Paine Space Telescope, July 2, 2003

The telescope pans toward earth. Goddard Space Center, Greenbelt, Maryland

An employee is analyzing data from that scan. There is a light in the frame. It is not a spec on her screen.

It’s an asteroid that passed by Jupiter. It’s about 1.1 kilometers in diameter. The asteroid contains a colossal amount of iridium. Probably 70 thousand metric tons. It’s upwards of $20 trillion dollars. If they can grab it and harness it, it will usher in another technological revolution. The USSR doesn’t like the potential dent in their control of the mineral.

It’s a flashback. Kuz, Daniells, Lee, Ed and the others are rationing food and staying abreast of the Mars work. Danielle is in a rover with Danny, watching him eat and seeing how he’s marking down the days. It was a dream Danielle was having. Palmer wakes her with the news of the asteroid.

Gore wants news about the asteroid. He wants it for the US. Eli warns against going rogue. Everyone needs to work together.

Ed and Danielle argue in front of the crew about how to handle things. She pulls him aside for a chat. Ed can’t let go what she did to Svetlana, and she calls him out on it. The decide to cut the shit and make this asteroid thing happen.

Samantha is dating someone that Ilya doesn’t like. Miles says Lee is still asking about his wife, who also has to be smuggled out of North Korea. Ilya says they won’t be able to get it done, but they need to find a way to tell Lee in such a way that won’t anger him.

Sam’s new guy is from And Just Like That… Sebastiano Pigazzi. Sam has heard that their work schedule is about to get untenable, doing difficult work in half the time. Her guy tempers her anger.

Dev is making the journey to Mars, and Kelly finds out about it through a news item on the radio. Kelly and Aleida aren’t happy they weren’t consulted. Aleida is going to work with the M7 negotiators. Dev is also pushing up the timeline for Kelly’s project and wants her to go with him to Mars.

Ed and Danielle continue arguing when he makes a change to the Ranger 2 crew. She’s particularly annoyed that he chose himself as mission commander. But it ends with her saying just to run things by her in there future. It looks like his hand shaking is exacerbated by stress, and Palmer recognizes the issue.

Aleida assures Kelly that Alex will hate her whether she goes to Mars or not since that’s just the nature of kids. Aleida is nervous about the M7 talks and Kelly shares something her mom used to say. There are always a million reasons not to do something, but only can find the reason why you should.

Gore takes credit for the asteroid discovery, landing him in hot water with the press. Eli is enraged. When someone claims they had no way to stop Gore from saying that, Eli counters that he was reading off a teleprompter. Well, he likes to go off script sometimes, the guy says.

When Palmer gets the opportunity, he tells Danielle about Ed’s condition. Palmer has admired Ed since he was seven years old, appreciating his ability to take responsibility for things. But now he feels compelled to report what he saw. Danielle reminds him that it’s a very serious accusation, but Palmer just thought she should know what he saw.

Flashback to rationing again. Danielle was pretty down, and Ed spotted her removing labels from the food rations. When she heads outside, they exchange a look that is impossible to understand. Oh, she was taking food to Danny. It has to last him another four weeks. Danny asks to please come back. Please. She denies his request and puts the Bible in his hands.

Kelly tells Alex she’ll be going back to Mars, and he wonders why he can’t go, too. He worries she’ll decide to stay forever like Poppie. He runs into his grandma’s arms. The look on her face says she’s not supportive of Kelly’s decision.

Brant from government relations approaches Aleida with a very rude attitude. She’s surprised that Dev left it all in her hands.

Mandy sent a video of their new house. I guess Miles is doing very well. Sarah and Lily even have their own room. And Mandy slips, saying that the other room, is “theirs,” but she dials it back to talk when he returns. She can’t believe that they can buy their own house thanks to him. He’s so proud, but would she be as proud if she knew how he was getting the money?

Sam has been tasked for the Ranger crew, and now that it’s come, she’s not sure about it. She felt like she won the lottery, but the truth is they are powerless up there. Miles asks her to go in with him again. She’s been wanting this her whole life, so she can’t walk away. He gets it.

While unwrapping his latest shipment, Ilya sees an advertisement for Mars jewelry.

Dev visits the Kenyan Community Center to speak with Maleika. A woman hugs him, but he doesn’t hug her back. It’s his mom. He is there to tell her that he’s not returning from Mars. She says that space destroyed his father, but Dev says she destroyed him and their family. She begged Dev to come with her when he left, but he refused to leave his father alone. He’s a very angry man.

He says that of all the lies that she told him the cruelest was that people work together for the good of them all.

Eli speaks with Irina about Gore’s error. She’s not impressed. He wants to work together, but she says their president now wants to go after the rock on their own. She wants to renegotiate the agreement so they can determine who will divide up the resources. She offers Russia as the summit location, and he suggests a neutral location instead. She needs an act of contrition from Gore before going to Krozchenko.

Aleida gets the call that she needs to be prepared for the summit next week. Pack warm, she’s going to the Soviet Union.

Kelly looks at Alex’s room filled with his interest in space. She remembers Karen sending her video messages while she was stuck on Mars and pregnant. She never got to meet her grandbaby. The weight of her loss and what she’s doing by going to Mars brings on sobbing.

Danielle is keeping a tight eye on Ed, looking for tremors.

Danielle watches a vid message from her husband and sends a reply to Isaiah and his wife to be on their wedding day. She can’t find the words to talk about partnership when she’s not there as a partner to her husband.

In another flashback, Danielle is prepared to take Danny his last ration. They are surviving on IV fluids, so they need to tell Danny that his time is up. When they get to his location, they find him outside. He’s dead.

Kelly visits Dev. She wants to go to Mars but only if she can take Alex with her. Apparently, Alex has health issues, cardio pulmonary issues. His weakened heart won’t have to pump as hard on Mars, and his health will improve. Dev is brought to tears. She has no idea how it hits him given that he thinks his mom abandoned him. Dev says Alex is welcome on the trip without every turning around to face her.

When Ilya gives Miles his cut of the money, he wonders why Miles doesn’t count it. Miles is sure it’s right. He has no idea that Ilya knows what he’s been up to, but what does it mean?

When Ed gets to his room, he finds Danielle there. She wants him to pull back from flight duty and see a doctor. He claims he’d never put anyone in danger, but she’s not so sure. The argument gets ugly when he wonders if she’s the one running away. Is she going to exile him in that North Korean capsule, give him a bible to read? She’s put up with him and his ego-driven decisions for 30 years. She is hereby relieved of his flight status as XO duties.