Marooned Page #5

...until orbital decay slows it down

sufficiently...

...for it to re-enter the atmosphere?

If so, does the spacecraft and

everything in it get burnt to a crisp...

...is that right?

- Well, what's your point?

How long before that happens,

five years?

Seven years.

Have you given up hope, Mr. Keith?

Certainly not, Mr. Canon.

Why should I?

If you'll excuse me now, please.

Strawberry cereal cubes.

Soup, corn, cream.

Jim, why are we just lying here

waiting, huh?

For Ground to analyze

the entire telemetry.

So some smart-ass engineer

can tell us we're out of luck?

Why not go EVA?

We'll check the engine ourselves.

Maybe one of the fuel valves is frozen.

No, Ground could tell that.

Maybe we took a meteor strike. Maybe

something hung up on separation.

Just relax.

Eat your chicken while it's hot.

What are you looking at, Stoney?

A disturbance in the inner-tropical

conversion zone.

Somebody's gonna have a hurricane.

- Where's the center, Stoney?

- It's just northeast of Cuba.

Yeah, nice thick clouds,

good east-west slope.

Looks like clouding circulation's

just beginning.

She's gonna be a big beast.

Alma, first of the season.

Houston, this is Simulator.

We have on the stand SPS

engine unit H37 modified block four.

This unit is an exact

one-to-one duplicate...

... of the primary equipment

in Ironman One.

We have analyzed

the engine telemetry.

And we're attempting

to construct a configuration...

... which will reproduce the conditions

that prevented ignition.

Three, two, one.

Firing the engine.

I say, apparently we have failed

to prevent ignition.

But we'll keep working on it.

All right, the president's waiting

for our recommendations.

All right, the president's waiting

for our recommendations.

One, a statement to be issued at the

conclusion of this meeting:

"Every effort is being made

to discover...

...and correct

the spacecraft malfunction...

...in accordance

with contingency plans...

...designed to meet

such emergencies."

Two, a report to be issued

Tuesday morning...

...by the director

of manned space flight.

Emphasizing the high degree of safety

and success in the program thus far.

The accident will be compared to

the failure of an experimental aircraft.

It'll be noted that in the development

of such aircraft...

...a 10 percent pilot loss

is considered acceptable.

Now, Wednesday morning,

if necessary...

...the president will issue

an appropriate message to the nation.

Emphasizing the courage

and determination of the crew.

And their final wish, that the program

be continued without pause.

Discussion?

Yeah, I have something.

I want to talk about a rescue mission.

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