"ARMAGEDDON" (1998)

TITLES.

PLANET EARTH. STAR FIELD BEYOND. JUST PERFECT.

A GIGANTIC ASTEROID streaks past camera, burning into the atmosphere.

EARTH, seen from space, rocked by an IMMENSE SHOCKWAVE - and now - the blue is slowly lathered in this awful black death cloud.

EARTH is now completely entombed in a dark, cold hell.

ARMAGEDDON

SUPER: 65 MILLION YEARS LATER

And OVER this we hear: A BLUR OF STATIC AND SQUAWKING RADIO CHATTER -- EARTH, reflected off the face of ASTRONAUT PETE SHELBY'S helmet. He is spacewalking; tethered to SHUTTLE ATLANTIS. He is trying, without success, to repair a satellite.

Equipment. Busy. Crowded. Tense. DAN TRUMAN is the boss here. NASA's second-in-command -- he would've been an astronaut himself, but his LEG BRACE speaks of a disappointment he's had to accept long ago. He's standing over the shoulders of FLIGHT DIRECTOR CLARK. Watching the console. And the video.

Truman taps Clark. Clark moves to another seat as Truman sits down.

SHELBY still struggling with delicate instruments. TRUMAN TENSE.

The instrument ever so SLOWLY moves into position.

SHELBY'S HELMET GETS ROCKED -- the glass spiderwebs -- EARTH'S REFLECTION shatters -- blood boiling -- Shelby's SHOULDER CAM spins.

THE SPACE SHUTTLE suddenly shredded by thousands of tiny, speeding, meteoric pebbles -- SHRAPNEL tearing through everything -- NASA logo is destroyed -- THE SHUTTLE's SKIN peeling down to the ribs -- KANTWELL COCKPIT FILLS WITH A FIREBALL. Finally, there's a HUGE INTERNAL SHUTTLE EXPLOSION.

MONITORS go dead. A horrible moment of silence...

And then -- action -- controlled panic. Hands flying over keyboards. CAMERA CLOSES ON -- Truman standing there, stunned. Utter disbelief.

A dark room filled with equipment...full BATTLE STAFF run to their consoles. Tiny yellow BLIPS appear on large TV Screens.

From above, a haggard looking SECTOR DIRECTOR yells down:

Two dozen PILOTS and CREW from the 102nd Fighter Interceptor Wing scramble onto the dark, frozen tarmac to their waiting F-15 EAGLE's --

SEVERAL AIDES rush around the room. Mega-high tech equipment comes alive. A young AIDE holding three phones, is talking on a secure line:

The room is packed. Truman pacing through, rushing out assignments.

DOTTIE is in her eighties. She's wearing a nightgown and slippers. She's got a flashlight and she's walking with as much angry determination as her little body can muster. She walks out of her trailer towards a huge 1920's OBSERVATORY. She starts yellin'--

A HUGE TELESCOPE. KARL, 80, a cranky, scrawny backyard astronomer with his eye to the sky. She throws open the door and --

FOUR CARS -- military motorcade -- racing around a corner --

U.S.A.F. LT. GENERAL KIMSEY. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His deputy, GENERAL BOFFER, beside him in the back seat.

Establishing. The sun rises over the Brooklyn Bridge.

A small MESSENGER cruising on his bike singing like a rock star. In the front basket is his FRENCH BULLDOG lovin' life. New York city pumps.

The MESSENGER now walking his Bulldog pulling at the limits of his retractable leash. Bulldog's POV as the dog attacks the big city. PEOPLE reading the tabloids. SHUTTLE MISSING! DISASTER IN ORBIT!

A BIG ELECTRONICS STORE just up ahead. PASSERSBY's have stopped to stare through the window, where DOZENS of TELEVISIONS are playing an ABC NEWS SPECIAL REPORT on the missing Shuttle and --

Little Guy jerks the Bulldog...the Bulldog can wait no longer. He lifts his leg against A VERY LARGE BOOT attached to a A HUGE SAMOAN GUY. He feels something and looks down. The Samoan Guy kicks the dog, and it starts growling.

Suddenly, the T.V. SCREENS START FRITZING OUT -- a huge SONIC BOOM ROARS OVERHEAD -- The huge Samoan looks up, as -- A ROCK, the size of a basketball, WIPES HIM OFF THE SCREEN

-- EXPLODING into the pavement -- CONCRETE and SPARKS and GLASS FROM THE WINDOW. The TELEVISIONS ARE BLOWN IN THE AIR -- all of it -- SHATTERING AT ONCE and PEOPLE SCREAMING and HORNS HONKING and then --

It's over. The hissing of steam. Little Guy inside the store. In his hand, the leash -- the other end disappearing down into --

Ten-feet wide. Forty-feet deep. Way down there, embedded in the substreet infrastructure, A SIZZLING, STILL-SMOKING, RED-HOT METEORITE. And hanging there, suspended by the leash, the Bulldog.

Traffic is ground to a halt. CAMERA MOVES into a cab. STU, the Cabbie, with an ASIAN TOURIST, cranes his neck out the window.

Suddenly -- a projectile the size of a dump truck SCREAMS through the sky and blasts through THREE HUGE BUILDINGS. More projectiles explode in the intersection. Cars get thrown everywhere.

Five cars lifted from the explosion scream down the street flying inches over the head of the Little guy and his dog.

THE ENTIRE TOP FIVE STORIES OF A BUILDING topple and hit the street below. Bricks, mortar and gargoyles everywhere.

Grief and frenzied activity. Dozens of people running numbers. Truman is at the center -- being handed documents, shown monitors --

Crowded now. Joint Chiefs. Cabinet officer. Empty chair for the President. NETWORK NEWS on TVs. GENERAL KIMSEY on the phone, frantic:

Truman hangs up the phone -- back to the insanity --

Hallways alive with action. We're following one nerdy guy named DR. RONALD QUINCY, carrying stacks of paper and hustling along when --

BANKS OF COMPUTERS and COMMUNICATION GEAR. NASA PEOPLE manning battle stations. Tense, anticipatory silence. Nobody moving or talking.

Truman passing off the numbers and THE ROOM EXPLODES with quiet frenzy -- NUMBERS are frantically plugged into the computer.

The RULERS move to the MAPS of the asteroid belt; lines are drawn.

Loads of NAVAL MEMORABILIA. Dottie stands there watching.

Karl hangs up and flashes her this very smug smile. She's burning.

PHONE HANGS UP. Computers PRINT OUT, PHONE LINK to S.T.I.--

Home of the HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE. Two S.T.I. TECHNICIANS man the Hubble's control console.

The HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE screams by camera orbiting the earth. The Telescope tilts, repositioning its view. Lights flash.

IMAGES from the Hubble arrive on a high-resolution printer. S.T.I. Technician 1 grabs four PHOTOS from the printer. Technician swipes stuff off the console, making room. Together they arrange the four photos. They stare silently at the awesome COMPOSITE PHOTO.

CAMERA PUSHES THROUGH A CLOUD OF ROCKY, ICY DEBRIS, penetrating the cloud until the HUGE ASTEROID CORE comes into clear view -- a mass of dirt and ice -- rough, craggy, menacing. A PROJECTION SCREEN - FULL FRAME. And there's that jagged, fuzzy, ugly THING again. And we hear:

KA-CHUNK -- slide changes -- the THING gets bigger --

PULL BACK TO REVEAL -- FIFTY PEOPLE AT LEAST. Crammed in. Hand- lettered signs, hastily written -- propped up around this long table: ENGINEERING -- PROPULSION -- COMMUNICATIONS -- PUBLIC AFFAIRS -- DATA RETRIEVAL -- Open phone lines to N.S.C. -- The Cape -- the feeling that everybody who is in on this is on the line right now.

KA-CHUNK -- the THING gets bigger.

General Kimsey watching THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE as we hear THE PRESIDENT in the BG transmitted from Air Force One --

Truman looks down the table. THREE PEOPLE sitting behind one of those signs that reads: PROPORTIONAL ANALYSIS.

Truman waving his hands to make it simple.

Suddenly the door opens across the room -- a MATH GUY stands there, holding a printout. One look and you know it's bad. A sudden, total, awful silence.

A GOLF BALL and TEE pushed into GRASS -- HARRY S. STAMPER, CLUB in hand, lines up the shot -- eyes on the ball, then on his target, squinting, concentrating -- intense. He swings -- THWACK! Smiles.

We FOLLOW THE BALL, which sails through the air -- and just as we expect it to hit grass, it hits a GREENPEACE BOAT -- just missing one of the half dozen PROTESTERS on the deck, just waking up. They start YELLING at Harry, who waves back at them:

The Protesters keep yelling as Harry sets up another ball. Behind him, CHARLES "CHICK" CHAPPLE arrives, holding a clipboard. 40's, rugged -- been through the worst with Harry, but he's standing here. That says it all.

Harry swings -- WHACK! The ball hits the Greenpeace hull. The Protesters yell more. Harry yells back:

Harry's face goes flush -- jaw clenched -- he grabs the golf club. SWINGS -- The Golf Club -- as it's hurled into the sea--

Harry tearing through the rig. Way pissed off. HARRY'S GOLF SHOES CLATTERING and --

A COUPLE ROUGHNECKS cut pipe -- looking up, smiling --

Funky and cramped. Samples all over. ROCKHOUND is wearing boxers, sneakers, and a miner's helmet. He's holding a big fish in his gloved hand. Harry comes rushing through--

Truman studies the Math Guy's report. All eyes in the room on him. The grim reality is setting in... he looks around the room.

And the room erupts in activity --

THE DOOR bursts open. Dust falls. Harry fills the frame. A small, dark room. A bed in the darkest corner -- Harry kicks it.

A.J.'s up in bed looking, damn "hand in the cookie jar" nervous. He's physically awkward here -- as if moving at all might break something...or reveal something...

Harry looks at A.J. squarely. A.J. gets it. Harry turns to leave.

And then he HEARS a FEMALE SNEEZE. Harry stops. A.J. winces. Harry turns around, under the bed sheet -- lying there, in her slinky pajamas, is GRACE -- precious, beautiful and 23.

We're TIGHT ON Harry's face -- wracked with rage -- red, insane -- he moves for A.J. who BOLTS OUTTA THE ROOM through the other door -- we CUT TO A.J. sliding down a 70-foot cable --

Harry RIPS a SHOTGUN from its mount. SHELLS fall everywhere --

A.J., in his boxers, sprints from Harry, who wields the shotgun --

BOOM!!! Harry FIRES into the sky -- Christ it's LOUD -- A.J. JUMPS, picking up speed, terrified --

As A.J. scrambles up the DERRICK -- climbing the metal rungs, WE HEAR:

Harry turns -- Grace runs up behind them, a sheet wrapped around her.

