera lens and licks it." "If life exists on Europa, it will be the single most profound discovery in human history." "Dasque to Mission Control." "Over." "We read you, Rosa." "Over." "Data sync is live." "How's everyone holding up?" "I think it's potato soup." " Get something to drink." " Dude, why-- why would you put garlic into a space dish?" "It's very rich." " It's delicious." " I have to say, though..." "Okay, look look-- I've got another mile to go." "Not bad, eh?" "What about after your run?" "When are you gonna actually call someone?" "None of your business." "Hey." "It's time." "I should have learned Mandarin before we left." " He's probably talking about us." " Gun it." "One, two, one, two, one, two, one..." " How did you feel?" " I said yes before the question had even sunk in." "They had to ask me four times before I could even respond." "No trouble on the ping requests." "We see a sticking valve in V-Tech." "Are you seeing that too?" "Over." "Andrei is already working on a fix." "If it leaks any more, we'll isolate the manifold." "Oh, and we have series." "of fuse events in Rosa's station." "Can you have the team on duty investigate?" "Over." "Copy that." "But you might have it fixed before we finish the review." "You're making us feel two steps behind." "Over." "You'll make him blush." "Over." "Mission Control, can you hear me?" "Andrei is in the shower right now, so I want to take this opportunity to tell you that your shower system is totally inadequate." "And I don't buy your theories about the body adjusting to the new hygiene regime." "You know what I can't adjust to?" "The drinking of the distilled urine." "Oh!" "James!" "I'm just saying-- you're worried about my smell and you're drinking my urine?" "You know what I think they're really pissed off about?" "You guys only gave them four outfits." "So sometimes they wake up in the morning, they find out they're wearing the same thing the entire day." "They get totally pissed off." "And the shoes-- you gave them two pairs of shoes." "For women." "I'm just saying." "Rosa, dinner!" "Where is she?" " Coming." " Who's the lasagna?" " Yeah." " That's you?" " Oh, God." " Who's the pod macaroni and cheese-ish?" " I guess I'll take that." " To six months!" "Cheers." " Okay, eyes." "Eyes." " Wait," " you're not looking into my eyes." " Oh, sorry." " Can I see?" " Did you see any polar bears?" "No, really." "We-- we pulled our astronauts from the very best space programs across the globe." "Our captain is William Xu." "I think this mission will show people that we're still capable of achieving impossible things." "Dr. Daniel Luxembourg." "My entire adult life has been dedicated to exploring extreme environments." "And I became an astronaut specifically to have the opportunity to do something like this." "Dr. Katya Petrovna." "Life on Earth began in the ocean, so in some ways this mission will be like taking a trip back in time." "My background is in marine biology and oceanography." "To be honest, sometimes I'm terrified of flying." "Andrei Blok." "I think I have 349 days in outer space, so I'm what you call a veteran." "The only thing I can't face is... the food." "James Corrigan." "I remember watching footage at school of Neil Armstrong on the moon, and just-- just knowing "I want to do this."" " Rosa Dasque." " Call me immature, reckless, arrogant." "I just want to go faster and farther than anyone has before." "We had to design a spacecraft unlike any before it." "Of course, once the decision was made to put people on board, the requirements ballooned." "Human beings need food, shelter." "They need an environment that is survivable and has some level of comfort." "It's cracking the ice." "We're a month away, Andrei." "We're still concerned about your recovery." "So how should I be recovering, exactly?" "Excuse me." "So what do you think?" "I still wouldn't advise leaving him in the orbiter alone for three weeks." "I'd rather not leave our only engineer behind." "So we take him down with us then." "Yeah." "Jupiter." "Being so close to our destination lifted our spirits." "It felt that everything made sense again." "The thickness in the air cleared." "But what cleared it was sheer adrenaline." "Prep for orbital transfer." "We're gonna feel some Gs here." "Pitch maneuver." "We are clear of Jupiter's orbit." "Beginning orbital transfer." "Pitching for power descent." "Daniel, can you keep Andrei abreast of any of those changes in the readouts, please?" " Roger that." " Orbit trajectory, clear." "Current speed 60 kilometers per second." " Ready?" " Yeah." "Surface conditions in the