Original subtitles

[music]

Heat.

Heat.

[music]

[music]

[music]

Heat up

[music]

here.

[music]

Outer space,

limitless [music] and timeless,

filled with cosmic explosions and

endless [music] turbulence.

An infinite playground for that

occasional blazing visitor, [music]

the comet.

At first, [music] comets terrified man.

He thought they were signals of

impending catastrophe,

but he got used to them and he gave

names to them and waited for [music]

them to drop by like old friends.

This one has come from behind the sun,

moving across the heavens at 108,000 m

an hour and has never before been

[music] seen by man.

The asteroid belt,

a vast junkyard of metal and rock

orbiting the sun between Jupiter and

Mars.

[music]

Thousands of fragments,

some as small as a fist, some as large

as a city. And amongst these

Orpheus,

20 miles in diameter and undisturbed for

countless generations

until now. [music]

[music]

Heat. [music]

Heat.

[music]

[music]

[music]

Give me the horn.

What in the hell's name do you want?

There's Dr. Paul Bradley in board.

Who's asking?

I've got orders from NASA to bring in

Dr. Paul Bradley. Is he a for? This is

an emergency.

So's this. We're trying to win a race.

We're going to have to cut across your

bow.

All right. God damn it. We're coming in.

All Mr. Sherwood told me was to get you

off that boat and start you on your way

to Houston. There's a special jet laid

on for you.

You really would have cut across my

boat.

Yes, sir.

Then I would have rammed you.

And gone straight to the bottom, sir.

[music]

Don't go away. I can be right back.

Dr. Bradley, it's good to see you again.

Good to see you again.

You owe me $10.

I do.

I got my handicap down to 12.

No wonder it's good to see me again.

Yes.

Dr. Bradley's here.

Good. Send him in.

It's yours, Mr. Sherwood.

Oh, good to see you. Come in. Come in.

Sorry to do this to you. Not

at all.

Yes, I did that. I called Helen and I

asked her to send some of your clothes.

Hello, Mr. Sherwood's office.

I uh

I'm sorry.

I didn't know that you and she were

You've met General East

once. Washington. Hi, General.

Good of you to come.

Sam Mason, our cap commander.

Hello.

Peter Watson, our flight director.

Why don't you put that down and let me

fix you a small scotch? A large one.

Good.

We could all use one, I think.

Why don't we sit around the table?

Take your coat off.

How big is your boat?

52 ft.

An awful lot's been happening here,

Paul. And none of it good.

Harry, I left NASA 5 years ago. Why am I

back?

Let me tell you, gentlemen. Help

yourselves.

7 days ago, Palomar Observatory reported

the discovery of a new comet, General.

Now, there's nothing unusual in that.

They spot at least nine or 10 every year

either themselves or other

observatories, but

it's where this one seemed to be going.

The asteroid belt

gone.

When they called me, it was a couple of

hundred thousand miles from the belt,

give or take a few. Challenger 2, our

space probe to Mars, was in the

vicinity. General Eastston's son Tom was

commanding.

We got in touch with him and then we

I

changed their program.

That was last Friday. [music]

[music]

Heat. Heat.

[music]

[music]

Challenger two. Challenger two. Do you

read me?

We read you.

Now, how do you feel about making a

slight detour?

Anything to break the monotony? What do

you call slight?

2 days, 4 hours, and 32 minutes.

What happens to our schedule?

Don't concern yourself about that, Tom.

We'll take care of everything from here.

But your lunch with Mars will have to

wait.

Whatever you say.

Where are we going?

The asteroid belt.

That's affirmative.

What's for?

There's a comet about to go through it.

Go through there all the time.

It's a first for this one. We figure it

was wrenched out of orbit by Jupiter's

gravitational

pull. System performance.

How big is this comet?

480 km in diameter, which makes its

nucleus large enough to do some real

damage if it hits anything. Let's head

it straight toward Orpheus. That's the

big one in the center.

Where do you want us to park?

Park yourselves alongside Vesta, about

25,000 km this side. You'll be there 3

hours before the comet shows. We want

all the information you can give us on

its size and orbital elements.

Take a few pictures.

A lot of pictures. We've already started

things going down here, though. You'll

be changing course in about 5 minutes.

Is my old man with you?

He's here.

Tell him hello.

We'll do. As I said before, that was

last Friday. Yesterday, Sunday morning

at 1100 hours, they started to pull up

alongside Ves.

[music]

[music]

You got it?

Yes, we've got it. Can you zoom in on

Orpheus for us?

Can do.

Beautiful.

All right, let's have some information.

We'll take some measurements.

For the next hour and a half, they read

the belt for us. And then what we're

waiting for finally appeared.

