- Ellen Wilson: Lives have been lost, and, honestly, probably more will be lost. But every one of us knew the risks before we joined, the toll it takes on us, and on the ones we love. But we all signed up just the same. It's the price we pay to push forward to explore the universe and wander into the unknown. Pushing ourselves to the limits of what's possible. Are there sacrifices that have to be made? Of course. But sacrifice is a part of any journey. It's like those caravans, the wagon trains that crossed our country a hundred years ago in search of a new home. Or the ships that sailed across the Atlantic in search of a new world. Taking on these great challenges against great odds that's what makes us human. Remember, we chose to go to the moon not because it was easy but because it was hard. So, yes. Yes, I think it's worth it. Because no matter how hard it is now, when we look to the future, we can see that things can... they can get better. I do believe that.
- Harold Weisner: This cannot be our best option. I'm not gonna stand here and let you...
- Margo Madison: This is my call. I'm in command here. So you can either stay out of my way, or you can fuck right off. Those are your options.
- Mikhail Mikhailovic: This is the moon, mister. Belongs to everyone.
- Edward Baldwin: Molly Cobb and I discovered ice there over three years ago.
- Mikhail Mikhailovic: Yeah, if it's about who was here first, Alexei Leonov was here before you, Edward Baldwin. And he said moon belonged to the whole world.
- Edward Baldwin: I seem to remember him saying something about the Marxist-Leninist way of life.
- Deke Slayton: You know, it's not the worst way to go.
- Ellen Wilson: Which? Because right now we can pick from suffocation, starvation...
- Deke Slayton: Cannibalism.
- Ellen Wilson: Or we could just open the hatch.
- Deke Slayton: I don't know. I kinda wanna see how far we'll get. Go farther in the universe than anyone's ever gone. That's something, at least.
- Ellen Wilson: We'll have to ditch the cargo. Gonna need just about all the fuel we've got left to get our velocity down to 35,650 feet per second. The margin's gonna be... well there won't be a margin.
- Deke Slayton: Well, it's either that or we're on our way to Jupiter and Ed stays stranded.
- Deke Slayton: I always knew you had a bit of John Glenn in you. I mean, yeah, you were quiet, a little hard on yourself, but when you walk into a room, people pay attention. When you speak, people listen.
- Molly Cobb: Apollo 25 splashdown.
- Gordo Stevens: Roger that, 25. Condition of the crew?
- Molly Cobb: I'm good, the astro wife is smiling, and Dennis is seasick.
- Margo Madison: To enter orbit, you not only have to be going exactly the right direction, you have to be moving at exactly the right speed. If you're even one mile per hour over, lunar gravity won't hold onto the craft. It's like a marble going past a drain. It's going too fast, it'll just shoot right by.
- Harold Weisner: Okay, so they just need to slow themselves down, right?
- Margo Madison: By our calculations, they've used all their fuel just to get to this point.
- Harold Weisner: Oh. Well, then, I guess I'll just call the president back in the middle of his Christmas dinner and let him know that, once again, our good news has turned into shit.
- Edward Baldwin: [Ed and Karen watching TV] Security's pretty high. There's a whole carrier task force out there.
- Karen Baldwin: What if it explodes in the upper atmosphere?
- Edward Baldwin: That's why we're launching it from the middle of nowhere, Karen.
- Karen Baldwin: Look it's risky, Ed. This isn't just another payload. That thing's carrying plutonium.
- [TV announcer]
- Karen Baldwin: expansion of the Jamestown Colony. Ignition sequence start. 5,4,3,2,1 liftoff.
- [a Sea Dragon launches at sea]