Harry's going after A.J. again -- A.J.'s climbing hard -- glancing back at his pursuer --

BOOM! Harry cocks and aims -- but is blocked by JAYOTIS "BEAR" KURLEENBEAR, huge, one of Harry's veterans, desperate for a shower and shave.

Harry pushes past Bear continues after A.J. climbing for his life.

Harry FIRES again -- hits the PUMP JACKS -- SPARKS fly -- Harry continues until Chick intercepts him --

Harry now pushes past Chick -- going after A.J. with all he's got --

BOOM! -- A.J. climbing too fast -- loses his footing -- slipping -- falling -- grabs for THE CABLE -- just snagging it and --

A.J. on the cable, pulling himself to safety. Harry aiming at him. He knows he won't really shoot the kid...or does he? AN AIR HORN BLASTS--

A HUGE LUXURY YACHT on the horizon.

CAMERA MOVES along a PRESENTATION TABLE -- drawings, books, reports, sketches, scale models,-- over a DOZEN NASA TECHS-- and here's Truman, addressing his troops:

And we PUSH IN on the nearby official NASA stopwatch -- DIGITAL NUMBERS to the thousandth of a second -- blurring past -- counting down TIME TO GLOBAL IMPACT -- 18 DAYS - 431:15:18:014 --

THE YACHT has landed. The clients, THREE HONG KONG TITANS, prepare to come up the gangway. Harry and Grace (now dressed) stand together -- A.J., and Bear off to the side.

Grace steps forward to greet THE HONG KONG CLIENTS, charming them instantly with her perfect Cantonese. She continues talking to the Clients, while Harry greets them -- but they both continue their argument:

Harry goes pale --

THE HONG KONG CLIENTS getting the grand tour. Grace leads the way, but the clients are oblivious to their fight:

Grace turns to listen to one of the Clients -- as Harry suddenly seems distracted by a THUMP-THUMP NOISE -- pipes VIBRATE -- Harry looks over at a PRESSURE GAUGE -- which is peaking -- the NEEDLE DROPS SUDDENLY -- then JUMPS -- ONCE -- TWICE -- Harry's eyes go wide -- he sprints away -- Grace confused -- A.J. joins Harry with a triumphant smile --

KA-WHOOSH! OIL -- PIPE -- MUD -- all of it ROCKETS into the sky.

A.J. -- like a flash -- charges after Harry. Grace pulling the Clients into hiding and -- Oil begins to spurt from the valves. Chick and his TEAM pull CABLE and EQUIPMENT as fast as they can. Harry right in the center of it and -- A.J. right behind.

Another meeting. KIMSEY is here, with an exhausted TRUMAN and crew:

IT'S SO LOUD YOU CAN'T BELIEVE IT -- PIPES keep falling and CRASHING AND ROLLING and the OIL IS STILL SHOOTING AND SPEWING AND RAINING DOWN and -- Harry PULLS men out of the way -- races to get to a GIANT VALVE WHEEL -- he's struggling to move the thing but it's not working and he's being blinded by the oil and -- NOW FLAMES BURST OUT --

Through a fountain of oil and mess, A.J. appears -- he pushes his way in beside Harry -- muscles straining and THE ROARING SOUND OF OIL and THE RATTLE and SHAKE -- Fire hoses shooting water -- It's terrifying and dangerous as metal pipes falls around them -- but they're doing it - - the WHEEL TURNS -- the GUSHER is slowly CONTAINED --

Until finally the insanity's over -- Harry and A.J. collapse to the floor, exhausted, covered in black. Harry looks at A.J., whose smile is the only bright white thing here.

Harry gets up -- slips a little in the oil -- and heads off. A.J.'s smile is gone now.

Grace with the Hong Kong trio -- all covered in oil -- suits ruined, the yacht trashed -- but the Clients are all smiles. Harry appears.

Harry forces a thumbs up, turning to Chick, who's high on the bridge:

Now A.J.'s behind Harry -- slaps his back --

Harry pivots -- SLAMS A.J. in the face -- A.J. goes down. Grace gasps, starts across the platform toward the men. Harry looms large over A.J.

A.J. gets to his feet -- stands up to Harry -- Grace gets to A.J. --

Suddenly they all look up -- the Clients, everyone -- to the WHOK - WHOK - WHOK - WHOK of an approaching SEAHAWK NAVY HELICOPTER --

The SEAHAWK sets down -- the doors fly open and SIX ARMED MARINES deploy. ADMIRAL KELSO is right behind them.

Harry steps with Kelso to the ROAR OF THE ROTOR-WASH --

Everyone's staring -- and just as Harry realizes this is real, Rockhound approaches, intense and burdened.

Harry looks over at Grace and A.J. This might not work, but he gives it a try:

Grace and A.J. are in the midst of their own drama, unaware of the four MARINES heading from the chopper toward them. A.J.'s furious.

The Marines arrive --

Grace looks to A.J. -- sharing the confusion -- suddenly two of the MARINES hold A.J. from either side -- one under each arm -- Grace yells out but the other two have her -- they're being pulled apart -- and

Harry watches from the chopper, smiling as Grace -- confused and angry -- is "escorted" into the helicopter -- REVVING SO LOUD she can't hear.

The Clients wave at Harry as the CHOPPER takes off.

THE CLOCK: DIGITAL NUMBERS -- TIME TO GLOBAL IMPACT -- 17 DAYS - 407:14:26:021

Establishing shots...the scope of this place is awesome...

Harry and Grace coming through. Clean clothes, they've showered -- still, they're tense, tired, and confused.

Silence. Two men eye-to-eye. Truman almost smiles.

A large room. Harry and Grace sit in the middle of a PRESENTATION --. We go TIGHT ON Harry and Grace. Cut in the middle of Truman's story.

Dead, grim silence. The lights come up. They're numb.

Truman nods to TECHS FLIP and SKIP, who open big curtains revealing WINDOWS THAT LOOK DOWN ON A VERY HECTIC MISSION CONTROL.

Harry and Grace -- both in shock -- walk downstairs behind Truman, Quincy and A SMALL MILITARY ESCORT.

A DOOR. TWO ARMED GUARDS open up and step aside --

TECHNICIANS standing beside a huge gurney. Stretched across, A LARGE ROBOTIC DRILLING ARM -- complex machinery and gears and Teflon cables. Harry's jaw tightening as he circles the thing. Harry is in shock -- .

Truman beckons across the room and EIGHT NASA MISSION SPECIALISTS start walking toward us. The geek patrol. Nerdnauts.

Silence. Everyone has stopped working.

Their eyes lock -- Truman's mind races -- Harry's too --

A lonely ribbon of American road. A Harley detailed with leather and horns. And there's BEAR in the saddle. Charley Pride meets Shaft.

Bear glances at his rearview mirror. Shit, there's a COP CAR behind And then, ANOTHER.

Bear tears off at a 100 m.p.h.

Harry and Grace flip through STAMPER OIL PERSONNEL FILES. A team of FBI PERSONNEL listening to every word.

MAX LENNERT. A big man. Plenty of room for all those tattoos. Could be an Allman Brothers roadie. Reading the Wall Street Journal sitting in a chair having a tattoo engraved on his massive arm. MOMMA walks in. She weighs 350lbs and is carrying a box of doughnuts. She looks at Max's new tattoo. It says: "LOVIN' MOMMA." Momma smiles.

FBI AGENTS walk in the door.

Rockhound is drunk. So's THE BIMBO beside him. Drinking. He's got out his loupe, while holding her hand examining her diamond ring.

Rockhound notices the TWO FBI AGENTS who stand over him.

OSCAR CHOI, 32, goatee, galloping full tilt on a grey STALLION.

There's two HELICOPTERS skimming the ground behind him.

Chick at a craps table. Losing. Grim. Taking the dice and --

Snake eyes. TWO G-MEN watch Chick pull in a big pile of chips.

FREDDY NOONAN, an Aussie, CHOKING some guy against the wall.

Noonan stops. GUY GASPS. TWO HUGE FEDERAL AGENTS stand there.

Noonan reels around COLD COCKING the weasel, who drops flat.

NOW TEN SQUAD CARS...lights burning...SIRENS WHINING. A ROAD BLOCK. Three foot gap between cars...100mph...Bear blows through on his bike.

Harry and Grace as they were -- finally getting to the inevitable.

Harry looks away. Is he going to say it first or will she?

Grace struggles to come up with an argument...but can't.

A.J. fixes his old 60's muscle car. A big wise-ass grin. Loving this.

Harry stands there, letting A.J. love this... but hating it himself.

Harry looks into A.J.'s eyes -- he could kill this kid. He could embrace him -- he chooses to do neither:

A.J.'s quieted... intrigued... and because he can sense it... afraid.

The DRILLERS walk in with military ESCORTS laughing and joking with no idea what's up. They greet Harry and Truman.

The guys LAUGH -- except Harry...

FACES in the dark: stunned, blank, incredulous, fascinated, terrified faces. MAX, OSCAR, NOONAN, CHICK, ROCKHOUND, BEAR, and A.J. sitting there; the lights come up. Dead silence.

Truman ushering NASA PEOPLE out the door. The guys alone now. SHOCKED. OSCAR starts to smile.

Silence. And then, breaking the ice:

Harry smiles at this.

Truman, Kimsey and a GROUP OF NASA FOLKS stand around waiting. Staring at the door.

They share a look. The door opens. Harry out first. The Guys behind him. Are they in or out? Unreadable.

Harry has a list. Unfolding it. And unfolding it. Kimsey is enraged - - about to berate them, but Truman silences Kimsey with a look.

Harry hands Truman the long list... Truman reads it, a little taken aback, but in no position to argue.

We see Rockhound's mind racing. He CLEARS HIS THROAT -- gets Harry's attention. Harry moves to the guys. They huddle. Harry then walks back to Truman.

Off Truman and Kimsey's reaction -- Kimsey turns and walks off.

EIGHT NASA GEO TECHS working around the clock to map and monitor the asteroid. Monitors with 3-D mapping. Chemical spectroscopy. Truman is here -- like a General prepping for battle.

A ROW OF CUBICLES. Nurses everywhere. The guys with their tattoos don't look like NASA fit specimens. BEAR, they're drawing blood. NOONAN, mouth open. OSCAR, they're testing his reflexes. Rockhound, Chick, Harry, A.J. - all running on treadmills attached to EKG's... dripping sweat. Rockhound sits down half dead.

Chick and Oscar, naked beneath their NASA smocks, waiting. The door opens and Noonan comes hobbling out, his posterior is killing him.

Head Nurse HELGA stands before Chick with RUBBER GLOVES, an ENEMA PROBE, and a jar of Vaseline.

Harry and A.J. sit facing each other, shirtless, on exam tables. Each has a HYPER-NERDLING NASA DOCTOR attaching the cuff of the sphygmomanometer to gauge their blood-pressure. Both men watch these LOUD-BREATHING GEEKS with discomfort.