Magnetic field measuring zero.

All scientific sensors and particle

detectors are saturated.

We go straight through like a dose of

salts.

It's going to hit.

Get away from there.

It's coming apart in a million pieces.

I don't think I can ever forgive myself.

I should have figured that it was

No guilt, Harry. We'd all have given the

same orders.

Who knows about this?

Nobody at the moment. But we're going to

have to put out a release right after

this meeting.

Why am I here?

There's a chunk of Orpheus heading

towards Earth. A pretty big one. There

are a lot of little pieces coming along

with it and in front of it. But it's the

big one we're worried about. The figures

haven't been worked out yet, but six

days from now, we could be hit.

We have to be prepared.

That is precisely why we put Hercules.

You let me finish.

I've convened a meeting at NASA

headquarters in Washington for tomorrow

morning.

Lucas, Steinberg, Phil Moore, some of

the others that you know will be there.

I want you to come to that meeting.

I'll come to your meeting.

We appreciate it, Paul. Thanks. I've

delayed a commercial flight. You're

leaving in 1 hour. Up to date material

on Hercules. Something for you to read

on the plane. You'll be met at the other

end. Your hotel room has been booked and

Glattus out there has your expense

arrangements.

Why don't you stick a room up my ass? I

could sweep the carpet on the way out.

Haven't changed, have you?

See you in a morning.

The Coast Guard towed a disgruntled Ron

Samuelson back into harbor. Among the

other nine who failed to finish was Dr.

Peterson's Maverick from Seattle, who

was disqualified for crossing the line

prior to start. John Slavin's Mary B

collided with Arnold Parker's swan. Both

boats suffered sufficient damage to

withdraw. The big surprise of the day

was Paul Bradley's Bllythe Spirit, which

withdrew for no apparent reason early in

the race. John Dunning had a running

battle with Bruce County.

Hello. I know it's late. I just wanted

to

Paul, where are you? Why aren't you on

the boat?

Uh, Washington.

How are the kids?

Oh, Jimmy's got a cold and uh Julie's

bound to get it. And we're still

fighting about homework. Apart from

that, they're fine. What are you doing

in Washington?

I'm not sure yet. I was just phoning to

let you know where I am. And

how are you?

Oh, not bad. You know,

Paul, tell the kids I love them.

Heat.

[music]

[music]

Heat.

There's a chunk of Orpheus heading

towards [music] Earth. A pretty big one.

There are a lot of little pieces coming

along with it and in front of it, but

it's the big one we're worried about.

The figures haven't been worked out yet,

but 6 days from now, we could be hit.

Heat.

Heat. [music]

[music]

Heat.

Heat.

[music]

Sorry I'm late.

You and everybody else.

Let me tell you about that, Paul.

Either we're in the wrong room or

there's a lot of brain power lost

somewhere in Washington.

Nobody else is coming.

Lucas, Filillmore, Steinberg.

I didn't ask them.

Why not?

You know damn well why not. Because we

don't need them. You You originated

Hercules.

Well, I'll cut it out, Paul. I know how

you feel. But dredging up old fields to

dredge up nothing. I can taste it right

now.

Now look, it wasn't my decision to turn

Hercules.

Turn Hercules into what? What did they

turn it into?

Will you listen to me?

Hercules was never designed to be a

nuclear weapon with 14 warheads pointing

right down on Russia.

Not only Russia

or China, whatever the hell else. Those

rockets were supposed to point outwards,

not in.

Was made to defend us against the same

goddamn threat that we're facing now.

Wait a minute now. Didn't I yell at

them?

Didn't I stand up for you when you

walked out? Well, then listen to me.

Will you listen to me? That meteor is 5

miles wide and it's definitely going to

hit us.

Make a hole big enough to put the

Atlantic in unless we can stop it.

5 miles

now. Walk out.

But what about General Adlon? Isn't he

still in charge of Hercules?

Adlan's a good man technically, but he's

two-dimensional. You know that. We've

got to find a way to move him out.

That's problem number one. Problem

number two,

there are about a hundred guys in this

crazy town stupid enough to want to

resist using Hercules because of what it

would mean politically.

What the hell am I supposed to do about

that?

Help me ride over them.

Okay, you son of a I'll help you,

but I want it straight up and down.

Straight up and down. You've got my

word. Those rockets have got to be

realigned, and we've got exactly 5 days

[music]

do

more

I hope no one has been foolish enough to

make contact with the Russians about all

this. It would be highly inadvisable if

No one would think of doing that without

your approval, Mr. Secretary.

But you can be sure they know all there

is to know about that meteor by now.

What they probably don't know is what

we're planning to do.

What we're discussing doing because I

sincerely hope it's still discussion.

