The tests continue, and Colonel Pruitt has wormed his way from the doorway to Roy’s bedside.
“You look just like your dad there.” Maybe it’s us, but decades of cinema have created a healthy distrust of any Donald Sutherland character. His words are sweet and encouraging. He’s solidifying that imagined bond between father and son. Colonel Pruitt has other motivations here. He wants in on the gig and will use Roy to accomplish his plans.
The camera pans down a hallway of heroes. The plaque of H. Clifford McBride falls right after the Apollo 11 astronauts and right before Bruce McCandless II, who was the first person to make an untethered spacewalk in 1984. Look up his Wikipedia page and you’ll see his famous photo capturing the event. Clifford joined their ranks because he was “the first man to the outer solar system” a.k.a. everything that exists beyond Neptune but within the gravitational pull of our sun.
Roy keeps his eye on the sky above as he rides to the launch pad of his next mission.
Staring at the Moon, Roy states, “He was a pioneer.” Going forward, the film will challenge his parental worship.
The Moon transitions to the deep spacecraft that will take Roy to the outer solar system where his father awaits. Dig on those shiny reflectors extending from the main shuttle, collecting solar power and converting it to usable energy.
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