LZ?" "I've got heat plume and radiation analysis incoming, but the data is variable." "Heat is fluctuating." "Not far now." "All systems online." "Showing green light." "Landing gear armed and ready to deploy." "Ladies and gentlemen, hold on." "Here we go." "Trajectory and speed?" "Heading 270.3." "Coming in low across Thera Macula at 458.4 meters per second." "Target site lining up." "Landing gear deployed." "20 seconds to" "What was that?" "It's like a thermal vent." "Sort of an eruptive feature." " Can you stabilize us?" " I'm trying!" "Andrei, I need an option for emergency landing." "Vent's coming from the area around our target site." "There's a low gradation of ice just past the LZ, along Thrace Macula." "Okay." "Land us long." "Get us past the vent area." " 100 meters to contact." " 10 seconds of fuel." "Back off the burners on approach or we'll melt our landing site." "Roger that. 10 meters." " Five meters." " Contact lights." "Shut down." "I think we've got it." "Everything okay up here?" "Sorry." "I can't pull my eyes away from it." "It takes your breath away." "That night I went out and found Jupiter in the night sky and..." "I spent a long time looking at it, just... hoping." "Surface temp in current position is holding at absolute zero." "Prelim service data has us on a bed of what looks like ice 11." "We should be there, but we're here." "We flew 590 million kilometers and then landed 100 meters off the mark." "It seems insignificant, but it will be difficult to get useful surface analysis." "Ironically, what threw the ship off course from the original target zone was a reconfirmation of what we had hoped for." "If such heat-plume eruptions were escaping through the cracks in the ice, it suggested strong underwater thermal activity and the potential for life." "If they had landed on the target area, which was ripe for surface analysis, the mission would have begun with extensive surface tests using the ship's robotic arm, followed by a few hours of drilling through the ice" "to deploy a remote underwater probe." "So how will that affect procedure?" "What it means is we won't get the data we want very easily." "That's why I want to move back Daniel's surface test and start the drill immediately." "Our best hopes of success lies under the ice." "Daniel, what do you think?" " I wanna argue..." " I'm sure you would." "but with our current position in the ice, we won't get key data." "Let's go for a swim." "Drill head is locked and prepped." "Beginning extension." "Thermal is live." "Entering ice layer now." "Do you hear that?" " Are you getting it?" " Yeah." "I think that's just the ice shifting." "Everything's all right." "We can expect more of that as the temperature drops." "That was stronger than our data projected it." " Are we stable?" " Re-working the analysis now." "Katya, let's try the frequency of these quakes." "The increased tidal activity means there could be more heat than we thought beneath the surface." " Are you recording this?" " Yeah." "Okay, let's run some diagnostics here, because it seems to be escalating a little bit." "Might be some subsurface aftershocks, but up here we'll be fine." "You saw it." "You got to check out this activity." " It's incredible." " Everything's fine here." "What about the ECS?" "All clear?" " How about the hull and landing gear?" " You see this?" " Check out the activity." "Incredible." " Yeah, no deflection." " ECS?" " ECS okay." "No problems here." "Guys, I saw something." "What do you mean?" "I saw something outside the ship." "From up there through the porthole." "Maybe 100 meters out." "I tried to get a video, but I missed it." "It was a light down the linea." "I was working one of the servers when the ice shook." "And... it was there." "A light source outside the ship?" "I know that I saw it." " It was flickering." " How strong was the light?" "Well... it was like an LED, but dull from refraction." "But the-- oh, it happened so fast." "It was there and then it was gone." "You mean it moved?" "Oh, yeah." "Yeah, it moved." "I can check the heat signatures." "Do you see anything?" "I've checked this footage three times." " There's nothing to see." " Yeah, but that doesn't mean there was nothing there." "If it was too dim, these cameras wouldn't have caught it." "That's true." "A weak chemiluminescence maybe?" "Triggered by shifts in the ice?" "A chemical iridescence doesn't fit this description." "Maybe." "When we prepare the surface test, we'll know." "I find the idea of bacteria clinging to the underside of the ice more likely." "Something that has a luminescent response to