General Adelon, I assure you that no

decisions have been made. That's what

this meeting's been called for to decide

what to do. Now, you're in charge of

Project Hercules. And if the result of

this meeting is to make use of

There's nothing else we can use. The

only thing we've got out there is

Hercules.

Damn it. Hercules is not up there either

as far as anybody but we are concerned.

And it's got to stay that way. We have

never admitted to Hercules. And if we

admit to it, we have to.

You can't keep the whole world in the

dark about what's going on. Once they

know that a 5m hunk of rock is going to

hit somewhere at 30,000 mph, the people

will want to know what the hell we

intend to do about it.

You're going to tell the entire world we

have nuclear rockets orbiting out there

in direct contradiction to every

international agreement we've ever made.

That's an invitation to to being called

liars and wararmongers international

murderation. We don't

What do you want to do?

You want to go out there and meet him

with BB guns and slingshots?

Please, gentlemen,

Dr. Bradley, would you please tell us

what would happen if this meteor struck

us?

A massive rock one mile wide traveling

at uh 30,000 mph

would cause a crater 50 m across and 5

miles deep.

Orphus is 5 miles wide. Its striking

force is equal to

2,500,000

megat tons of TNT.

That is 10 orders of magnitude above the

largest earthquake ever recorded.

It would throw into the atmosphere 5

billion tons of Earth and reduce solar

radiation for decades to come.

It could cause another ice age.

What if the thing doesn't hit? There's

some chance of that, isn't there?

Every scientific facility we have,

you have been wrong before. You were

dead wrong when you sent Challenger 2

off its course.

God damn it. I don't have to listen to

this.

You're out of order.

Dr.

Where are you going?

I need air. I don't give a damn what

Russia says about America or vice versa.

I told you what's going to happen when

that meteor hits.

But if you think you can prevent it by

burying your heads under a blanket of

fine.

If you ever reach a decision, I'll be in

the bar across the street.

I'll get back to you. I'll have to

discuss this at the White House

in time because there's damn little

time.

We are now going to replay a recording

of a broadcast made by them earlier

today.

The British cabinet met this morning to

discuss the announcement by Jodel Bank

Observatory that a piece of an asteroid

knocked out of orbit by a comet is on

possible collision course with Earth. It

would seem that within less than a week,

this giant object could strike our

planet, causing untold damage and great

loss of life. It is understood that the

prime minister is in close consultation

with the American president and has

volunteered every assistance the British

government can give.

We consider it deplorable that the

American people should be dependent on

the BBC to supply us with facts that we

have a right to know.

I consider it deplorable. I don't have a

Good afternoon.

Yes, sir.

Scotch.

A large.

A large one.

What happened?

They're calling the president.

What if he says no?

First, they're on their own 41 yd line.

Couple of years ago,

my son Andy started to complain about

pains in his stomach.

All the junk food kids eat today. I

wasn't a bit surprised,

but he kept on complaining.

So, I had a talk with Miriam and we

decided to take him to a doctor

just for an opinion. You understand?

Appendicitis. The doctor said,

Miriam said, "Let's wait till tomorrow.

the pain will go away.

You know my Mariam, she can't stand the

thought of an operation.

That night when she went to bed,

she cried herself to sleep.

I went to the boy's room, picked him up,

and took him to a hospital. 6 hours

later, his appendix was out. He was

feeling better having an ice cream. And

Miriam,

Miriam was all smiles.

You get my point.

31.

But how do you sneak me into a position

where I can fire off a dozen nuclear

warheads without Miriam knowing?

I'll do it.

I can't do it any other way.

Is there Mr. Sherwood here?

Yeah, that's me. Telephone. You can take

it right through there.

Goes back to pass.

It is knocked down by Carter. The pass

can for a good pass in the flat knocked

down by Carter somewhere around the 20

yd line. So it remains second and

a very well play

trying to figure something out.

No, Mr. Secretary, I'd rather not call

back. I'd appreciate it if you held on.

Yes, Dr. Bradley's checking out the

information to verify

Yes, sir. I do think it's urgent.

No, sir. Paul,

in a minute.

It's coming up now, sir.

Well, what do I tell him?

How good is his health?

Confirmed.

Confirmed. Hercules is light.

Mr. Secretary,

it's been confirmed.

So, what you're telling me is that

even if we admit to Hercules,

and I give you my permission to

realign the rockets, we still need more

firepower,

more nuclear megatonies, more rockets.

That's right, Mr. President.

Mr. Secretary, do we have more rockets?

Not in space, sir.

And what the hell are we supposed to do?

Conjure them out of air?

Mr. President, would you confirm what

I'm about to say? The Russians had their

own equivalent of Hercules out in space.

