Cape Canaveral, Florida

They're go for launch. Liftoff. But there is a problem.

I think it's a simulation. There are 80 hours to the actual launch, and tensions are high.

Meanwhile, the astronauts are in simulations, too. They're learning how it feels to ride in space.

Alan is still trying to have his words reshaped by the reporter.

Alan wants to beat the best time and has no belief that it's possible he can't.

But when he's in "orbit," he doesn't have it all together like he hoped.

A lot of people are feeling pretty lousy after riding in the mastiff. Gordo is bragging about how well he did, while Alan is dizzy and unable to see or hear properly.

He heads into the bathroom, snapping his fingers near his ears, concerned.

John says all the right things to there reporter about love for country, it being bigger than all of them, and their grand adventure.

He pulls out his trumpet and begins playing revelry.

Alan admits to Lou that he's not sure how he's fairing anymore.

John doesn't want to hang out with the boys at night because if you sit too close to the fire, you're bound to get burned. He's disgusted thinking that his kids will be swimming in the pool this weekend given what happens in that pool.

John chats with Annie. He's not comfortable down there.

52 hours to MA-1 launch.

The astronauts are experiencing how it will feel to be in a capsule.

John tests his own capsule using his car.

Gordo is the only friend John has, as everyone else teases him.

Alan is still trying to get the Mastiff right going again and again. Nurse O'Hara watches with concern on her face.

Chris wonders why they're testing an Atlas while Bob wonders if Chris' team is ready for this.

Seeing a game of volleyball outside, Chris gets his team together to play a game and master teamwork.

Jensen is having quite a time. While Chris screams at everyone, he gets nailed in the face by a ball by the angry guy.

A woman in the office chats with John, noting he's the only one who mentioned the lord. She invites him to her church.

John visits Chris, but finds him in a relatively sour mood. Chris says no when John offers to show around a representative from his part of the state. He wants John to be a part of the team.

Wainwright is bothered by the duality of the astronauts and their family lives and their activities when the family isn't around.

Gordo meets a girl named Patricia who asks him to dance.

John is in his room listening to the carrying on outside. He's annoyed.

He grabs his keys and goes to the church

Alan is still snapping by his ears even when he's in bed with some woman.

He goes by himself to the mastiff.

Patricia wants to take Gordo to his room. He's unsure of that. So she undresses and jumps in the pool while he wonders what she's doing because he's a married man.

He gets undressed and joins her. Thank goodness there's chlorine in the pool. Before they get busy, they're surrounded by a bunch of other people raiding the pool.

John is a the bowling alley. That's a strange place to talk God.

D was asleep at her desk when she felt the mastiff running. Alan had fallen out and into his own pool of vomit. She helps him to the showers and undresses him.

Gordo and Gus flew together in the past. Things went bad, and it turns out that Gordo hadn't done a pre-check.

Turns out that John gets into trouble at church. He really can't leave the room without getting in trouble.

The red haired girl who sat beside him strikes up a conversation about redheads and left-handed lonely people checking in with god. Her name is Dot.

D thinks that Alan wants her to be scared of him. She informs him that he's the slowest to react and takes the longest to recover.

With tears in his eyes, Alan wonders if he can trust her with something. She begins doing a workup on him to see if she can find out what's going on with him. When she asks about dizziness or hearing loss, he doesn't answer, and she crumbles the paper before her.

Dot sells naughty magazines. That makes John blush.

John and Annie knew each other since they were toddlers. He was two and she was three.

Dot says that John seemed empty when he arrived tonight, like he needed something so bad but he was never going to get it. Nope, he says. But she wonders why they're sitting there, then. Everybody in her building just minds their own business.

He doesn't take the bait.

After she gets out of the car, she walks around and kisses the glass near his face.

D is helping Alan get comfortable in the mastiff. He has a successful run.

Alan is still there when the Mercury project capsule arrives. The next morning, everyone gets a peek. It's so small!!

Gordo wonders how they fly if they can't see. They don't. They just sit there. It's controlled from the ground.

It's time to see their families. They're all pretty sheepish as they get reacquainted.

John and Annie are the first to get busy. They're so in love.

The next day, it's time for the wives photo next to the capsule. Scott Carpenter's wife work an inappropriate dress to show up the other women.

With the families watching, the first launch explodes on liftoff.

The stress overtakes Alan who suffers wildly from ringing in his ears.