radioactivity." "Yeah, but do you think it actually moved?" "Scientifically I doubt it." "But personally, I hope so." "Wait, did you notice that?" "What?" "Radiation interference." "It's on all the cameras." "Wait, let's take two steps back here." "I think there's another version of this that we have to consider." "It's entirely possible Andrei didn't see anything at all." "It's very dark out there and his mind could be filling in the blanks." "But it could also be our first indication of exactly what we came out here to find." " Is Andrei sleeping yet?" " No." "In those days there was a raw-- a raw mix of emotions." "We'd come so far, weathered so much." "I think we were all in a place where excitement blended with awe... and fear." "Okay, so Daniel is my witness." "You find a single microbe up there and I win." "If you find a still-living microbe, you win." "What?" "Evidence of extinction doesn't win me the bet?" "You always find a technicality like that" " for winning." " No no." "It's not a technicality." "It means that at some point in time we were not alone." "It is a technicality." " Daniel." " What?" "What are you doing, buddy?" "What's happening?" " You lost something?" " I lost my toothbrush." " What?" " He's unpacking his entire bunk." "You lost your toothbrush?" "What color is it, man?" "Did you pack it?" " Oh, no." " Okay, where's my toothbrush?" " We have to return to Earth." " We better call housekeeping." "You should get some rest." "Not until I know what I saw out there." "We're working on it." "We'll figure it out." "What if I can't believe or trust my own eyes?" "You need to sleep." "We need you to sleep." "There's pills, sedatives." "No pills." "I need to stay alert." "I need to stay focused." "How are you holding up?" "Good." "We've broken through." "Water." "I'm patching in." "Probe microphone live." "This is a completely untouched environment." "Just waiting." "We're so far from home, but... it's like looking at Lake Vostok right now." "Radiation levels down here are minimal." "And there's definitely a heat source somewhere in our target zone." "122 meters to heat-plume area." "There's 100 kilometers of water down there." "It puts the trench zones back on Earth to shame." "I think we're seeing some tectonic plates here." "The sulfur concentration is showing that the thermal vents are closer than expected." "Creepy." "That's your scientific assessment, is it?" " Yep." " "Creepy"?" "Is that the weathering of the ice?" "Maybe." "Could be a bacteria." "Grabbing samples and... moving on." "20 meters to target zone." "Look at how the sunlight penetrates the ice here." "It must be much thinner than we thought." "You hear that?" "It could be coming from reverberations, deeper caverns caught in currents." "It's almost like a male whale sound." "Hey, a little presumptuous, don't you think?" " Maybe." " Oh, yeah." "I've got some irregularities in our data here." "I'm getting a radiation spike." "Rosa, are you picking up on this?" "There's something in the video feed too." "It's similar to what we saw after the last ice shift." "That doesn't make any sense." "The ice should be shielding the probe from radiation." "It's not coming from above." "It's coming from deeper into the target zone." "Yeah." "Let's adjust course and depth to investigate." "Bringing us down." "What was that?" "What's our temperature down here?" "Get ready to expand the probe arm to get samples." "What was that?" "Oh, shit." "Recycle power." "All right, let's run some tests." "There was an abnormal shift in the velocity of the current." " It's not reacting." " Is it a remote issue?" " I've lost control of it." " Shit." "Can you play back the video?" "Did something hit the probe?" " What data do we have?" " It'll take time to process, but I'll tell you right now, not much." "It seemed like it was right under the probe." "What was the last piece of data it sent?" "The heat surged to 500 but that couldn't have caused a critical..." "Shit!" "A surface walk was always heavily debated at all stages of our mission planning." "And our main concern then was the radiation from Jupiter." "I will walk to the target zone and I'll get the body of samples we need." "Katya, the radiation alone" "The radiation is fluctuating." "It was 200 ram last time I checked." "I'm willing to take that risk." "What about everything else that could go wrong?" "It's 100 meters!" "Having lost the probe, the only way to get the data was to explore the chaos zones where the ice had cracked and re-cracked." "And this process would expose any microorganisms that have been trapped inside the