True or not true?

True.

Mr. President, we need the combined

power of theirs and ours.

They'll never admit they've got the

thing. We'll make them admit it. Now,

General Adlan,

for the time being, until this crisis is

resolved,

I'm putting Dr. Bradley in charge of

Operation Hercules.

I rely on you to give him every aid and

assistance.

Mr. President, I hope I'm

public-spirited enough to do what?

I'm sure you are. Now, listen. I think I

have a solution to this problem.

Where will you be later this evening?

We're flying to New York immediately.

Make sure you hear my broadcast at 8:00.

That's all, gentlemen. Thank you.

You're going to ask what steps have been

taken to make sure that this meteor

never comes anywhere near the Earth's

surface. And I'm happy to tell you that

realizing that such an emergency as this

could arise, your government

in collaboration with the best

scientific brains at its disposal

developed the project to deal with this

emergency.

And that project

has been named Hercules. What is

Hercules?

Hercules is an armed orbiting satellite.

It's nuclear weaponry aimed toward outer

space.

Right name, wrong direction.

What can Hercules do? It can send at the

press of a button enough power to

destroy any foreign body on a collision

course with our planet. But in this

case, a special circumstance has arisen.

The meteor is of such size and velocity

that even this powerful weapon

cannot do the job entirely.

But fortunately the Russians with the

same foresight that we ourselves

possessed also mounted their own defense

weapon. We do not know what the Russians

have called their weapon,

but we know it exists,

and we are going to ask them to combine

their nuclear power with ours

so that together

we will be able to deal with a meteor,

to strike it with irresistible force,

and to end forever its potential danger

to us all.

I will myself be speaking with the

Russians

immediately after I finish this

broadcast.

The game is on.

Good night

and God bless you.

for

possibly.

Hello

Yeah.

[music]

Heat.

[music]

This is Dr. Bradley. Do you have a pass

for him?

Morning, sir.

General Adlan, come in yet.

Half an hour ago.

How far down?

Right next to an old subway station. A

section [clears throat] that runs under

the Hudson.

made it easy for us to bring all the

equipment in. Nobody saw us and it saved

millions.

Why not some sensible place like

Houston?

This is easy access to a total

telecommunication setup right above our

heads. And nobody in their right minds

would think of putting their most

important emergency striking power under

the busiest city in the world.

This is Dr. Bradley.

Can I see your pass, sir?

Would you mind signing it, sir?

Thank you.

Call 8124. That's back to the bus chief.

We're about 45 seconds.

General Adlong.

Most impressive.

Thank you. Have a message for you.

Normally, we work with 25, but since

it's been called an emergency, I brought

in a full crew.

Oh, good news. The Russians are coming.

coffee.

I would like to go on record that I

consider allowing the Russians to come

into this center to be a grave error,

which one day the United States may

bitterly regret.

I'd like to meet some of the staff.

Of course,

General, may I use your office for a

moment?

Certainly. This

is our chief technician,

Ralph Manheim. Dr. Bradley,

you have been teaching a nephew of mine

at the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology.

Ben Man.

Yes. Great boy. Oh, thank you. You're

teaching me in a couple years.

All stations, status now.

This is our trajectory analysis officer,

John Watkins.

Hello.

Suppose you're tied into 1180.

No, a 360 with a custom-designed memory.

Like I said,

I'll be asking you and your computer a

lot of questions.

We're going to give you a lot of prompt

answers.

Triple check.

My assistant, Alan Marshall.

Dr. Bradley.

Sorry to interrupt. I've got Sir Michael

Hughes from the Jodel Bank Observatory

on the monitor. who would like a word

with you.

Excuse me.

I'm Bill Hunter in charge of tracking.

Ah, where else are you linked with

besides England? Hong Kong, Aerosibo,

and New South Wales.

Good morning, Michael.

Good evening, Paul. I didn't [snorts]

expect to see you until Wimbledon,

assuming, of course, there'll be a

Wimbledon.

What have you got for us?

We can expect the first splinters in 24

hours. doubtful if we could track them

unless they're in clusters, but we'll do

our best.

Anything else?

Nothing at the moment. No, I just wanted

to make contact with you.

We'll keep in constant touch

until then.

All the Russian astrophysicist that you

asked for, Dr. Dub,

he's arriving at 7:30 this evening,

Washington.

Dr. Dubof, are we glad to see you here,

Dr. Dub?

Thank you.

Eastern Standard

2247

colon 56.55

He presumes this is an exact

satellite.

What is the direction of the rocket just

an accident?

I'm not prepared to volunteer such

strategic information.

Is that what I said?

Yes, sir.