A.J. nods, mock-seriously. Harry just stares at him. Hating him.

OUR TEAM is interviewed by a SHRINK in an all white small room.

Big, late-night meeting. Truman, Kimsey, Quincy, Harry, some NASA STAFFERS and all the NASA DOCTORS.

Dr. Banks stamps a BIG RED "APPROVED" sticker on the guys' files -- over a small black "FAILED" stamp...

OUR GUYS -- the whole motley crew -- heads down an antiseptic NASA corridor in SLOW-MOTION. At the other end, COLONEL SHARP -- a hardened military and aeronautic veteran -- stands with Truman and Clark, staring at the rag-tag team, deadpan.

A table piled high with BOOKS and FILES. OUR GUYS standing watching as SHARP walks forward slinging some books off the desk.

Chick raises his hand.

The giant hangar doors open as the guys -- along with Truman, Sharp and Grace -- our guys' faces dropping when they see the truly awesome sight -- THE X-71 SPACE SHUTTLE. Impossibly huge, impossibly advanced. Dozens of WORKERS up on scaffolding, ladders and platforms.

Dumbstruck expressions as they follow TRUMAN. Kimsey standing here with a GROUP OF UNIFORMED spit-polish, TEST PILOTS.

The pilots give a wave down from on high.

Harry, Grace and the Guys watch a HUGE PLASTIC SHEET being raised. TWO ARMADILLOS. This is not the old lunar golf-cart from Apollo days. Larger. Lower. Much, much cooler. THE DRILL ARM has been mounted.

TIME CUT: METAL PIECES COME CLANKING to Quincy's feet. Thrown from the airlock. OUR GUYS VS. THE ARMADILLO. Under. Over. Inside and out.

Grace with a clipboard, scribbling away, and --

-- METAL STILL FLYING.

Quincy is dying here -- his men standing around getting pale....

SMASH CUT: HORRIFYING IMAGES of flight -- A T-38 SCREAMING SKYWARD -- Bear in the back -- crammed in there. ROCKHOUND eyes bugging. Harry about to blow. WE HEAR the voice of CHUCK JR., a tough Vietnam Vet.

A.J. holds on for dear life and there's OSCAR -- except he's loving it.

Harry wobbles out of the plane and kisses the ground.

Harry and Roughnecks underwater lined up. They look like Michelin Men. in weightless aerobic training. THEN WE HEAR a loud FART from Bear.

The Roughnecks laugh -- the NASA guys don't.

There's Earth -- beautiful, blue earth. Then a rock passes over the camera toward our home. Then another, then a CLUSTER, that form the pathetic entourage for. ..THE REAL ASTEROID. This huge be-cragged, black, grey, white, horrific thing comes rumbling over the camera. It keeps coming over the camera, doesn't end because IT'S HUGE.

Truman, Rockhound, Oscar and Grace study printouts of the asteroid surface.

Clark moves to Truman, speaks to him quietly:

The guys are all over attacking and welding the metal beast. Mack trucks are lined up, trannies being dropped. The Armadillo is looking meaner and tougher as it's retrofitted for this special mission.

Sharp standing on the stairway of a NASA BOEING 707. As our guys board the plane -- for the first time we notice the COLOR CODING that will continue throughout: on their outfits, the players have RED or BLUE markings, breaking them into two teams. Blue: Harry, Rockhound, Chick and Max. Red: A.J., Bear, Oscar and Noonan.

The plane drops. The Roughnecks lift off: Zero gravity. Harry and our guys FLOATING AROUND. Then -- the BUZZER goes off and the guys splat to the ground.

All the guys are in stalls, throwing up. Harry and Rockhound are at the sinks -- Harry getting sick in one -- Rockhound, a guy with a troubling secret, gagging but not vomiting, stands beside him.

The Armadillo sits on a dry lake bed outside of Houston. Inside, HARRY's at the wheel, A.J. rides shotgun. MUCHO TENSION between them. QUINCY is their INSTRUCTOR.

Harry hits the five switches to activate the BRAKE LOCK.

A.J. begins the thrust procedure. As he does this:

Harry yanks the throttle --

Suddenly the Armadillo RUMBLES -- GIANT GROUNDING PINCERS swing wide and SLAM into the concrete floor! Harry and A.J. are thrown hard against the cockpit wall! QUINCY hits his head hard --

Oscar sits at the out-of-service control console. Wears an ancient headset. Speaks quietly, dramatically...

Harry enters the room, watches Oscar play for a moment. Then:

Oscar jumps, startled -- really embarrassed --

But Harry's gone before he can finish -- Oscar winces.

CLOSE ON A.J. and Grace kissing. We PULL BACK TO REVEAL that they're in a GIANT ROCKET ENGINE. Suddenly a VOICE:

Startled, the couple looks down on Harry, who stands there, Chick behind him. Harry is calm, assured.

Harry walks off, Chick follows. Grace and A.J. watch him go.

Harry walks under the belly of an old Space Shuttle, heading back to the barracks, Chick trying to keep up.

OUR EIGHT GUYS IN STATE OF THE ART SPACE SUITS. Tough-ass NASA PILOT JENNIFER WATTS stands up front giving a lesson. But Bear, Oscar and Noonan are talking, clearly something about Watts.

Rockhound raises his hand. Watts calls on him.

Watts hits a button -- the massive 40-ton door begins closing.

They fumble for their helmets as the door slams shut -- BLACKNESS.

Out of blackness, the asteroid -- mankind's horrifying enemy -- ROARS toward us... many "satellite" rocks surround it --

The TECHS doing their thing -- Truman close, with a female GEO TECH #1.

SIX STORIES OF THE MOST ENORMOUS WIND TUNNEL FANS IN THE WORLD at one end. EIGHT DWARFED FIGURES -- our guys -- in SPACESUITS at the other.

The BLADES turn -- in SECONDS the guys are BLOWN OUT OF FRAME.

WE PUSH IN ON THE CLOCK: TIME TO GLOBAL IMPACT -- 6 DAYS - 174:12:18:028

The Armadillo is hanging from a huge crane, Harry watches beside A.J.

Harry's face registers concern -- Gruber and Tucker walk away.

Truman stands before the entire group, ROUGHNECKS and NASA, giving an overview. Truman is using crude models hanging from strings.

Truman walks amongst the spheres.

Truman moves to a monitor, hits his remote computer control -- the CG images display what he's describing.

The display shows two giant asteroid halves just missing the earth.

They all watch in dread as the monitor displays the bomb discharging past Zero Barrier -- and the two pieces both hitting the earth.

Harry indicates a monitor with two BAR GRAPHS -- one marked TIME TO ZERO BARRIER the other marked DEPTH.

CLOSE-UPS of Harry's incredible drill design mounted on the ARMADILLO. Over these shots we HEAR and we SEE guys demonstrate movements.

MONTAGE SHOTS of the RED TEAM in the water tank, fully suited -- moving quick to adjust the mock-up drill arm -- Harry is in monitoring room, STOPWATCH in hand --

TIME CUTS of A.J. operating the drill -- of the COUNTDOWN -- of their DRIFT STANDARD DISPLAYS -- a CG SIMULATION of DEPTH and TRANNY RPM's. TRUMAN is watching -- GLOVED HANDS pulling cable -- CLAMPING PIPE -- BEAR'S FACE through the helmet straining and sweating as he tries to keep up with the pipe replacement --

The unit's shaking -- the tension rising --

A.J.'s meters JUMP -- the computer alarm SOUNDS with a BLOWN TRANNY.

Outside of the tank, the exercise is halted as A.J. is pulled from the water -- Harry grabs him -- slams him against the wall -- Chick comes to break it up -- Harry pushes him back -- it's tense as all hell --

MONTAGE -- CLICK -- STOPWATCH -- A.J. works the drill -- we see the fruits of Harry's wisdom: the CG MONITOR shows the drilling at 8,000 RPM's hitting 800 feet. It's worked. Truman moves to Harry --

The NASA SECURITY GATES open -- and our guys are being driven -- all in their own chauffeured car -- away from the premises...

A CASH COUNTER whipping through bills. Done. LOAN SHARK picks up the last pile puts it on the table.

ROCKHOUND stuffs the cash into a paper bag.

Photographs. Mementos. Trophies. Pieces of old equipment. A shrine to drilling. Memories. Harry looks around -- and then he finds PHOTOS OF GRACE -- as a little girl...looking in these pictures the way he sees her always.

Then he grabs the BIBLE from a desk drawer -- and takes an old photo of him as a kid and his DAD covered in oil next to the old Airstream. Harry smiles at the photo, puts it in the Bible...takes it.

A NURSE just inside. Harry gets a kiss.

Sitting there: HOLLIS STAMPER. They call him "GRAP." He's ancient and tough, and a little senile.

Then Harry looks at Grap -- who's looking at him deeply. It's a moment of clarity for Grap. Harry smiles.

Grace holds on to A.J. as he rides a Ducati motorcycle-- pushing the machine to its limits -- Grace laughing -- screaming as he guns it...

Not the greatest. House next to an oil process plant. A woman looks through the screen door, her name DENISE. Chick stands outside.

She's come down toward him now. Nervous.

SIX-YEAR-OLD TOMMY peering down through the screen door.

THE BOY, at the door, watching Chick walk away.

MOMMA working a busy stove, eight pots of supper going. Max at the table. Eating like there's no tomorrow. 'Cause there might not be.

Oscar on his knees. Blessed by a PRIEST.

Huge joint. MUSIC BLASTING. STRIPPERS all seem to be congregating in one part of the room. In fact, here come some more STRIPPERS running from the dressing room; all of them heading for --

THE VIP Section. Champagne everywhere. Rockhound and Noonan stuffing hundred dollar bills anywhere they want. OTHER CUSTOMERS getting jealous and pissed -- Rockhound buried in chest flesh.

Here comes an even BIGGER GUY. Call him BIKER.

That cuts it. It's a brawl. Noonan loving it...swings a bottle. Rockhound hiding behind SOME STRIPPERS as all hell breaks loose.

Harry walks down a busy street, looking at all the people: families, kids, old folks, all laughing and talking, living their lives oblivious to the danger that awaits. Harry really feeling the responsibility. The pressure.

THREE HOUSTON SQUAD CARS angled outside. Brawl aftermath. Bloody noses. Torn shirts. Rockhound and Noonan standing there with TEN OTHER GUYS, everyone with their hands up against the wall as the COPS try it out.

A COP roughs up the skinny Rockhound.

Harry sitting thinking. Outside, NASA PEOPLE running urgently to some emergency.

The room is on. Mad scramble. Lights and PHONES and everything running and Truman at the middle of it all. Harry just walked in.