ice." "Somebody's gotta go out there!" " It's too risky." " Enough!" "Enough!" "I feel like it's a critical phase and I'm not there." "I just" "I just didn't realize it would be this hard." "Over." "Sounds like a car." "You know, take him to the game, if you want." "I miss you guys." "Love you." "Over." "You okay?" "Yeah, I am good." "I'm good." "Not so easy, is it?" "No." "No, it's not." "You know, my boy's gonna be six when I see him again." "He's gonna be proud of you." "What would you do if you get out there and you find nothing?" "Well, even if we found nothing, it's in effect a discovery." "It would make me very frustrated." "I know there's something there." "Check on NAV bays 3 and 4." "Mission Control, repeat please." "Over." "Do you want me to show you how to beat him?" "William, I've got some static in the comm array feed up here." "It looks like a radiation spike." "Have you tried recycling the system?" "Europa One, come in." "Rosa, we've lost your feed." "Come in, Europa One." "Europa One, come in." "Come in, Europa One." "Europa One, come in." "Europa One." "Europa One, Europa One, do you" "Now try as you might to prepare for everything, there will always be that unknown element." "In this case a solar storm hit, damaging key systems, including communication with Mission Control." "Are you ready?" "Okay." "Oxygen is flowing." "We're good." "This never gets old." "Okay, commencing egress." "William, I'm gonna tether the EMUs once we're..." " on the hull." " Roger that." "Andrei and James had to do an EVA to repair the system-- a bit like performing ballet and rocket science at 125,000 miles an hour." "This reminds me of the ISS thrust fix all over again." "5 hours, 13 minutes remaining on EVA." "You know what time it is back on Earth?" "Battery block D is non-functional." "2 hours 55 minutes." "All right, I've got green lights on the fan arrays." "How are we doing on the comm power supply?" "So I said to the guy, "You know," "I can't just come along and stay as long as you want." "You have to tell me how long it's gonna take."" "Okay, guys, 50 minutes remaining on EVA." "I can't keep you out there much longer." "Panels one through six are clear." "Moving onto seven." "We just need a little more time, William." "I think it's a blown fuse in the communication panel." "You've got 37 minutes." "If you don't find it, we'll need to begin regress." "Okay, we're at the communication panel." "Opening up the door." "What do you got, Andrei?" "James, get a look at this." "The receptors are shot." "Yeah, William, the whole board is fried." "I gotta take the pins out." "Okay." "Taking out the first pin." "Come on." "And first pin is clear." "Going for number two." "Proceed." "Come on." "Shit." "It's not coming." "Okay." "William, we've got a frozen pin." "Okay, guys, leave that last panel for now." "What do you think?" "We can't tell how bad it is till we get in there." "You sure, man?" "You don't want to put heat on there first?" " It just feels" " The damage could spread." " Okay." " What the hell is going on out there?" "Okay." "I'm set." "Come on." "Shit!" "It snapped." "The panel snapped." "I ripped my glove." "I ripped" "It's okay." "Andrei's okay." " We're tethered." " It's a tear of one inch." " I've cut my skin." " I got him hooked to me." "We're coming in." "Andrei, do not attempt to climb back in on your own." " James?" " I see him, I see him." "I got him." "I'm going for him." "Hang on." " It's a small rip." " Take it easy." " Just relax, big guy." " Keep calm, Andrei." " I'm bleeding." " Save your oxygen." "He's losing air, but he's got his hand on it." "I'm bringing him in." "I got you." "Nice and easy." "Just relax, big guy." " I got you." " Oxygen pressure is dropping steadily." "You don't have much time." "James, listen to me." "His oxygen level is red-lighting." "Get him back inside the ship." "Okay." "We're at the lock." "I'm coming in." "Stop, don't go in." " Why?" " There's something on your suit." "It's hydrazine." "Uh, guys, we've got a problem." "I've got hydrazine on my suit." "It must have hit me when we popped the panel." "He's covered in it." "It's in the seams." "It's-- it's everywhere." " What can we do to decontaminate?" " We can't." "If we bring him in, the air in the ship will become toxic." "Come on." "Shit." "We should get him in the lock, get a v-cam reading." "We can't." "There'd be too much risk of lingering contamination." "We gotta figure out a way to get the suit clean." "It's not coming out." " I'm totally screwed." " Andrei, get in the lock." "We need to depressurize your suit now." "Then we'll