Please.

Thank you. What striking power does it

carry?

I'd prefer you got that information from

Dr. Bradley.

Dr. Bradley.

Good morning.

14 rockets each carrying a 100 megaton

bomb.

Welcome to New York, Dr. Dubov. I'm glad

you're here.

Must we have everything in duplicate?

It's a recognized procedure. How else do

we know we're being interpreted

properly?

I think we could all start by trusting

each other.

Otherwise, what's the point?

And if it's a matter of choosing,

I'll take the pretty one.

The pretty one is Tatiana Nikolon. Did I

say it right?

Very good. [snorts]

Astrophysicist and Dr. Dubov's English

voice.

How do you do?

How do you do? And the captain there?

He's General Adlan's Russian voice.

Sir.

I. And since it appears we're redundant

here, if you'll excuse us,

Mr. Sherwood, I'd like to see you

outside.

I'll see if I can't calm him down.

He thinks General Ablon is not pleased

to see him.

General, I know this is difficult for

you, but I would 15 minutes ago I spoke

to the Secretary of Defense who seems

more aware of the complexity of the

situation than you do.

His orders are, and I quote,

there will be no change in the direction

of our rockets until the Russians admit

they've got their own rockets and until

they also agree to realign them. Is that

understood?

Look, why don't you xerox a 100 copies

of that report, pass them out among a

100 guys in Washington and then organize

a 100 meetings to discuss it and by that

time the meteor will have hit and we

won't have any more problems.

He doesn't mean to criticize, but you

will not find it easy to hit a meteor

with your warheads pointing towards the

USSR.

We call ours Hercules. What do you call

yours?

How can one give a name to that which

does not exist?

Then who the hell put up this thing

called Peter the Great?

It's Warheads Pony the United States.

[sighs]

Dr. Dupov, we've got a slight problem.

If Peter the Great [clears throat] does

not exist, we are out of business.

But if it does exist,

I'd have to know what weapons it would

be carrying,

what it was,

and what frequencies we would have to

use to align it with Hercules.

Now for purposes of discussion only,

he understands the importance of your

questions.

If he had been involved in the

construction of such an illegal weapon,

he could then of course theoretically

answer those questions.

Then would you be prepared

theoretically? Of course,

to work out the details with me as to

how we link the satellite.

Yes, he would be ready.

Before we do that,

what would you have designed your

striking power to be?

16 rockets, each carrying megatonage the

same as your own.

That gives us a billion plus.

Anya, it is Zuda. Anya, it is

Heat.

[music]

Heat.

Heat.

I give the floor to the first speaker on

my list, the representative of Canada.

We have information that a disturbance

of earthquake proportions has occurred

somewhere in Siberia.

I believe that all of us here are aware

of that fact.

But would the Russian delegate kindly

tell us what was the cause of the

disturbance?

Mr. President, we would like to request

a recess while we consult further with

our government.

Processed data records from yesterday's

giant bank pass are now available data

library.

At my next mark, it will be 2300 and we

are in routine telemetry test number 36.

Good morning. Did you get any safe last

night? couple of hours. How about you?

I played Jin Rome and Lost. What's the

Russian girl like?

Very nice, very bright. And forget it.

I missed you.

We are approaching X plus 6 minutes on

the attitude control test AC 21 and all

station monitors are greenward

with compliments. I had them strip the

army blanket off your bed and put on

some proper sheets.

That's any kind. I've also got some

decent soap for you because using the

stuff they give you here is like washing

your hands with a rock.

Thank you. It's a very pretty scarf.

Thank you.

Will Jim Jackson please report to dental

security office.

His hours are all confused.

How about you?

Oh, I'm all right.

That system analysis team will review

attitude control power problems 0800

tomorrow in conference room.

Quick tape read out PDP 462.

Linda watch. Please report to support

room number one.

Should I wake him? Oh,

I don't sleep. Have some coffee.

Stored commands for attitude control

update are programmed in Hercules.

How long have you been with him?

I've known him for 10 years, but I've

only worked with him for five.

Why did you choose astrophysics?

He chose me.

How?

I was a telephone operator at a center

for control of flight in the Possmoderm

by Canor in Middle Asia. I knew your

language because when I was a child, my

mother kept giving me books in English

and telling me that one day I would be

grateful to her. I suppose I am. Would

you like one of these?

No thanks. Go on.

Then about 10 years ago, some British

scientists came to Russia to meet with

some of our people. Alik Seich, our

sleeping beauty, needed someone to

translate for him. And they asked me,

his English voice.

When I had finished, he asked me to stay

on with him as interpreter and uh third

assistant. He was married to Orna then,

his first wife.

How many does she have?