Huge city. Neon blazing. The busy harbor alive with floating Junk's. A SONIC BOOM CRACKS THE SKY. HUGE FLASH. Night becomes day for two seconds. The world slows down, motion creeps. The face of a terrified LITTLE BOY reaching for his FATHER'S HAND. THE ASTEROID SHRIEKS down --

STRIKING -- so hard -- so fast -- a million gallons of seawater FLASH- BOILED instantly. The Junks rip apart like kindling.

The room is quiet now. Somber. Truman looks wiped. Sees Harry -- moves to him.

Their eyes meet for a moment. Truman almost smiles.

TWO NASA LEAR JETS parked on the runway. The guys walk with duffel bags on their shoulders. Chick snaps off a crisp salute to Davis as he climbs into the plane. Max right behind him. Noonan and Rockhound hanging very, very low this morning. Every footstep a major achievement. Grace and A.J. walk together. Harry stands there, watching, still disapproving. Truman walks up to Harry.

SCREENS, one by one, filling with the story. Talking heads speak with an urgency a lot more hysterical than usual.

HUNDRED OF REPORTERS and NEWS VANS pressing forward. U.S. Air Force SECURITY POLICE to keep them back.

THE CRAWLER. Moving a towering X-71 ROCKET toward the launch gantry. Harry and the guys being driven in a transport vehicle, pull over. The guys get out, looking at the MASSIVE SHUTTLE.

This place looks like a rusted steel Stone Hendge. Grace stands there, sadly transfixed on something. Harry walks up behind her.

She turns to him -- can't even force a smile.

She just moves to him and hugs him. He hugs her back, savoring the moment -- his purest joy in ages --

Harry stands there -- letting the news sink in. She waits for his approbation -- but instead, he just takes her into his arms. As Grace cries, Harry sees what she was looking at: A PLAQUE which reads, "1967 Dedicated To The Living Memory Of The Crew of Apollo One." And we can see the fear in Harry's face. We then PULL BACK, revealing A.J., watching them from far away.

More news flashes. NETWORK ANCHORS looking frazzled.

QUICK SHOTS. Final preparation. FIRING ROOM shaking down. Harry and the Guys getting dressed. THINGS plugging in. Turning on. The Team suiting up in their SHUTTLE FLIGHT SUITS.

Big door. VEHICLES outside waiting to take them to the gantry. Tons of NASA PEOPLE scurrying around. Military security. Grace can go no further. A.J. the last to go. They're waiting for him.

He turns to Grace. Two lovers surrounded by this madness.

And he kisses her -- SLOW-MO --

The kiss over, A.J. looks at Grace, strong and proud:

The door shuts and -- And A.J.'s gone. Grace looks down at her ring.

TELEVISION SCREENS all showing the White House. As the massive door opens THE FLIGHT TEAM, lined up heroically, loads into escort vehicles. NEWS CREWS being held back.

The vehicle convoy guided down the long three-mile road to the Shuttles by five cop cars and three SWAT loaded NASA Hueys.

The two shuttles silhouetted by the setting sun. A BAR dead quiet, PEOPLE watching television. The ENGINES steaming in readiness. LAUNCH CONSOLES humming alive. Truman in the bathroom, a moment alone, relieves himself, his forehead leans against the tile. He's feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders.

TELEVISION SHOTS now of THE FLIGHT TEAMS stepping off the escort vehicles at the gantry base. GRAP STAMPER parked in front of the TV as Harry's FACE is caught by the camera.

CHICK'S KID glued to the TV as CHICK'S FACE flashes across the screen. THE KID turns, looking to DENISE who's standing at the door in shock.

GANTRY ELEVATORS closing in on THE FLIGHT TEAMS. FACES of the ENTIRE FLIGHT TEAMS flashing. LAUNCH TECHS scurry around the gantry base.

GANTRY ELEVATORS arrive at the top. CHICK'S KID staring as the television cameras linger on CHICK for a moment. DENISE says: "That's your Daddy..."

MAX'S MOMMA in the kitchen watching. THE LOAN SHARK with his mouth open. KARL and DOTTIE watching.

FREEDOM to the left. INDEPENDENCE to the right. Harry and A.J. the last ones to split up. TECHS in WHITE SUITS leading them.

THERE'S A LOT MORE TO SAY, BUT THERE'S NO TIME AND THEY'RE TOO CHOKED UP AND SCARED. THEY PART INTO THE WHITE ROOMS.

Strap-in teams harness Harry, Chick, Max, Rockhound. Up front, Sharp, Watts and Gruber prepping final checks.

A.J., Noonan, Bear, Oscar strapped in. Up front, Davis, Tucker and Halsey run their checks. RADIO V.O.: Event timer started.

A.J. looks at Oscar, who looks truly terrified.

Countdown. Truman and Kimsey in Mission Control. FACES. FACES. FACES. THE CLOCK ticking down. And RADIO CHATTER over everything. T-MINUS TWENTY SECONDS. Harry trying to breathe. A.J. trying to breathe. Davis ready to roll. Sharp looking steady. ENGINES REVVING. TEN SECONDS. Rockhound eyes closed. Oscar praying. Chick. Bear.

NUMBERS RUNNING DOWN. 10- 9- 8- ENGINES VENT -- 3-2-1...ENGINES FIRING.

The shuttles engines fire simultaneously. The huge exhausts billows out as the massive vehicles clear the pads.

Harry riding it out. A.J. too. Rockhound, Max, Noonan, Oscar -- squinting -- Bear, Chick all clenched against their fear. The Independence and Freedom streak awesomely between the camera. Climbing to the heavens.

The whole control room intently watching their consoles.

Sharp and Watts flip switches, check gauges.

Freedom and Independence scream away from Earth as they shed their booster canisters. Harry and the guys hit their first hard G-Forces.

Picture the cluttered glove box of an old car. Cosmonaut LEV ANDROPOV intensely works the equipment -- he hits one of his monitors which FLICKERS back to life --

PULL OUT of the window to see Lev bouncing around to the music, FURTHER STILL to see the entire multi-module Space Station.

Through cockpit windows, the BLUE of the Earth's atmosphere becoming the BLACKNESS of space. RADIO CHATTER layering over everything --

Sharp and Watts do the same. Sharp turns to Harry and the rest:

Freedom and Independence approach the Space Station's T-Shaped TWIN DOCKING PORTS. The Shuttles move to opposite sides.

GREEN LIGHT. Locks depressurizing. Harry, Sharp, Gruber, Rockhound enter from one side. A.J., Davis, Tucker, Oscar from the other.

As they enter, Lev pops out. Hanging upside down. Dark eyes and a grave stare that borders on psychosis.

They're all a little taken aback by Lev's manner.

Suddenly Lev falls to the floor. Embarrassed -- angry --

Harry offers help, but Lev gets up on his own.

Lev wobbles off. A.J. turns to Sharp.

Cramped and moldy like an old sub. Pipes and tubing everywhere. Lev helps A.J. put on a HEAVY COLD SUIT.

Chick looks inside an open, packed STORAGE BIN -- Lev rushes to him.

Lev leads A.J. down into a 25 FOOT SHAFT into --

HUGE TANKS line the frosty room. Lev moves to the fuel gauges.

Lev shows A.J. the steel shut-off handle. Lev then turns on the 02 pressure, then climbs out of the shaft.

The shuttle teams works feverishly to set up the transfer of fuel into the shuttles. A liquid PROPELLANT TRANSFER HOSE is run through the docking port to an interior PROPELLANT INTAKE VALVE in the shuttles. Negative 400 degrees Liquid Oxygen starts to runs through the hose, filling the cabin with condensation. On a wall, a COMPUTER BOARD that monitors the fuel transfer is filled with GREEN LIGHTS.

Harry, Noonan, Rockhound looking around as Lev works the consoles -- intensely working away. They all notice the PHOTOGRAPHS that Lev has taped onto the console -- his WIFE. His two SONS. His PARENTS. His DOG. Lev notices that the Americans are looking at his personal life. He doesn't like it.

Suddenly a C02 LEAK bursts near Harry's head -- they all jump -- Lev hurries to them --

Lev grabs a ROLL OF METAL TAPE -- wraps it around the pipe, stopping the leak.

A.J. watches the gauge -- which starts to rise.

CLOSE ON the intercom, which broadcasts a BARELY AUDIBLE, CRACKLING A.J. as Lev continues to work the FUEL RELEASE CONSOLE. He turns to them, somewhat regretful:

Then Watts enters -- Lev turns to her -- gasps.

On a control panel behind him, GREEN LIGHTS turn RED as --

A.J. watches the gauge hit 195 -- 200 -- A.J. PULLS the SHUT-OFF VALVE - - but the lever cracks off in his hands -- the Liquid Oxygen oozes into a CIRCUIT BOARD. Surgeon-like microscopic camera tracks it hitting a SWITCH -- which SPARKS.

Lev tries to respond to A.J.'s STATICKY calls --

Suddenly there's a BROWN-OUT. Everyone stops -- it's horrifyingly silent -- a chill runs down Lev's spine -- then he EXPLODES WITH:

Lev hits the KLAXON and Sharp runs for the DOCKING PORT -- madness --

On A.J. as the KLAXON BLARES -- a recorded RUSSIAN VOICE comes over the speakers. A.J. struggles to climb up the shaft ladder. Reaching --

Circuits POP VIOLENTLY all around A.J. -- SPARKS FLY -- FIRE starts to CHEW the walls -- Lev runs in, meets up with A.J. -- the leak growing rapidly --

A small EXPLOSION -- SHARP knows it's over... he closes a HATCH, sealing A.J. and Lev inside an area -- for the good of the mission.

Chick rushes in the shuttle --

Lev and A.J. are trapped in here. They can't open the hatch that Sharp closed on them. AUX air hatch. Lev POPS the door open and cold vapors pour in. The walls are being eaten around them.

Lev sucks in a huge breath and into --

So tight they must crawl on elbows. Impossibly cold. Breath and you die. Sweat freezing as they inch along. LEV'S BARE hand brushing a freezing coil -- skin ripping off and --

Halsey, Bear and Noonan rushing out with the hosing. Davis standing there. Eyes bugging out. Smoke wafting up --

Gruber, Chick and Max pull a fighting Harry inside.

The small hatch in the ceiling pops out and Lev and A.J. drop to the floor. They are so frozen their muscles can barely move. A VIOLENT CONCUSSION hits, dropping the SPACE STATION sideways. A.J drags Lev away from the burning central hub. The pressure's too much -- a METAL DOOR BURSTS from its hinges -- flies across the corridor, almost taking off their heads. The ship is RIPPING apart. Lev grabs his PHOTOS OF HIS FAMILY.

Tucker fires up the shuttle. The Russian Space Station shudders louder -- TILTS further.

A.J. and Lev are running hard -- suddenly a VIOLENT VACUUM -- their screams silent as they struggle to pull themselves to the shuttle door.

Harry looking through the window, eyes frantically searching for A.J. Sharp stabs a button on his pilot console. The DOORS slide shut.

