The X-Files 1.09 - Space
I'm old enough to remember the excitement of the two Viking probe landings on the surface of Mars in July / September 1976. They were historical moments, and I can recall sitting down with my dad to watch the evening news and being fascinated by the first images back from the surface of the planet. The information gathered and experiments conducted by the two spacecraft transformed scientists ideas about Mars, especially with regards to how much water once existed on the now barren world.
The "face on Mars" image used in the episode? That's real. On 25th July 1976, Viking 1 took a picture of a flat-topped hill (known as a mesa) in the Cydonia region of the planet, which appeared to show something with the appearance of a human face. Of course this was seized upon those fascinated with extra terrestrial life and their supposed visits to Earth as proof of their opinions. Some also theorised that it was evidence of a long-lost Martian civilisation. Subsequent missions to Mars with higher resolution cameras have proven that it was all just an optical illusion - an example of 'paeidolia', where the mind sees a familiar pattern where none exists. After all, how could there also be a smiley face (as used in "Watchmen") in the Galle crater? We see what we want to see...
This episode spends a lot of it's time revolving around the disruption of a Space Shuttle mission - in this case "Discovery" delivering a satellite payload. There is a launch sequence near the start which seems to go on for just slightly too long, but then you have to remember that the Shuttle mission were still really big news back in 1993. Discovery itself had carried the Hubble Space telescope into orbit back in 1990 and would go on to perform dozens more missions - including delivering parts of the International Space Station - before finally being retired in 2011.
I was lucky enough to 'witness' the launch of a Shuttle myself when I was on holiday in Florida at age 18. This was the maiden voyage of "Atlantis" on 3rd October 1985. I'd been very excited to go on a tour of the Kennedy Space Centre just a few days earlier, and had seen the Orbiter on the launchpad attached to the distinctive orange fuel tank. Obviously I wasn't able to be in the direct viewing stands but even from miles away you could hear the roar as the engines ignited and clearly see the plumes of white hot energy underneath the craft as it rose into the sky. It was an amazing once-in-a-lifetime experience.
This personal event means that I can relate to Mulder's love of the idea of human space travel (to go along with his belief in extraterrestrial life). He acts like a giddy fanboy when he gets to meet a boyhood hero in the form of Colonel Belt and see a Shuttle take-off. Who wouldn't? (Well, Scully maybe...) His other assertion that the problems with the Hubble Telescope and the - back then - very recent loss of contact with the "Mars Observer" spacecraft were the work of aliens are slightly less believable.
The sad thing is, one other aspect of this story - the fact that the Shuttle mission may have been sabotaged and at risk from terrorists - was also based on real world fears. The dialogue was correct - there really are 17,000 different things that could go wrong but it would take a very experienced fanatic to damage something and not be noticed by the checks and triple checks and system redundancies. But despite this, as space travel was still popular in the period when "The X-Files" was first transmitted, there were genuine concerns that those extremist factions who wanted to take the U.S.A. down a peg or two would focus their efforts on one of it's most obvious symbols. Unfortunately as the world knows, less than eight years later terrorists would attack something much more fixed to Terra Firma and with hugely devastating consequences.
The main problem with this episode is that even with the high concept of an poorly-defined alien with poorly-defined motives wanting humans to stay away from outer space, the actual result is to take Mulder and Scully away from their normal spooky and mysterious territory and just place them in a big room to stare at a lot of empty screens for thirty-odd minutes. There are a few stock shots of Shuttle launches and orbits, but the effects don't stretch to filling the monitors with any kind of realistic looking data, not matter how much technical jargon you throw into the dialogue. What budget they had for snazzy visuals must have been severely limited (after spending all their cash on that pointless Mission Control set). The "face" super-imposing itself over that of the gurning Colonel is pretty poor, even allowing for 90s limitations.
I also still don't understand what the whole point of linking the "space ghosts" to the face on Mars was for apart from having a real world element to hang off the back of. It's not as if there is any reference to them stopping any previously existing Martians exploring space or why they would choose to build a gigantic head on the surface of the Red Planet (unless they are incredibly vain).
In fact it's all a bit poorly constructed when you think about it too much. Was Belt possessed by an alien floaty presence since his spacewalk years ago? What exactly did the aliens not want us to find out and why were they only doing it now - years after man had landed on the Moon? Did they cause the "Challenger" disaster as well? (a bit of an ill-advised link in my personal opinion) How was Belt able to resist right at the precise moment that his skill was needed to get the craft down to Earth? Carter tries to go for mysterious and just ends up with frustrating. I like conspiracies as much as the next man (I am watching "The X-Files" after all) but this was just a muddle of unanswered questions. In the end the antagonist throw himself out of a window. Much like the plot.
Other thoughts and facts:
- The "O2 leaks" mentioned are a clear reference the Apollo 13 mission in 1970 where an oxygen tank exploded two days into the mission, crippling the craft. The Ron Howard directed film is well worth seeking out.
- There are lots of references in the NASA control room to "OTC". This stands for "Orbital Test Conductor", who is the person in charge of the engineers who monitor the hardware and software on board the shuttle orbiter. This includes the main engines, communications, power, fuel and manoeuvring.
- The hostile commander's full name is Marcus Aurelius Belt. Chris Carter clearly loves his history as Marcus Aurelius was the Roman Emperor from 161 - 180 A.D.
- I know that the space administration / military have lots of clout, but a full spectrum radio blackout across a wide area? Some things are a little too far-fetched.
- I did wonder why Belt seemed to live out of a hotel room rather than having a house if he spends all his time at NASA.
- Was there a reason they contrasted the Colonel's fall from a window with his original spacewalk? Was it just to suggest the alien was dying with him or was there some more metaphorical link?
- "The chances of anything coming from Mars...". Hmmm there might have been a concept album on that subject released sometime in 1978...
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