He's on his fourth. He's sleeping alone

now, but it's not very often,

you know. It's very nice talking with

you.

Thank you. But we've been talking for

almost two days.

No, I've been talking with you Duboth. I

mean talking with you. You very

attractive.

Thank you again.

Then

Ben

astrophysics.

Oh

well, I realized that space fascinated

me. Alexavage saw this and he encouraged

me. He arranged for me to go to

university.

And when I returned, I was an

astrophysicist.

That's when I met my husband.

Your husband?

He was a cosmonaut. We were together for

3 years.

And then he went on an exploratory

mission and he didn't come back.

And now is there anyone?

Nothing serious. Not really.

Dr. Bradley. Sir Michael is reporting on

the Jadro Bank monitor. There are

meteors coming in over central Europe.

Ah, Paul, the observatory in Frescati is

reporting. There's a cluster big enough

to track coming in over Italy south of

Pisa. Speed of approach 15,000 m/s.

Oh yeah, you

[groaning]

only

They've burned up. The clusters

evaporated. Dascardi says that not one

of them got through.

The whole thing's been nothing more than

a gigantic fireworks display.

Thank you, Michael. That's the best news

we've had yet.

We'll try and keep it that way.

Really?

I think we can assume the emergency is

over.

This particular one and the emergency in

general. It's a pity the world's been

sent into a state of unnecessary panic.

But that's your threat, Dr. Bradley, a

fireworks display.

Tell this once and for all.

Orpheus will not burn up. It's too damn

big.

We've got enough to deal with here,

General. We don't need any additional

aggravation from you. Not one promise of

calamity has come true.

And as far as I'm concerned, not a

single one will.

When common sense is restored

and the president

has returned the control of this center

to me,

I shall return

to this center.

He wishes to telephone the Russian

embassy in Washington.

The USSR

is not unaware of the seriousness of

this situation.

We have therefore decided to add to the

power of Hercules the considerable power

that we ourselves possess.

A satellite developed before the United

States developed theirs,

but which we designed and constructed

for the purpose of defense against

possible disasters such as the one

confronting us now. For that purpose

only, the USSR

will always support any exercise,

[music]

the primary object of which is to the

benefit of mankind.

[music]

[music]

to Peter the Great and to the Russian

scissors for the cutting of the red

tape.

[clears throat]

Dr. Dubof would like to tell you a few

words he heard from a taxi driver when

he was last in America. Power tolerance.

The dog

standing

[music]

by.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

[music]

[music]

This is Houston

altitude 15 miles inclination.

[music]

[music]

[music]

[music]

content. We have

radiated power.

Attitude correction complete. Situation

nominal.

[music] foreign.

Heat.

Heat.

[music]

[music]

[music]

[music]

Heat. Heat.

[music]

[music]

New York Comat, this is Goldstone. We

have a realignment interrupt. Repeat,

realignment interrupt. Please copy.

Possible readjustment malfunction.

Deployment latch relay on rocket number

three may be hung up. We'll have to

reset. Send up a backup command and

update the guidance system to account

for the delayed firing time. Roger.

Coariance matrix has been uh [music]

recalculated.

All other Hercules primary and backup

systems are ready.

[music]

Heat.

[music]

[music] Heat.

[music]

Heat.

[music]

[music]

[music]

Heat.

89.4.

Attitude correction complete. Situation

nominal.

Now we wait till we see the whites of

its eyes.

0700 Sunday.

Good.

Good.

Good night. Good side.

Yeah.

Heat.

Heat.

Heat.

Heat. Heat.

Stander

stander

[screaming]

[screaming]

It is 8 hours since the splinter struck

the central area of the Swiss Alps. But

only now has the enormity of what has

happened begun to sink in. There's never

been anything like this before. There

have been avalanches and storms which

have destroyed whole villages, but

nothing on the scale of what has

happened here today. Help is coming from

all over the world. Ambulances,

helicopters, rescue equipment and

supplies. Dead casualties are being

taken quickly to churches and town

halls. Those still alive are rushed to

hospitals for resuscitation and

treatment. So many skiers and holiday

makers here at this time of the year,

and so many of them are unregistered,

there's no way of telling who they are.

It is earnestly requested that anyone

who has reason to believe that friends

or relatives of theirs have been staying

in this area during the last few weeks

should go immediately to the Swiss

emergency offices that have been opened

up in Banhovas Dur.

The whole tragedy has been heightened by

the loss of 12,000 contestants and the

cross country marathon which started

from Malloya only an hour before the

splinter hit.

The cameramen and crew who shot this

film left the area by helicopter only

minutes before the disaster.

In the minds of the people everywhere,

the question is

where next?