figure out how to get James in." "Seriously?" "!" "Come on, man, I got" "I've got 20 minutes of oxygen." "Is there no way to get it clean?" " Andrei." " I'm not going in." "I'll get you out of the suit..." " What?" " into the airlock." "You'll be out of the suit less than two minutes." " It's survivable." " Is that even possible?" "I'll get you out of this." "I'll fix it." "No." "Andrei, you're gonna black out, man." " No, I'm not." " This isn't gonna work." "James, now you're bleeding oxygen." " No." "No." " We're going to lose them both." "James, he's fading." "You have to get him in the lock." "Okay." "Shit." "Rosa, close the airlock now!" "James is no longer attached to the hull." " I said close the lock!" " Rosa, close the lock!" "Airlock is closed." "Oxygen is flowing." "Repressurization in 10 minutes." "This is insane." "You gotta go get him." "We can't." "By the time we'd get there, he'd" "James?" "Yeah yeah yeah, I'm here." "Oh, Christ, I can't..." "I'm gone." "Oh, shit." "Is Andrei okay?" "Yeah." "He's okay." "I'm sorry, James." "Don't be sorry." "It was an accident, you know?" "I" " I don't have much time, so tell Andrei... tell Andrei he's a-- he's a crazy son of a bitch, you know?" "And I love him for trying to save my life and..." "Deb and Jamie, I..." "I love you so much." "Forgive me." "I thought I was trying to do something great for mankind." "I always said it was worth the risk, but..." "Forgive me for-- for hurting you." "A part of me kinda wishes I could just float out here forever, you know?" "I can't s" " I can't see anything." "I can't..." "I can't see any..." "It's stupid to argue like this." "Katya, no way you can go out there without us behind you." "And, William, with all due respect," "I think we should all decide together how to do this." "I know what you think, William." "What about you, Daniel?" "It's ill-advised." "A surface walk was always a question mark." "Well, we can do it." "I'll walk the equipment out and you can run the analysis from here." "We can get what we came for." "And if she goes out there and we never see her again?" "Think hard about that." "I think she should do it." "I'm sorry, William." "Thank you." " Andrei?" " It's too dangerous." "I vote no." "Absolutely." "So that's a tie then." "Rosa?" "Katya made our complete cosmic insignificance seem like a call to arms." "What can I say?" "She was right." "She's still right." "Two hours of EVA." "210 meters out." "Search the top layer of ice while Daniel runs analysis back here." "Copy that." "Be careful." "Compared to the breadth of knowledge yet to be known, what does your life actually matter?" "30 minutes for depressurization." "Batteries live." "Switching to battery power." "Pressure's at 30 kPa." "How's your prep?" "30 seconds to egress." "Good luck." "I'm ready." "I can't believe I'm here." "We're here." "This is incredible." "Radiation is holding steady." "We're at 50 millisieverts per hour-- within acceptable limits." "I'll check if I can see her from upstairs." "It's so still out here." "It's so" " I don't know what the word is." "Creepy?" "I was going to go with "cosmically astounding."" "I wish I could take one of these gloves off and touch the ice." " Really feel it." " Please don't." "I have visual of her from here." "I'm heading towards the target zone now." "We've got your back." "Life-support systems look good." "Okay, Katya, you are crossing into the target zone." "You see that?" "Where the ice is less deteriorated?" "Just set up in the middle of that." " Here?" " Exactly." "She must have been out there for an hour." "But it-- it felt like an eternity." "Each minute seemed to divide and divide again into endless moments." "First sample ready for scan." "Sending data back to you now." "Are you reading?" "Running analysis, stand by." "We're negative for trace carbon and chemotropic processes." "Can you try ice with more trace rust?" "You could feel... every minute is somehow longer than it had ever been before." " Let's give it another shot." " Why don't you take the equipment down the linea to zone three?" "Radiation is trending upwards, Katya." "You've been out there 70 minutes." "We're so close." "How much time can you give me, William?" "You've only got time for a few more sample sets." "All right, Katya, it's time to come back." "Okay." "I'm digging out a sub-surface sample that isn't radiation blasted." "Are you guys seeing this?" "Here." "I'm getting imaging... now." "It's a unicellular organism, something akin to an algae." "I knew it." " What is it?" " I don't know for sure, but..." "I mean, it's not like it has a