After two weeks studying minerals on the moon, the three-man crew blast off for the space station in Earth orbit. On their way, they're hit by a small meteor and suddenly loose oxygen. They don helmets and stop the leak, then McCauley rigs a line from the oxygen fuel tank. But it's soon empty. A scientist on the station instructs them to turn their ship so the fuel tank faces the sun. This will heat and vaporize the remaining liquid oxygen, allowing them to pump it into the cabin. They make the maneuver, but calculations show that, counting the oxygen in the suit tanks, they've bought only enough time for one man to make it back alive. McCauley breaks a couple of pencils in half and they draw straws. The winner, at McCauley's insistence, puts on his helmet, and the losers set about writing their last letters home. But sitting behind his two doomed crew-mates, watching as they weaken by the minute, is two much for the young crewman. He removes his helmet. McCauley relents. All or nothing. They put on their helmets and hope for the best.
This is the first appearance of the space station we saw construction started on in episode three, and the second episode based on a ships loss of oxygen.
This is the first appearance of the space station we saw construction started on in episode three, and the second episode based on a ships loss of oxygen.