And what about the big one due on Sunday

closing on Earth at 30,000 m an hour? We

can only hope as the president of the

United States of America has assured us

that we are in safe hands. This is Osman

Rag in Zurich returning you to the ABC

studios in New York.

My god.

As simply as you can, Mr. Sherwood,

what's the procedure now?

The satellites are orbiting with Earth

22,500

miles out in space.

Since they are in different orbits and

in order for them to reach the target

together,

they will have to be fired at different

times.

Peter the Great first

and then 40 minutes later, Hercules.

Approximately 2 hours after that, they

will explode at a designated distance

from the target.

Did anything go wrong?

Well,

once the rockets have been launched,

they switch over to their own internal

decision-making systems.

And if these systems perform perfectly,

well, then there's no problem. But if

there's a malfunction,

what are the odds,

Mr. President?

You know, we've never done this before.

The odds,

your guess is as good as mine.

If you fail,

the meteor will hit Earth 2 hours later.

Hit it, Mr. Sherwood.

Get rid of it.

21 33°

100 ft down at 19.

540 ft. Down at 300

ft down

forward

50.

Three

and a half.

What is it? What's happened?

Oh, nothing. Nothing. I just wondered if

you had taken time to eat.

Yes, I uh I had some coffee.

That would only make you nervous. You

would do better with food.

You're absolutely right. Let's go eat.

It's a pretty scarf.

Thank you.

How many children do you have?

Two, a boy and a girl. How do you know

I'm married?

I asked Mr. Sherwood. He also told me

that you and your wife are separated.

Well, I've never talked to Mr. Sherwood.

Oh, I hope you don't mind that I asked

him about it.

No, I would have asked Dr. to do of

about yourself except uh well my Russian

somewhat limited. Like some coffee?

No, thank you.

Roger.

What else you want to know?

It would be too rude to ask.

Ask what you like.

Why are you and your wife separated?

Nothing specific. It uh just happened.

It's uh

no more talks, no more interests

together. It's what we here in America

call uh incompatibility.

That's what we call it in Russia of

mistim.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

Ever thought of living elsewhere?

No,

not often.

Sometimes.

Well,

you'd like it here. You know, we've got

everything.

Power cuts, strikes, unemployment, race

riots, and a terrific crime rate.

Dr. Bradley Yamashiro on the Hong Kong

monitor reporting another splinter.

Yes,

we've just received a transmission from

a TWWA passenger jet over the Pacific.

There was an explosion somewhere at sea,

heavy enough to knock out two of its

engines. The plane's heading for Taiwan

to make an emergency landing. They've

reported a tidal wave 100 ft high

heading directly towards Hong Kong.

oil.

Radar contact with the wave establishes

height stabilized at 100 ft plus.

Speed is constant 600 mph. 15 minutes

before it hits us.

[cheering]

Heat.

Heat.

Heat. Heat.

[cheering]

Heat.

Heat.

Miss

Heat.

Heat.

[cheering]

[cheering]

[screaming]

Can you hear it?

Yes, we can hear it. Get out of there.

No use. Get the big one, Paul. Get it.

15 minutes from now, the Russian rockets

will be launched.

And 40 minutes after, our own rockets

will be sent to join them. They will

strike the Meteor, sending it into a

harmless orbit.

Never more to menace earth. It is

Sunday.

Stay in your homes. Have faith.

There is nothing we can do but wait.

We will let you know when the danger is

passed.

Launch director says go. Range says

clear to launch.

Clear. Roger. Stand by for clear

release.

Clear release on time.

Uh station copy. Clear release on.

Autopilot. Red light on.

Thank you.

30 seconds. We have a counter to event.

Roger. Thank you. What's the event?

25 seconds.

0614.

Thank you.

20 seconds.

Engine start.

15 seconds.

Engine started. We are sequence 11.

10 seconds.

7 6 5 4 3

lift off.

[music]

[music]

Heat.

[music]

Heat.

[music]

No problems. We're on our way.

Mr. Tonskay,

would you please be good enough to

convey my congratulations to Dr. Dubof?

General

I will.

My apologies, Bradley. I was very wrong.

If there's anything I can do to help by

Thank you. [clears throat]

Hercules launch minus 3 minutes.

All stations report on Hercules firing

readiness. Missile power operating at

correct level. Engine parameters all

okay. Hercules targeted correctly.

All ground facilities have confirmation

that Hercules has correctly received and

stored the launch command.

Yes, sir. Michael,

I'm afraid I've got some rather serious

news. I'd like a word with Dr. Bradley.

Yes, sir.

Dr. Bradley. Sir Michael would like to

talk to you.

We've picked up another splinter. A big

one.

Direction?