name." "It looks like something Precambrian to me." "That's my first guess on an Earth-based analogue." "I don't believe it." "We did it." "Okay, Katya, let's get you back into the ship" " and sort out this data." " Packing up." "I hope the champagne's ready." "Look at that." "Do you guys read that light in the distance?" "We're not reading anything." "It looks like some kind of chemical iridescence." "I'm going to get closer to investigate." "Reserve oxygen will give her another 90 minutes." "Okay, Katya." "Proceed with caution." "I can't see her." "She's moving farther out." "It's beautiful." "This looks like it could be the light you were describing." "I can see it again." "Can you check on my readouts?" "It's-- it's-- it's-- it's hard to say." "I mean maybe there's other microbial organisms out there that eat through the ice." "This is a much more complex ecosystem than we'd previously thought." "I wanna see if it's reacting to my lights." "I'm going to turn them off." "I'm going to get closer." "Hold that action, Katya." "Katya, do you read me?" "We have severe electromagnetic interference." "Did you see that?" "She has to come back." "...have visual." "I'm going to try to get it back." "I'm seeing it through the ice." "I think it's some sort of bioluminescence." "We've got the data, Katya." "Heat and radiation levels are moving with it." "I can't wrap my head around this." "It's..." "Okay, the ice is thin here, but it seems stable." "If I get close," " I should be able to get a better look." " Keep your line open." "I want to know what's happening out there." "The ground is not stable!" "The ice is breaking." "Katya, can you hear me?" "Come back to the ship now!" "It's cracking the ice!" "My foot is..." " Katya, do you read me?" "Come in!" " Get her back in!" " Get her back in!" " Katya, come in." "Do you read me?" " She's not listening." " Rosa, do you see her out there?" "Nothing." "Just the ice." " She's under the ice." " What?" "Under the water." "We've still got her helmet cam." "Whatever it was, it was reacting to the light on her helmet." "That's the behavior of a complex organism." "The logs, the data-- they don't show any proof of complex life." "We can't leave until we have that." "We don't know how long we'll be stable here." "And we've lost two of our crew." "If we never leave, no one on Earth will ever know what we discovered." "I agree." "We need to leave now." "When the next launch window opens, we take off." "I want all the data secured and double-checked... especially everything Katya found." "T-minus 32 seconds to liftoff." "Prepping for ascent ignition." "Orbital sync is established." "Docking operation in t-minus eight minutes." " Give me a systems check." " Engine temperature's rising." "Andrei?" "Booster 3 is stuck at 30%." "We've got to launch now." "Launch in three, two, one." "What the hell?" "I can't keep it steady." "Our trajectory is way off course." "The injectors are melting!" "We've got engine mixture ratio errors in engines two and three." "We're nowhere near orbital transfer!" "Hey!" "I can try to correct course at apogee." " The vernier thrusters might do it!" " We need to shut" " the valves down!" " Get us back down on the surface." " What?" " Don't engage the second burn." "You mean crash us?" "What's happening up there?" "Valves dow" "2,000 meters." "1900." "I can't keep it steady." "Computer's unable to rectify." "Still dropping!" "Coming in too fast!" "What are you doing?" "William!" " William!" " I'm going to slow us down." "I'm going to blow the water shielding." "It'll create... thrust!" " Brace for impact!" " 200 meters!" "Andrei?" "Andrei?" "Wake up, wake up!" "William?" "Okay." "He's dead." "He saved us." "Europa wasn't ready to let us go yet." "It quickly became apparent that we crashed into the original landing zone." "Ironic, I suppose." "This zone was much warmer, much more active than any previous data had suggested." "Underwater vents had rendered the ice brittle and unstable and constantly shifting" "And then you add onto that" "William had jettisoned the water shielding on descent and that had saved them, but it also left them dangerously exposed to radiation." "We're leaking oxygen." "And we're also losing heat-- three degrees since I started checking." "If I would bet, we'll freeze before we suffocate." "The exterior light should be working." "Daniel, can you check?" " Daniel?" " I am." "It's not good." "The ice is cracking under the ship." "You can almost see the ice/water interface." "We're gonna be under the ice in a matter of hours." "Our last shot is docking with the