The door opens -- A.J. and Lev dive in -- A.J. hits the button, the door CLOSES behind them --

The two shuttles RELEASE AWAY from the Space Station on FULL THRUSTER POWER, just escaping as --

The Space Station EXPLODES in an internal flash fire, blowing out sections of wall panels and sending a SOLAR PANEL shooting toward Freedom that just misses her! THE SPACE STATION IMPLODES.

A.J. and Lev in zero gravity... Lev looking back on the debris:

Harry moves to the cockpit --

Everyone is relieved --

As they head toward the moon...

SUPER: TWENTY-THREE HOURS TO THE MOON

TWENTY SCREENS. VIDEO SHOTS of: Cargo bay. Cockpit. Armadillo. Bear cranking up the music. Oscar up front in the cockpit. Noonan trying to eat a tube of floating stew. A.J. at the window and --

Chick and Rockhound trying to play cards in zero G's. Harry floating looking out the window, staring back at earth.

Max sleeping, hanging upside-down. Harry, Chick and Rockhound looking back at earth.

Suddenly Max awakens with a start -- terrified.

Max tries to smile -- but his nightmare has really shaken him. Harry then opens his Bible -- and finds a photo of Grace as a little girl and himself a younger man.

A STORAGE CLOSET thrown open. SIX BACK-UP SPACE SUITS hanging here. Tucker pulls one -- hands it back to Lev.

Halsey already helping A.J., Oscar, Noonan, and Bear to get their suits on. Solemn vibe. Battle-prep.

Same thing. The team settles in their seats, It's showtime.

The room waking up now. Clean shirts. Fresh coffee. Crunch time. Kimsey on the phone near the MILITARY CONSOLE. Truman checking out something that Flip and Skip are working on. CONSTANT RADIO CHATTER GOING between ground and shuttles and --

The two Shuttles approach THE MOON, Freedom in the lead, Independence following. Beyond the Moon, too distant to see clearly, THE ASTEROID is on its trajectory toward Earth. It is a HUGE, CRAGGY MASS surrounded on all sides by a DEBRIS CLUSTER of rock and ice, the ice glinting on and off in reflected sunlight, like millions of fireflies.

The MOON grows larger and larger. Beyond is the oncoming ASTEROID.

Clark sits in flight director pod with Techs Flip and Skip. Truman and Kimsey pace behind the console.

Harry, Chick, and Max finish buckling into their seat restraints and harnesses. Shuttle Independence they are doing the same.

Shuttles closing-in rapidly. The dead, luminous sphere looming larger.

LUNAR SURFACE completely fills the windshield. We've lost sight of the oncoming asteroid.

Shuttles Freedom and Independence shoot toward the Moon, pulled by the lunar gravitational field. The moon surface rushing past.

THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD -- THE LUNAR SURFACE looks close enough to touch.

The two Shuttles rushing toward the dark side and --

THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD - THE LUNAR SURFACE is only 50 miles below.

THE ASTEROID followed by a SWARM OF DEBRIS roar into frame. Getting closer to the moon. Earth, in the far distance, a big, blue target.

Sharp and Watts getting set for the big one.

STATIC. VIDEO SCREENS crashing. All shuttle readouts, FLATLINE.

Truman turns to see Grace sitting behind. Gives her a hang tough nod. She returns it.

Freedom and Independence fire their BOOSTERS and explode forward, hurtling around the Moon's DARK SIDE with a degree of increasing velocity never before experienced by Man.

Harry, Chick, Rockhound and Max get hit with the first G-Forces. Their torsos get jammed against their seats. Their arms weigh 300 lbs. It's like an elephant sitting on their chests. In the Independence A.J., Lev, Bear, and Oscar are in WRENCHING PAIN.

Watts reads her VELOCITY INDICATOR under G-Forces so bad she speaks through clenched teeth:

Horribly helpless. Spookily silent.

Excruciating. Gut-wrenching-turn-you-inside-out-G-Forces. FACIAL MUSCLES distorting hideously. Cheeks and lips just flattening. Almost impossible to breathe. Almost.

IN ONE AWE-INSPIRING SHOT, we see -- THE SHUTTLES rocketing around the Moon in darkness, further and further, until finally WE SEE, a staggering, mind-blowing visual --

THE ASTEROID'S TRAILING DEBRIS appears, a HUGE CLOUD of tiny ICE CHUNKS AND PEBBLES, and much larger BOULDERS, and ICEBERGS the size of houses, the ice glinting with reflected sunlight, throwing off a dazzling SPECTRAL SHOWER OF LIGHT in all directions. DEBRIS from the asteroid's tail starts bombarding the moon's surface.

THE ASTEROID'S HUGE CORE - just clearing the Moon - now flies straight for its destination: the beautiful, blue PLANET EARTH dead ahead. Freedom and Independence slingshot out of the lunar orbit and fall behind the asteroid, settling into the DEBRIS-LESS CORRIDOR.

Silence/static replaced by LIGHT and SOUND. Computers WHIR to life.

Nervous silence. And then...THROUGH BROKEN STATIC.

Grace, like everyone else, breaths a major sigh of relief.

Sharp and Watts staring through the windshield at the ASTEROID and GLIMMERING TAIL dead ahead. Harry and the others, still recovering. RADIOS START CHATTERING AWAY and --

FREEDOM out front. INDEPENDENCE flanking. Descending through the debris-free corridor toward the asteroid surface. They are travelling 150 M.P.H. faster than the speeding target. Suddenly, A CLOUD OF ICE AND PEBBLES appears up ahead --

Visibility cut instantly to twenty feet -- BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! -- massive turbulence -- PEBBLES and ICE CHUNKS BATTERING THE WINDSHIELD -- chipping -- denting it --

BACK IN THE CABIN -- Harry and the guys reacting --

REAR OF COCKPIT -- Harry and the others are buffeted violently --

No visibility here either. Ice chunks and pebbles BANG against the windshield.

The debris clears -- then returns BIGGER AND MORE FORCEFUL --

BANG! A rear thruster gets taken out by flying rocks. The fuel leaks out spitting BLUE FLAME. Independence SPINS OUT OF CONTROL --

The whole shuttle spins around twirling, upside down.

The Independence upside down flies right over the top of the Freedom. The cockpits can almost look into each others.

Filling Freedom's cockpit windows, massive engine thrusters of the Independence nearly colliding with her. Sharp takes evasive action and pulls up, out of the way. Safe, but for a MOMENT, a HUGE ICE BOULDER the size of a HUGE HOUSE twirls into Freedom's path.

The nose of the Freedom smashes into the top of the rock right over camera. Harry and the guys take a hard concussion.

In the mayhem, spinning and shaking. A.J., Lev, Bear floating in zero-G. As the shuttle takes large violent rock hits.

The Shuttle's roof collides with a rock. We hear SCRAPING METAL. The CEILING dents in, dislodging INTERIOR CEILING PANELS filled with wires and electrical components; Sparks that rain down. Chaos.

In the Cargo Bay, MACK TRANNIES, PIPES, DRILL BITS spin free and shred through the shuttle roof. A violent vacuum windstorm sucks more free.

Everyone grabs for their HELMETS, frantically trying to get them on. A.J. gets his on, but he can't lock the neck seal. He fidgets with the little SEAL LOCKS. A.J. rips off the helmet. It slips from his fingers and floats off through the zero-G cabin!

The whole cockpit revolves around A.J. as he floats for his helmet.

We hear a CACOPHONY SCREAMING VOICES from the Independence.

Truman and the NASA personnel can only sit and listen, horrified, impotent to do anything....

Noonan, strapped in, freaks out, bolts for the SAFETY EMERGENCY HATCH equipped with EXPLOSIVE RELEASE CHARGES. Tucker sees a wild-eyed, crazed Noonan at the Emergency Hatch. BIG ROCKS smash off the windshield in front of Tucker; the windshield's safety layer weaken and splinter, to the point of bursting.

A ROCK SMASHES through the windshield, gouging into Tucker. Depressurization. Davis and Tucker are VIOLENTLY SUCKED out the windshield.

Noonan BLOWS the Emergency Hatch. Noonan is sucked out the hatch door, hanging on by his harness, flapping against the side of the shuttle.

Sharp, Watts and Harry watch the Independence twirl down. BANG!!! MACK TRANNIES, PIPES, METAL SPLINTERS strikes the Freedom's nose. SUDDENLY SLAP! DAVIS' BODY HITS THE WINDSHIELD. Everyone recoils in terror.

FLASH CUTS: Independence's Systems Monitors flash off: PRESSURIZATION goes to zero; CABIN OXYGEN zero. Radio STATIC and PANICKED VOICES.

A.J., eyes wide, his face catatonic with fear. THE SOUND DROWNS OUT as he watches the Independence die. The cabin twirling..Smoke spewing from a hundred ruined components..sparks flying...The asteroid's surface approaching through the blown Emergency Hatch....

Then the Shuttle, upside down, SLAMS DOWN. The fuselage ceiling rips open like a can of tuna, filling the cabin with jagged rocks and ice. The Independence skips, bounces, finally skidding to a stop.

Seconds pass, Independence's STATIC goes dead. Sharp, Watts, Harry and crew stare at the radio in shock. Sharp looks out below at a rougher, craggier section where landing looks impossible.

Sharp punches the directional thrusters, trying to regain control.

The Shuttle Freedom swoops over a CRAGGY SLOPE on the asteroid's surface, coming in sideways, too hot. Freedom HITS HARD on the craggy slope, bouncing and sliding, slinging gravel and ice chunks.

Harry and his Team are SMASHED around in their seats. They JOLT to a stop. No one moves. No one breathes. It's scary as hell. Silence.

Gruber with a big cut on his forehead -- in shock.

POWER PULSING AND LIGHTS FLICKERING. Watts working like mad --

Frantic beehive of activity. People trying to boost the signals -- check the modules -- analyze the trajectories -- guess the angles.

Truman turns back to find Grace -- on the edge of madness, living in a nightmare. He moves to her --

Panels pulsing. Sharp and Watts blitzing a diagnostic rundown.

Harnesses being torn away. Harry already at the window. Max and Chick very quiet. Rockhound starting to freak --

CAMERA TIGHT ON HARRY -- devastated -- thinking about A.J. -- the rest of his team. He grabs his Bible -- eyes welling with tears --

Clark and Skip at the CAPCOM STATION, still trying to get a radio signal going -- screens STATIC -- looks desperate --

Everyone on edge -- the GENERAL'S hunched over a phone -- VIDEO MONITORS nothing but STATIC. RADIO is exclusively Houston's frantic effort to make contact. Grim in an understatement --

Watts swapping panels like crazy. Sharp punching keys. Rockhound stares at a MONITOR -- NUMBERS occasionally appear through the STATIC.

