Kudos for setting this fictional Mercury spaceflight after the last actual launch rather than trying to shoehorn a fictional event into the timeline.  September 16, 1963 was 4 months after “Gordo Cooper went higher and farther and faster than any other American . . . and for a brief moment, became the greatest pilot anyone had ever seen.”  They even correctly name the capsule with a 7 at the end. ^[1]  No surprise that the whole space program is shown respect — this was not filmed in America, after all.

Unfortunately, Captain Harris’ flight is not as uneventful as Gordo’s.  He sees some purple pyrotechnics which approach, then engulf his craft.  He is forced to abort the mission.  Cut to 38 years later when he is in Washington still being questioned about the event.  He insists that it was not a blackout or space dementia.  He believes it was an alien intelligence trying to communicate.  His goal is to convince the panel that he is sane enough to go on a shuttle flight.

The panel is not likely to let a 74 year old civilian on an expensive flight where space and weight are critical factors.  Of course, if you are a 77 year old senator, your useless ass is welcome for a billion dollar joyride.  Luckily Carlton Powers comes to the rescue.  He is an Elon Musk type except he actually completes projects, and also doesn’t expect me to chip in at gunpoint on his products via my taxes.  Powers just happens to have a privately funded shuttle that is ready to fly.

Before the launch, Powers introduces the passengers and says they will be doing 31 orbits.  On board, we have Powers, Harris, newlyweds looking to join the 136 mile high club, a tabloid reporter, and Andrea Martin.  Wait, what?

When no one is looking, Harris sneaks a new disk into the ship’s computer.  This causes the ship to move to a 166 mile orbit — the same orbit where he saw the purple lights.  Even worse, when the pilot and Powers go to the cabin to check on a sick passenger, Harris locks himself in the cockpit.  Apparently being SPAM in a can 38 years ago is all the training you need to pilot a modern space shuttle.

Powers and the pilot retake the cockpit and subdue Harris.  He gets loose, though, puts on a spacesuit and blows himself . . . out the airlock.  Of course, the purple blob appears again.  There is a switcheroo, but it doesn’t feel like it really addresses Harris’ issues.

Still, I’m a sucker for space episodes.  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one that was even partially set in the Mercury era.  At the time, TV seemed scared to portray reality (i.e. Viet Nam was never mentioned on Gomer Pyle, Twilight Zone never mentioned NASA, and I Dream of Jeannie couldn’t show her belly button or luscious breasts).  Later, I guess it just seemed too ancient to be exciting.  The Mercury Program I mean, not Jeannie’s rack.

So while it could have been tightened up, it was a fun ride.

Other Stuff:

• [1] Technically, this should have meant all the Mercury capsules had an 8 after their name, ruining the timeline.  But that was really a Catch-22 in using an actual historical timeline.  No big deal.
• They even refer to the Aspire 7 as a spacecraft rather than a capsule.  These guys clearly saw The Right Stuff, as all Americans should.  Even those in Vancouver.