orbiter... and using its back-up life-support systems." "If the propulsion system is still alive..." "I can get us into orbit." "Come help me." "It's pointless." "Is this what you're looking for?" "Yeah." "Thank you." "Shit!" " Are you all right?" " The ice broke through." "This is it." "It's happening." "It's the end." "We'll find a way." "We have to." "The fuel line is partially frozen." "That caused the loss of thrust." "We're lodged in the ice." "Can we even take off properly?" "If we time it right, maybe." "Two hours is the fastest we can fix it, but that is if... two of us is working on it." " You mean the three of us?" " No." "You have to stay inside, prep engines." "The fix must happen outside the ship." "That was that." "Are you ready?" "Are you?" "Daniel and Andrei entered the airlock for final de-pressurization." "Here." "Two hours." "Then I'll see you both back here." "Yeah?" "And that... brings us to now." "If we don't make it... this record... one day..." "Just in case." "Just in case." "Depressurization complete." "Pressure is 25 kilopascals." "I'll go first, make sure the ice is stable." "Beginning egress." "Roger that." "System signals are strong." "The hatch is open." "Oh, shit." "The ladder is a bit skewed, but I think I can make it." "The ice beneath the ship is cracked, but it looks sturdy." "Taking my first step now." "Be careful." "We're picking up the same radiation signature." "Okay." "Taking my first step now." "I am on the ice." "Oh, God." "I can feel it" "Daniel?" "Daniel?" "!" " Do you read me?" " Daniel?" "!" "Daniel?" "Andrei?" "Talk to me!" "Rosa, turn off the exterior lights." " Turn off the exterior lights!" " Okay." "I'm getting nothing." "His mike is dead." "His camera is dead." "He just vanished." "Do you read me?" "What the hell is going on out there?" "I don't know." "What?" "I lost him." "I lost him." "The ice cracked beneath him." "Daniel?" "Daniel?" "He was surrounded by lights, then he was gone." "Tell me... tell me we can still patch the fuel line." "Andrei?" "Say something." " Andrei?" " We can't." "There's one thing still worth trying." "The communication array is still salvageable." "I can fix it if I take parts from the life support." "I don't know." "Can you still prep data sync?" "Rosa, we can do this." "How will I know when?" "When I remove life-support batteries you'll lose power in the command module." "Then data sync..." "Keep talking to me." "Keep the line open." "It's dark." "It's not gonna be easy." "Andrei?" "I've lost your camera again." "Can you hear me?" " Okay." " It's not far." "Camera's back up." "10 paces..." "Andrei?" "Come on, come on." "Andrei, I can see the light behind you." "Hurry, please." "I can see water under the ship." "Come on, hold on." "Another malfunction." "I need to check the drives." "Work, please." " It's just one more tweak and I'm done." " Andrei?" "Do you read me?" "Do you read me?" "!" "There's a cabinet in the cockpit... that I've been working with." "Join the wires... and the systems will start." "Command module is just about dead." "We're losing cameras here." "I'm moving to the..." "Andrei?" "I'm connecting the wires." "Almost there." "Almost there." "It's working!" " Oh, God." " Running out of time!" "Communications are up." "You did it!" "You need to see this!" "Are you getting this?" "!" "The luminescence is all around the ship now!" "The exterior cameras are dying." "Can you hear me?" "Andrei?" "The ship is sinking into the ice!" "Andrei?" "Do-- do you read?" "Andrei?" "Andrei, do you read?" "Talk to me." "Talk to me." "Andrei, talk to me!" "Compared to the breadth of knowledge yet to be known... what does your life actually matter?" "In those final moments, knowing communication had been re-established," "Rosa chose to open the airlock." "I got the call at 3:00 a.m." "telling me that communication had been re-established." "By the time I got into our mission control our servers were flooded with images of our crew." "Our mission had finally come back to us." "We saw the sacrifices they made for each other to keep the mission alive, to push the discovery further." "And that final image-- startling." "Terrifying." "Completely beyond our wildest theoretic models." "The discovery of this creature is simply extraordinary." "We now know that our universe is far stranger, far more alive than we had ever imagined." "The crew of Europa One changed the fundamental context in which all of humanity understands itself." "I don't know what greater measure of success they could have achieved." " Is this smiling?" "Smiling?" " Wet your lip." "Yeah." "One, two..."