Sharp checks an LCD GAUGE showing RADIO SIGNAL STRENGTH -- FLATLINED.

The gnarled wreck of SHUTTLE INDEPENDENCE lies below. Twisted metal.

MOVING THROUGH the steam and frozen gasses leaking from hundreds of small ruptures. Emergency lights flicker. Halsey: dead. Noonan: dead. Oscar's body, contorted horribly. But there's BEAR -- trapped in his harness, his boot painfully crushed into some grillwork. A.J. hangs upside-down, cuts himself free. Scared and breathing hard, he makes his way to Bear.

A.J. gets down there. Straining and straining and --

Suddenly Bear passes out. A.J. all alone, trying to pull it together. And then, in the back the sound of an ANGRY RUSSIAN SWEARING.

Lev appears through the cabin, out of breath, shaken.

Lev's eyes swell with tears. A chill rushes down A.J.'s spine. He then climbs into the Armadillo -- flips some controls -- the LOCATOR BEACON comes to life, indicating the direction of the other Armadillo.

Freedom's cargo ramp unfolds to the asteroid surface. Harry and crew are suited up. Max inside the Armadillo, others on the sides. Harry looks out. The place looks eerily calm--

Incredibly quiet. Tranquil and bizarre. They've landed in a small, dark valley; turned away from the Earth and Sun, THE MOON is huge on the far horizon. Harry walks down the ramp carrying a steel probe. Rockhound stares off at the moon --

Here comes the ARMADILLO. In the BG, Sharp and Gruber push out the remote satellite link and --

Watts working hard to get the radio and electric going --

DRILL BIT turning. Lowering. Biting. Harry and Chick work the arm -- carefully watching their rotation and depth speed gauges. Rockhound stands back -- the bit begins cutting, Max driving!

The first 10 feet go smoothly -- 15 feet -- 20 feet -- them suddenly: CLANK--CLANK-- CLOSE ON Harry as his face is flush with horror --

KSSSSSSHHHHH-BOCOOOM!!! The bit breaks apart and the drill dies. Harry is horrified. Max is pale --

Watts getting THE RADIO to light up -- but only for a moment --

CONSOLE LIGHTS flickering and -- Everyone turning as they realize that FIVE VIDEO SCREENS are wisping to life --

Whole room reacting as they hear A VOICE THROUGH THE STATIC.

CHEERS and APPLAUSE throughout the room -- Grace can't help but laugh.

Sharp now there with Watts. Yes! A minor triumph.

VARIOUS SHOTS as Harry, Chick, Rockhound and Max clamp in the NEW BIT -- they begin DRILLING AGAIN --

And as the bit's ripping through the asteroid's skin Rockhound surveys around the hole -- Harry at the controls -- and then, the unthinkable: CLANG--CLANG--BOOOOM! The bit is chewed again. They all go silent in disbelief and shock. This is worse than any of them ever imagined.

Truman and Kimsey are there -- NASA and MILITARY TECHs everywhere. A NASA TECH #2 displays some dire information on a CG monitor --

Kimsey turns to a NUKE TECH (in military uniform) --

Bear painfully lowering himself into ARMADILLO TWO. Lev and A.J. staring at the mangled-up CARGO BAY.

A.J. jumps up on top of the ARMADILLO. Pulls the sleeve from the CANNON. Flips a few obvious looking levers and takes aim.

Lev dives down into the ARMADILLO. A.J. ready... set... he pulls the trigger and -- BAM -- BAM -- it fires -- THE HUGE EXPLOSIVE SHELLS BLAST THROUGH.

The smoke clears -- A HUGE RAGGED HOLE. THE ARMADILLO blasts through the ripped metal shuttle skin --

Harry, Rockhound and Chick watching the very slow progress.

Max PUNCHES the CLUTCH -- the drill ROARS and --

Spinning faster -- faster -- BAM! Starting to drop -- and then, BRRRRRR...Real slow.

Suddenly BOOM! The tranny BLOWS -- SHRAPNEL FLIES EVERYWHERE --

Suddenly, A BURST OF WIND ROARS THROUGH -- hang on --

Sharp and Gruber trying to lock down the REMOTE ANTENNAE, fighting the asteroid's gas bursts and windy atmosphere --

Watts continues to work the electrical -- more lights come alive --

Kimsey pacing. Checking his watch. VIDEO MONITORS in the BG, starting to go in and out and --

Harry and Chick walk in as Sharp tries the radio -- STATIC --

Sudden silence. Sharp can't believe this -- he's afraid now. He heads toward the cockpit radio --

Sharp via VIDEO and RADIO. Very patchy and staticky.

Harry pushing past Watts. Sharp is on the radio, reading a DRILLING TIME TABLE CARD: Harry rips it out of his hand.

Harry grabs the radio out of Sharp's hand. Pissed.

INTERCUT WITH: MISSION CONTROL

Harry's transmission is BREAKING UP -- NASA TECHS are frantic, trying to maintain contact with Shuttle Freedom -- but monitors FLICKER as the SIGNAL FADES. Harry drops the radio and turns to Sharp --

Before he can finish, Harry has LUNGED at Sharp -- pushing Sharp's face right into the VIDEO TAP -- back at NASA everyone sees this on VIDEO SCREENS that FLICKER again, then GO TO STATIC. At least for now, communication is GONE.

Sharp tries to push Harry away -- finally they break apart:

Harry heads back to the tranny --

Screens still STATIC -- desperate Techs at their posts -- Kimsey is handed a RINGING RED PHONE --

BOOM -- a CONTINGENT OF MARINES enter the room, accompanied by two military AIDES who are carrying a NUCLEAR COMMAND LINK SUITCASE.

Kimsey is all business now. He now has official orders.

Watts works hard on the electrical -- more lights have come on. Sharp enters, furious -- glances at the RADIO SIGNAL GAUGE -- DEAD.

In the growing WIND STORM, Gruber continues to lock down the remote antenna --

But back here there's still no comm. Around the NUKE CONSOLE it's CHAOS -- Kimsey and SIX MARINES-- Truman on the PHONE --

A beat. Truman holds out the phone.

Kimsey takes the phone.

Then Kimsey looks drawn from the orders he's hearing. Hangs up.

Kimsey inserts his key -- Grace moves forward --

Grace is held back by military OFFICERS --

But the MILITARY AIDES INSERT THEIR KEYS -- and they turn them -- CLICK...CLICK... Truman looks over -- there's Grace, crying, held back by the Officers, her heart breaking -- Kimsey says a silent prayer as he turns his key -- CLICK.

Rockhound and Max dissemble the broken tranny -- a WIND STORM picks up, kicking thick dust everywhere --

Harry and Chick struggle alone, carrying the heavy tranny -- it's a brutal job -- Harry only hears STATIC, unable to read Rockhound's call.

That's when Chick sees something -- THE NUCLEAR BOMB'S DIGITAL CLOCK IS COUNTING DOWN -- 4 MINUTES -- Chick stops -- Harry confused --

Harry looks at the bomb -- sees its running clock -- his eyes go wide -- drops the tranny --

Sharp hurries in -- sees the bomb -- loses his shit --

Watts -- already moving double-time -- works wildly here --

Guys in panic mode, following Sharp, who GRABS THE BOMB. Harry and Chick help, confused in the insanity -- trying to take it all in --

Rockhound and Max keep working, business as usual -- THEY CAN'T HEAR HARRY'S CALL --

Watts is crazed in the cockpit -- lights are actually GOING OUT --

Harry grabs Sharp HARD --

Watts gets a minor victory as the main power is BEING RESTORED --

Clark trying in vain to reach the Freedom. Truman standing at the back of the room, catching the eye of Flip at his COMPUTER TERMINAL. Truman draws his finger across his throat -- "kill it." Flip understands. His fingers race on the computer.

Utter mayhem --Sharp pushes Harry hard against the wall -- Harry then grabs a WRENCH -- he moves to the bomb -- about to SLAM the thing -- when Sharp pulls a gun on Harry --

Truman's eyes on Flip's BLURRING hands -- the monitor then reads: "OVERRIDE SUCCESSFUL" -- and the BOMB CONTROL PANEL COUNTDOWN suddenly stops -- Kimsey is shocked --

Kimsey looks over at Truman, who just returns the stare -- Kimsey figures out what's happened --

A Marine moves to Flip's computer -- and SLIDES FLIP back in his chair, then SHUTS OFF Flip's console --

It's still madness here -- Harry vs. Sharp -- gun still drawn --

Now Gruber enters from the windy exterior --

Suddenly the bomb counter freezes at 1:09. Sharp is shocked -- everyone freezes -- no one knows what to think...Harry lunges and WRAPS pipe tongs around Sharp's neck. Sharp is SLAMMED against the wall - Harry enraged. Gruber tries to stop him -- but Rockhound and Max come in. Harry squeezing the life out of Sharp. Chick hits Gruber in the throat, Gruber goes down. Harry, intense to Sharp:

The Marines with Kimsey at the Nuke Console --

BUTTONS being pushed -- the signal RE-SENT --

Watts prepping for departure -- the RADIO SIGNAL GAUGE hits 90% --

Harry and Sharp -- CLOSER -- more INTENSE -- RADIOS return with STATIC.

The PIPE TONGS SQUEEZING the air out of Sharp -- SUDDENLY THE BOMB STARTS AGAIN. None of them can believe it. Sharp struggles to get away from Harry -- but Harry forces him down -- 1:02...1:01 -- Harry squeezes harder on Sharp -- FACE TO FACE.

Sharp listens, he hears Harry now.

SMASH CUT: Sharp quickly, precisely removes panels -- pulls fuses -- removes MICROCHIPS, hits buttons, finds wires -- Gruber helping -- everyone sweating -- Rockhound leans against the wall -- eyes wide in terror -- this man is going insane.

As Sharp works we see a COMPUTER MICROCHIP from the bomb mechanism fall unnoticed through the floor gating -- the clock ticks down -- 05,04,03 - - Sharp does the final maneuvers --

The timer on the console shuts off at TWO SECONDS.

Silent NASA faces. Truman. Grace. SILENCE. And then -- the radio-- scratchy but clear--

Grace and Truman share a look. Kimsey closes his eyes.

A.J.'s ARMADILLO rumbles over a little hill revealing the RIDGE WITH THREE SPIRES directly in front of them. THE SUN is creeping over the asteroid's FAR HORIZON, causing a surprisingly beautiful "sunrise."

A.J. driving. Lev and Bear (in pain) bouncing. A.J. watching the LOCATOR BEACON. Turns to head for the signal. Lev looks out, lost in thought...

A.J. HITS THE BRAKES -- they have come to a RIDGE -- a 50 foot drop -- there's no way to get down.

