Space Odyssey

***Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets*** (released as ***Voyage to the Planets and Beyond*** in the United States) is a 2004 British fictional documentary about a crewed voyage through the Solar System. It was produced by Impossible Pictures and the BBC, narrated by David Suchet, and first aired in the United Kingdom on November 9, 2004; it was later aired in North America on the Discovery Channel on May 24, 2005.

## Plot

At an unspecified point in the near future, five astronauts - commander Tom Kirby, engineer Yvan Grigorev, medic John Pearson, geologist Zoë Lessard, and exobiologist Nina Sulman - depart Earth orbit on a mile-long nuclear-powered spaceship, *Pegasus*. Six weeks pass before they arrive in orbit of Venus, their first destination. Lessard and Grigorev pilot the lander *Orpheus* to the surface, where Grigorev conducts a short walk in a specially designed reinforced pressure suit while Lessard remains inside the lander. During the walk, Grigorev visits the nearby derelict Soviet lander Venera 14; however, he falls behind schedule and suffers heat exhaustion and overheating, only narrowly making it back to the *Orpheus*. After successfully launching and docking with *Pegasus*, the crew departs for Mars.

Upon arriving in Mars' orbit, the crew rendezvous with a preplaced supply ship to refuel *Pegasus*. Kirby, Pearson, and Sulman descend to Mars' surface in the lander *Ares*, landing nearby Melas Chasma, a part of the Valles Marineras canyon system, where they intend to search for liquid water buried beneath the surface at the bottom of the canyon using a robotic rover named *Charlie* carried by a balloon. Upon landing, Kirby is hit by a dust devil, but is not hurt. Their first attempt at finding water is thwarted by a solar flare, which forces the astronauts to take shelter in *Ares* for a few days; Lessard and Grigorev, who are in orbit aboard *Pegasus*, take shelter as well. Once the danger has passed, the crew of *Ares* return to the edge of Melas Chasma, where Sulman successfully guides *Charlie* to the bottom of the canyon, successfully finding a small amount of liquid water buried under the ground. Lessard reports that a large dust storm is developing in the canyon, which threatens to ruin their mission. The astronauts retrieve the water sample and once again take shelter in *Ares*, which lifts off and rejoins *Pegasus* when the dust storm has passed.

*Pegasus* departs Mars for Jupiter, which they will reach by swinging near to the Sun to pick up speed. On the way towards the Sun, *Pegasus* passes by Mercury, however no landing is conducted due to mission constraints. An artificial magnetic shield is generated around *Pegasus* to protect them from the heat of the Sun, but the power requirements of the generator force them to turn off non-essential systems such as the laboratory and the centrifuge that provides artificial gravity for their sleep compartments. The flyby is a success, and the crew head to Jupiter. On their way through an asteroid belt, the crew performed an unplanned close flyby of a binary asteroid system, which passes much closer than predicted due to discrepancies in the data provided by mission control.

*Pegasus* performs an intense aerobraking maneuver in Jupiter's upper atmosphere to put them on course for Io. En-route to Io, Pearson a diagnosis of lymphoma, which he received from a high radiation dose during the solar flyby. Upon arriving at Io, the primary landing site is considered unsafe due to an ongoing volcanic eruption, as is the secondary landing site due to lethal levels of radiation. After a heated discussion at mission control over whether to land at the still potentially risky tertiary landing site, or to land at the safe but uninteresting quaternary landing site, the decision is made to land at the more interesting site, but the mission duration is cut to reduce radiation exposure. Lessard then descends alone in the lander *Hermes*. On the surface, Lessard quickly becomes exhausted in her bulky radiation-shielded spacesuit, and is forced to abort her walk early, leaving behind all the samples she had collected. *Pegasus* then encounters Europa, where they send a robotic probe to the surface to collect sub-surface ice samples.

*Pegasus* completes the mission around Jupiter and then departs for Saturn. However, Pearson's condition continues to worsen, and he weakens severely. Upon arriving at Saturn, *Pegasus* enters orbit around Titan, where they release a robotic probe to collect samples, but the probe malfunctions and is lost. *Pegasus* leaves Titan and is placed in orbit in the Cassini division, where Sulman performs a spacewalk to collect a fragment of Saturn's rings. Pearson dies during the spacewalk, and the crew subsequently cut off communications with Earth for a whole day while they mourn Pearson and decide what to do next. During this period, Kirby floats Pearson's body into the rings of Saturn. Upon restoring contact, the crew reveals that they have decided to continue the mission and leave for Pluto. (In the U.S. version, they decide to return home).

Arriving at Pluto, Kirby and Grigorev land on the surface in the lander *Clyde*, where they set up a telescope array to detect exoplanets, which they had modified on their journey from Saturn to Pluto, and the telescope is pointed at Earth for a calibration test. Before leaving, Kirby and Grigorev perform a short memorial service for astronauts who have died in the pursuit of space exploration, including Pearson, who was supposed to land on Pluto with them. *Clyde* later ascends and docks with *Pegasus*. On the way back to Earth, they rendezvous with a fictional long-period comet, Yano-Moore. Lessard and Sulman pilot the lander *Messier* to collect samples, but during their excursion, the nucleus of the comet breaks apart and sends high-speed debris towards *Pegasus*, severely damaging the ship. A comet fragment pierces the hull and injures Grigorev. Unable to contact the damaged *Pegasus*, Lessard and Sulman abandon *Messier* and spacewalk to the airlock. After performing emergency surgery on Grigorev, the three able astronauts repair *Pegasus* and commence on the final journey home. Finally, after six years away, the *Pegasus* arrives back on Earth.

## Cast

#### *Pegasus* crew

* Martin McDougall as Tom Kirby - mission commander, American citizen
* Mark Dexter as John Pearson - flight medic, British citizen
* Rad Lazar as Yvan Grigorev - flight engineer, Russian citizen
* Michelle Joseph as Nina Sulman - exobiologist, British citizen
* Joanne McQuinn as Zoë Lessard - geologist, Canadian citizen

#### Mission control

* Colin Stinton as Fred Duncan - flight director, Canadian citizen
* Mark Tandy as Alex Lloyd - mission scientist, British citizen
* Hélène Mahieu as Claire Granier - flight surgeon, French citizen
* Lourdes Faberes as Isabel Liu - flight dynamics officer

## Home media

Main article: *Space Odyssey (Home video)*