The United States. The eastern

seabboard.

You mean us?

Near enough.

Do you?

Just about. Now,

can you advance Hercules?

No way.

Stand by.

Coming up on 90 seconds. Stand by.

Mark 90 seconds.

We wait.

We don't fire them, Paul. And we go out

of action.

The Russian rockets aren't enough to do

the job.

We wait.

[music]

Clear release on time.

Uh yes, you copy. Clear release was on

time.

55 seconds.

Thank you.

Autopilot red light on.

40 seconds counting.

30 seconds left. We have a counter.

Thank you.

[music]

Thank you.

20 seconds.

[music]

7 6 5 4

Ignition. Yeah.

Heat.

Heat.

Heat.

Heat.

[music]

[music]

Heat.

Heat.

[music]

[music] Heat.

Heat. [music]

[music]

Heat.

[music]

Heat.

Heat.

[screaming]

Heat.

Heat. Heat.

Heat.

Heat. Heat.

[screaming]

Somebody help me with this console.

Somebody help.

Double

You all right?

Yes, I'm all right. I I think

you are

Don't worry.

Okay.

Holy

Heat. Heat.

[music]

[music]

This is Ops Chief Goldstone reporting to

Houston backup. Motor burns on all

rocket engines for both satellites

appear nominal.

East again. The situation is A1. All

rockets functional. 66 minutes to

impact.

We'll keep relaying information until

conclusion. There's been absolutely no

contact from New York. Have you heard

from them?

Nothing from the center.

The rest of the cities are shambles.

No way.

Bradley, could you come here a minute,

please?

Now listen to me everybody and listen

carefully.

The exit from the canteen has been

blocked, but we can get out through the

support room

and we'll need some flashlights.

You head up the lead and I'll pick up

the stragglers.

Everybody head for the subway tunnel.

Where are the batteries?

Have you got this?

Here. Take this.

Take this here.

Come on. The rest of you stay where you

are.

Heat.

[music]

Heat.

Channel 5 of Peter the Great telemetry

indicates number four and number seven

rockets have malfunctioned. Goldstone

tracking station reports Peter the Great

has lost two.

How bad is that?

There's a safety margin of five. After

the rockets join up, they'll attack the

meteor in three waves.

Time to impact. 35 minutes 42 seconds.

Heat up

here.

[music]

Heat. Heat. [music]

[music]

[music]

Did you go through there?

Yes. Uh, Harry, it's okay, but there's a

subway car blocking the tunnel. Get the

others.

It'll be all right.

Heat up

here.

Harry, the river's breaking through.

Through that car. Hurry up. This way out

here. Through the car right here.

Hurry up.

Heat.

Heat.

Heat. Heat.

Heat.

Heat.

I got it.

Oh.

There's

no use.

Heat.

Heat.

Heat.

Heat.

Come on. 14 minutes to impact.

14 minutes.

[music]

10°.

We're losing one from Hercules.

Time to impact. 13 minutes 29 seconds.

Yeah.

What was that?

He said, "One day you will come to

Moscow and you will seek a clean

subway."

One day I'll take him up in there.

How long?

3 minutes.

2 minutes 50 seconds. Tracking stations

report no more loss. Keep your fingers

crossed. [music]

[music]

Helicopters flying over the city are

reporting tremendous damage. All local

radio and television stations are still

malfunctioning. Here at WADW in New

Jersey, we'll keep you informed

throughout the day.

Any second now.

Heat. Heat.

[music]

[music]

Heat.

[music]

[music]

Heat.

A

[music]

[music]

Heat.

Heat.

Heat. Heat.

Heat. Heat.

We're interrupting our coverage of the

New York disaster to bring you an

official announcement just received from

Houston. 3 minutes ago at 10:38, the

combined rockets of the United States

and the USSR struck the meteor which has

for 5 days been coming towards us. The

danger is passed.

quiet out. Everybody listen. Listen.

Heat.

[music]

[music]

[music]

with the compliments of the Dodgers.

I can command the Dodgers.

Dodgers [laughter]

baseball. [applause]

[music]

[music]

[music]

[music]

[music]

What's most

[music]

[music]

In 1968 at the Massachusetts Institute

of Technology, a plan was designed to

deal with the possibility of a giant

meteor on a collision course with Earth.

This plan is named Project Icorus.

[music]

[music]

[music]

[music]

Heat. Heat.

[music]

[music]

Heat.

[music]

Heat. Heat. [music]

[music]

[bell]

[music]

Heat. [music]

Heat. [music]

[music]

[music]

[music]

[music]

Heat. [bell]

[music]

[music]

[music]

Heat. [music]

[music]

Heat. Heat.

[music]

[music]

[music]