Harry, Sharp, and Gruber bolt down the final lugs on THE NEW TRANSMISSION -- Rockhound wears the Armadillo CANNON-AIMING HELMET -- wherever he looks, the turret aims. Everyone's sweating now -- here comes another QUAKE --

Beneath the armadillo, Max is on his back, braced under THE TRANSMISSIONS HOUSING -- straining to hold the lug straps in tight.

Chick up front. Starts the thing up -- accelerates and --

DRILL BIT DESCENDING -- grinding and digging and --

Lev standing on the roof of the Armadillo. A.J. walks in front, looking for a way down to continue on.

A.J. grabs a rock and HURLS it at LEV, who ducks -- but the rock just KEEPS GOING -- A.J. watches it -- Lev turns to see it go too -- the rock just floats away... A.J. and Lev look at each other...

THE ENGINE ROARING. Max sweating buckets as he works -- Rockhound, wearing the aiming helmet, stares off crazily at the horizon -- now the drill seems to have broken through something --

A.J., in the driver's seat, jams it into reverse. Tires SKID. A.J. pauses. Looks ahead and breathes, then looks to Lev.

A.J. floors it right towards the cliff, as he shuts down the roof mounted pro-gravity thrusters.

The Armadillo rumbles right off the edge. Thrusters "off" -- they sail into space. It flies over the deep gully, the vehicle amazingly shoots across the entire jagged fissure --

Lev looks down. They are slowly going higher. He pushes the thruster "fire" switch -- but nothing happens. He pushes it again... nothing. Bear is getting nervous --

Lev rushes to the air lock. A.J. freaking --

The Armadillo is still ascending as Lev POPS out on the roof and crawls carefully to the thruster port, caked with ice. Lev uses a small firing torch to melt the ice.

The valve SPUTTERS -- pissed off, he goes to the next --

Floating rocks SLAM and pepper the roof of the Armadillo. Lev rolls, dodging the hits, barely hanging on. He looks through the windshield to A.J.

A side-mounted O2 canister explodes, sending Lev grabbing for the tow winch cable. The whole vehicle is now spinning end over end, and now Lev is hanging under the chassis. The ground passing 100 feet beneath.

A.J. pushes the "fire" button and the THRUSTER'S ENGAGE. The burst sends the Armadillo heading in a new direction --

Lev hangs on for his life as the Armadillo SLAMS into the sheer face of a spire -- a 90-degree wall. The wheels almost smash Lev's body as it SLAMS into the face of the asteroid, Lev dragging to a stop. They did it.

A.J. pops his head out of the airlock. Lev, splayed out 50 feet from the back of the Armadillo, covered in asteroid surface dirt and grime, looks up at him. Smiles for maybe the first time in years.

DEPTH/TIME GAUGE -- less than two hours to Zero Barrier. They're 400 feet down. 200 feet behind schedule. Grace is going through her father's files -- pulling out maps of old drilling sites -- studying them -- looking for something --

Truman moves to GEO-TECH #1 --

THE SUN hangs low and bright over the horizon. STACKS OF PIPE and debris starting to accumulate. They're DRILLING as fast as they can. Harry and Sharp humping pipe -- Rockhound, atop the Armadillo, seeming oddly thoughtful --

And Rockhound PULLS THE LASER-AIMED CANNON TRIGGER -- the cannon begins BLASTING WILDLY! Chick almost falls off the Armadillo -- Harry and Gruber turn -- as Rockhound turns to them so does the gun turret -- Harry and Gruber dive for cover. Rockhound's gone mad: Rockhound madly FIRES at him -- Harry DIVES as he just misses the BLAST! Rockhound almost shoots the NUCLEAR BOMB --

Harry's climbed onto the Armadillo and tackles Rockhound -- they both fall hard to the ground -- Harry right on top of him --

Max at the controls -- looking around, confused, afraid --

He's turned away long enough to miss the PRESSURE GAUGE NEEDLE DROP SUDDENLY -- then JUMP -- ONCE -- TWICE -- we've seen this before --

The GROUND begins to SPLIT -- SPIDERWEBBING like shattered glass -- BENEATH Harry and Rockhound -- continuing to the drill arm -- Harry then sees THE DRILL ARM KICK -- just a few inches -- he can't take his eyes off it -- THEN IT KICKS AGAIN.

Suddenly a HUGE TREMBLER rocks the valley --

Max grabs his helmet -- EVERYTHING SHAKING -- BOUNCING -- his helmet falls -- kicks around in the interior --

The drill arm KICKS LIKE CRAZY NOW--

Harry tries hopelessly to unhook the ARMADILLO form the DRILL ARM --and it's POUNDING AWAY and there's GAS BURSTING from beneath the ground and Rockhound's going nuts and Harry bangs on the Armadillo glass at Max --

But Chick grabs Harry and pulls him away as KA-BLAM!!! THE DRILLING HOLE BLOWS -- huge explosion -- PIPE EXPLODES UPWARD -- everywhere -- the DRILLING ARM and ARMADILLO ONE LIFT OFF THE GROUND -- PINCERS RIPPING FREE -- the whole thing blows skyward --

Max tumbles -- frantic -- punches THE DOOR LOCK without depressurizing the cabin -- this is suicide -- he's sucked violently out into space --

ARMADILLO -- ALL THAT PIPE, THE DRILLING ARM. MAX, all of it shooting into nowhere. MAX'S FACE a screaming mask of terror and confusion; arms reaching for help that will never come. DOWN BELOW -- Harry and the guys watch in silence. Except Rockhound:

Clark at the comm:

Everyone stops...goes pale. Some drop their head into their hands. Grace -- tears in her eyes seems more enraged than anything --

Silence. Stark tableau. Harry, Chick, Sharp and Gruber -- they're all devastated. That's when Rockhound goes off:

Sharp and Gruber move to the bomb --

Kimsey beside the Nuke-techs who still work to make contact with the nuke. Truman approaches --

Truman goes to do that -- but Grace blocks his way. You do not want to mess with her right now.

Before he can finish, she's SLUGGED TRUMAN across the face -- unleashing all her rage:

She grabs his shirt -- everyone watches, stunned --

Now Truman grabs her -- by the shoulders -- tears come to her eyes --

Watts, drained, prepares for take-off --

Harry watches Sharp and Gruber as they reassemble the nuke. Chick moves to Harry, says quietly:

Just then a light washes across Harry's spacesuit -- he turns around to see the 2ND ARMADILLO HEADLIGHTS BLAZING.

The somber setting is broken by an emotional VOICE --

The room erupts in TALK and CHEERS -- Grace is an emotional volcano --

ARMADILLO TWO rumbles to a stop at the hole. A.J. pops out of the roof hatch --

Harry can't help but smile --

A.J.'s joy is soon replaced with the memory of the grim crash:

Truman moves to Grace --

Feverish pace -- A.J. works the levers on the platform. Hydraulic tongs clamp pipe -- wind POUNDS Harry, working hard outside -- A.J. controlling the drill from the inside -- Bear works hard through the pain -- Lev helping any way he can -- Harry shouting orders, the ground TREMBLING beneath them --

And then A.J. sees the PRESSURE GAUGE JUMP -- concern registers -- Harry sees the DRILL ARM KICK -- eyes go wide --

Sharp -- Bear -- Gruber -- all eyes on Harry -- Armadillo BUCKING --

And A.J. WORKS the drill -- driving the bit hard and fast -- the SOUND LOUDER than we've ever heard -- the GAUGE JUMPING -- JUMPING -- but A.J.'s drilling through the rock -- he's doing it -- the ARMADILLO DEPTH GAUGE hits 804 FEET -- Harry ecstatic --

Cheers erupt as we see the DEPTH/ZERO BARRIER chart complete -- DEPTH is COMPLETE -- ZERO BARRIER closely approaching -- Grace moves to Truman.

She smiles.

THE NUKE SLED -- Sharp and Gruber finishing reassembling the bomb.

DRILL ARM in full-speed reverse. Pulling up. Sections of pipe rising quickly -- Harry and Bear (in agony) snapping them off -- A.J. working the drill and Bear on top, a wrench in his hand, losing consciousness and the wrench SLIPS -- falls into THE TURBINE ENGINE -- SIX THOUSAND R.P.M.'s GRINDING HORRIBLY and--

THE DRILLING ARM suddenly reversing -- JAMMING PIPE BACK DOWN INTO THE HOLE -- buckling it -- twisting it -- Harry and Bear diving away--

Truman paces -- the whole room is knotted with tension --

We CUT TO WORLD MONTAGE -- a NEWSCASTER details unconfirmed reports that the drilling has failed as we see VARIOUS IMAGES of the world reacting to the news --

THE HOLE. A.J. standing there as Harry comes limping over. Fifty feet down, a mess of MANGLED PIPE.

Harry starts running out the cable himself --

Harry and A.J. share a look -- Harry hands A.J. the cable. A.J. climbs in -- looks up at Harry.

A.J. descends with a HAND-HELD CUTTER and A LENGTH OF ROPE. Reaching the obstruction. PIPES mashed and bent, stabbed into the walls. A.J. starting to cut and--

Harry and Chick hoisting debris, as the ground starts to RUMBLE.

A.J.'s rattled around as he ties the rope to the pipes --

Harry and Chick hauling out the debris. Sharp and Gruber right near by, prepping THE NUKE and --

Rockhound duct-taped to a chair -- finally pushes some of the tape away with his tongue --

Just then a BIG TREMBLER STARTS BUILDING. Watts runs in -- Lev right behind her, holding tools --

EARTHQUAKE. A 9.7 on Earth. Chick falls back. Harry grabs the ARMADILLO. Sharp tries to grab THE NUKE as it rolls off the sled and --

A.J. trying to climb out because EVERYTHING RUMBLING. THIS SOUND, WHOOOSHHHH, getting louder and louder and then, suddenly, a WINDSTORM OF PEBBLES shoots up SMASHING INTO A.J.'s FACESHIELD and--

Harry looks -- ACROSS THE VALLEY FLOOR -- A 100 FOOT METHANE GEYSER ERUPTS and plumes of GREEN GAS rocket into space. ANOTHER. And ANOTHER -- it's coming alive....

A.J. can't hold on anymore -- the up-draft too strong and--

Harry turns to see A.J. shot out of the hole -- SAFETY LINE PLAYING OUT -- ripping free! A.J. flies 70 feet off the ground as Harry dives for THE CABLE -- just grabbing it before A.J.'s gone forever --

CHUNKS OF ASTEROID -- some the size of trucks -- breaking free from the ASTEROID SURFACE and, slowly at first, but with terrifyingly increasing speed and momentum, they start rolling...

Harry and the guys standing there, they can't believe it. On come the ROCKS and CHUNKS, rolling as they hit smaller surface rocks -- they take little hops, and bigger hops, until they are BOUNDING across the surface. Harry lashes A.J.'s tether to THE ARMADILLO. Sharp rushes for the PHALANX CANNON atop the Armadillo.

