Episode 3: Ad Astra

THE PLOT

Set in the future 22nd century, Ad Astra follows NASA astronaut Major Roy McBride, played by Brad Pitt, as he ventures out into deep space in search of his father. After detecting mysterious and potentially dangerous power surges, the US government identifies the source of the surges to be a space station in orbit around Neptune; The Lima Project. The Lima Project was approximately 29 years old and had been assumed to have no living crew. Coincidentally, Roy McBride's father, H. Clifford McBride, had been the project’s leader. So, in an attempt to determine whether or not the crew was still alive, the United States Government asked Roy to travel to Mars to deliver a remote message to the ship and to his father. 

On his way to Mars, Roy was attacked on the dark side of the moon by scavenger pirates, narrowly surviving. He soon learns from his colleague, Pruitt, that if the US is unable to confirm the survival of the crew, the Lima Project would be terminated. While on Mars, Roy delivers the message to the Lima Project and receives a response. However, he is not permitted to accompany the search mission. In addition, before the search party leaves he is visited by the Mars facility director, Helen Lantos, another child of a crew member of The Lima Project. She shows him classified footage of a mutiny on the ship that ended with Roy’s father killing her parents and the rest of the crew. Lantos also reveals that NASA plans on destroying The Lima Project with a nuclear weapon.

Now determined to find his father, Roy sneaks onto the ship heading for The Lima Project. Unfortunately, when he boards the ship he is confronted by the crew and unintentionally kills all of them. Traumatized by the experience but resolved to reach his father, Roy spends the rest of the journey to Neptune by himself.

Eventually, Roy reaches The Luna Project, boarding the ship and finding his dad, Clifford. Clifford explains that the surges were a result of the ship’s faulty antimatter engine. He continues to explain to his son that he will never return to Earth because his purpose is to search for intelligent life and because he never really cared about his family. Nevertheless, Roy collects the data that was stored by The Luna Project and convinces his dad to return home with him. As they space walk between Clifford's spacecraft and Roy’s ship, Clifford cuts his tether and propels himself into the sun as his son watches. Finally, Roy uses the nuclear weapon stored on his spaceship to destroy The Lima Project and propel himself back towards Earth.

THE PHYSICS OF AD ASTRA

This episode of AstroArticulated will explore the physics and astronomy behind Ad Astra, including exoplanets, space travel, antimatter, and the possibilities of intelligent life.