In the midst of this, the ground bursts open with -- A 200 FOOT HIGH GEYSER next to the drilling hole. Gruber gets blasted by the geyser, which blows him across the asteroid floor, SLAMMING him into THE ARMADILLO, killing him. The cannon FIRES thousands of rounds that smash into rocks, bursting them. But there are too many of them.

A 20 FOOT BOULDER rolls toward A.J.'s SAFETY TETHER.

A.J., suspended high above, looks down at the ONCOMING ICE BOULDER.

The boulder hits A.J.'s tether, rolling over it, flattening it to the asteroid surface, which causes A.J., with a JOLT, to be yanked toward the surface.

Sharp, on top of the ARMADILLO, sees A.J.'s plight. He dives inside, engages the gears. The Armadillo ROARS toward the oncoming ICE BOULDER.

A.J., terrified, continues to descend as --

Sharp, driving the Armadillo, rams the BOULDER just as it's about to roll over A.J. The boulder keeps rolling. A.J. is safe. BUT SHIT... the grappling hook is now imbedded in the rolling rock. The slack in line starts to unravel like a huge barracuda on a wild fishing line. The slack RUNS OUT and A.J. is still attached to the harness.

SLACK IS GOING. A.J. tries to get it off...less slack -- WHOMP it pulls A.J. and slams him into a rock just as he releases the harness.THE NUCLEAR DEVICE gets banged by debris. Rocks CLANGING off the device's REMOTE DETONATOR...

THE LARGEST JAGGED ROCK rolls right at Harry and Chick. They are caught. No place to turn. TEN FEET...FIVE... Harry pulls Chick into a small, fox-hole-sized indentation. THE ROCK BOUNCES, floating right over them so close, virtually skimming their face shields. It rolls right past their shocked eyes.

Finally the quake stops. The situation stabilizes. Everyone gets to their feet. Harry and Chick get up.

They look off at THE MASSIVE BOULDERS rolling away in the distance, smashing into other rock formations. Sharp looks at Gruber's corpse.

Harry stumbling to the hole. Looking down. Clear.

Watts prepping for take-off. Lev at the window as the ship's electrical BROWNS OUT --

Sharp doing final prep on the nuke -- Harry and A.J. beside him -- Sharp hits the button sequence -- but the thing doesn't respond.

Truman addresses the room. PUSH IN on Grace as:

PAN FROM Harry...to A.J... Chick... Lev... Bear... Watts. Rockhound still taped to the chair. Electrical wire and CUTTER on the table.

Sharp nods. A BUNDLE OF ELECTRICAL WIRES in his hand.

That makes A.J. first. He stares at the BUNDLE OF WIRES. Reaches. Draws. Holding HIS STRAND as Chick swallows hard. His hand shaking as it reaches out -- pulls slowly -- HIS STRAND LOOKS LONGER THAN A.J.'s. A.J. goes pale. Bear reaching quick -- ANOTHER LONG ONE --

Lev takes his.

Everyone stares at A.J. No doubt now. He's staying. Harry's stomach is in knots --

Sharp shows A.J. the detonator --

A.J. nods. Dead man walking.

FLIP AND SKIP lead Grace up the stairs and into --

A couple chairs. MONITORS. RADIOS. Like an execution viewing room. Grace sits. Waiting to talk to her man.

A.J. and Harry emerging from the SHUTTLE -- A.J. holding the detonator.

Harry then grabs his own MISSION PATCH from his spacesuit sleeve and RIPS IT OFF. He shoves it into one of A.J.'s suit pockets.

Suddenly Harry VIOLENTLY rips A.J.'s air tubes -- almost immediately loses his breath. Harry stabs the AIRLOCK DOOR -- grabs the DETONATOR --

A.J. thrashes -- GASPS -- Harry pushes him into THE ELEVATOR -- the doors SLAM closed -- A.J. BANGS ON THE DOOR --

Harry hits the elevator button -- The elevator sucks A.J. up into the shuttle. Harry is alone now. Forever.

ELEVATOR DOORS open -- A.J. falls out, eyes wet -- looks at Bear, who immediately knows what's happened.

Harry walks to the drilling hole -- violent WIND kicking dust --

Grace alone. Truman standing at the door.

Before she can react -- A VIDEO SCREEN comes to life--

Grace can't believe it.

Skip hands Grace a mike and exits. She stares at the static on the monitor. Harry's face fades in and out. Grace knows something is very wrong from her father's strained, tired face. She forces a smile.

Tears start to well up in her and Harry's eyes.

Harry tries not to cry which just makes it harder.

Grace fights her tears...

Harry then pulls the video link -- Grace's monitors go STATIC. Grace touches the monitor as Harry's face fades away. Her knees buckle.

Sharp and Watts -- a blur of pre-flight activity--

Harry sitting beside the hole. DETONATOR in hand.

A.J., Rockhound, Lev, Chick, and Bear all strapped in.

Watts hits the THRUSTER BUTTON. Hits it again. Again. Nothing.

Booster rockets SPUTTER and die.

ZERO BARRIER CLOCK down to 1:34...1:33...1:32....

The guys watching Watts run past them toward the CARGO BAY. Lev quickly trying to unstrap himself and--

Watts frantically works the FUEL VALVES. Lev crowds in behind her.

Sharp hitting the THRUSTER BUTTON -- over and over --

ZERO BARRIER CLOCK -- 16... 15... 14

WIND and RUMBLING --

Watts going nuts trying to get THE VALVE to open and--

Lev jerks her out of the way and starts HITTING the equipment with his wrench -- BAM! BAM! BAM! Suddenly -- VROOOOOOM! IT FIRES! Lev falls back into WATTS' ARMS as FREEDOM LURCHES.

ZERO BARRIER CLOCK IS BUZZING NOW...-2...-3...-4...

Sharp with the stick-- struggling-- lights flashing-- they're lifting away and--

FREEDOM rising backwards. THRUSTERS ON FULL REVERSE -- falling away from THE ASTEROID -- toward the Moon. DOWN BELOW -- Harry, getting smaller and smaller and --

Harry takes his final breaths. Tears welling. A GEYSER blows across the valley. WINDS gusting badly and--

Raising THE DETONATOR to press the button and -- WHAM!! -- right below him -- THREE GEYSERS OF GAS BLOW OUT OF THE GROUND! THE DETONATOR flies from HARRY'S HAND as he's knocked back on his ass--INTO THE HOLE!

Harry falling ass first -- PRO-GRAVITY THRUSTERS pushing him further and further down -- Harry's fingers GOUGE into the walls and BOOTS scrambling to stop his fall -- GASPING as his air supply is punctured.

Sharp with his hands full. Watts busy strapping in and--

HARRY'S GLOVED HANDS grip the sides of the hole. His HELMET appears. PULLING himself up. Looking for the detonator...Harry choking.

Harry hurt, damaged suit -- much pain -- GEYSERS EXPLODING and THE WIND and DUST flying -- is running, gasping for air. Sharp's shaking hand is on the throttle about to thrust forward. Harry dodges flying rocks.

Harry dives for THE DETONATOR. One last look at beautiful Earth. Home. Tears.

SLOW-MOTION CU -- HARRY'S FINGER pressing the button and--

EXPLOSION. Spectacular. The ASTEROID splits in half like a diamond. TWO BLOWN PIECES winging off at new angles and--

ROCKED BY THE BLAST WAVE. Sharp hanging on to the stick and Watts staring out the window and-- The guys are silent. Not sure how to feel.

EXTREME SLOW-MO: We see images around the world. WALL STREET deserted A CHURCH with people gathered around a TV...A TEAR falling from a woman's face...FARMERS in a cornfield...KIMSEY with his face in his hands. THE PYRAMIDS dappled in firelight as hundreds pray...FATHER AND SON hold hands as they watch a brilliant flaming sky...TRUMAN falls back into his seat...India--hundreds praying...Little kids running.

Grap's in his room watching TV, the bright flare fills the room.

Truman, Kimsey and everyone who'll fit, crammed in around the ORBITAL MATH CONSOLE -- ON THE BIG MATH SCREEN -- computer-imaging -- THE ASTEROID'S TWO HALVES moving in new directions -- FLIP and SEVERAL TECHS grabbing DATA SHEETS as they pour out.

WAY IN THE BACK -- GRACE is sitting alone. Quietly weeping. Startled as THE WHOLE PLACE SUDDENLY EXPLODES IN CHEERING and APPLAUSE

Truman turns realizing she's hearing this, concerned, runs up the aisle. He gathers her into his arms and --

VEHICLES everywhere. AMBULANCES. MEDIA. NASA FIRE TRUCKS. And here comes FREEDOM, coming fast, wobbly, tilting, adjusting, closer, closer -- up a little, down a little, all over...

The guys bouncing around like crazy. Things SHAKING and RATTLING and falling -- Bear wincing with every ding --

Here comes FREEDOM -- DUST CHIRPING as TIRES HIT CONCRETE -- BANGING DOWN, BRAKES GOING -- BOUNCING and SPEEDING but it's gonna work, it's gonna stop, it's gonna be all right...

A.J., Chick, Bear, Rockhound and Lev unbuckling.

EMERGENCY HATCH DOORS EXPLODE from their hinges and CRASH DOWN onto the runway. NASA people completely surprised. A.J. and Chick giving Bear a hand down. Rockhound stands there waving to THE CROWD that's starting to CHEER and CHANT and ROAR LOUDER...LOUDER.

A SEA OF AMERICAN FLAGS and A.F. SECURITY POLICE trying to keep PEOPLE back and everything disrupted by -- A.J., Chick, Bear as they victory walk the runway. Pumping their fists. THE CROWD JUST GOING NUTS -- Rockhound behind wearing his helmet afraid to be seen.

Grace breaks away from a RECEPTION AREA up ahead. A.J. spots her-- they're both running, falling into each other's arms. Kissing, crying. It's their moment...

Denise and Chick's son in the crowd, held back by soldiers -- YELLING and CHEERING and CALLING FOR "CHICK" but he can't hear them, the boy starts running, full out -- soldiers chasing him onto the runway and--

The boy running up -- stopping suddenly as he arrives. An awkward instant, as they realize they don't know what to do, and then Chick reaches out, lifts the boy into his strong arms, holding him tight and--

Watts and Lev jumping down from the shuttle. Hand in hand. Safety precaution or romance? SHARP on the runway, marching with purpose. Eyes straight ahead. CHEERING CROWD means nothing to him. Full military stride; he stops:

Grace unpeels herself from A.J. and turns to --

Grace smiles. Her eyes are dry. She straightens herself. Offers her hand. They shake. A.J. sees Truman, hands him Harry's mission patch.

Truman, eyes wet, smiles as he sees the mission patch. Smiles at A.J..

Grace grabs A.J. again -- they hold each other tight as they can...WE PULL BACK to the SKY..knowing that Harry Stamper is up there somewhere.

THE END