In the wake of the tragedy of Patty’s death, the women wait to see what their fate will be. But Deke isn’t about to let fate rob these women of their chance a second time if he can help it. Now all that remains to be seen is if they can make it work.

Following directly from the crash which marked the final scene of the last episode, this one doesn’t hang about, cramming an awful lot into its hour run time. The White House is nervous about the bad PR of a dead female astronaut, and the announcement of the end of the Vietnam War seems a perfect opportunity to quietly abandon the female astronaut programme without too much attention. What they haven’t contended with is how stubborn Deke might be on behalf of a programme he’s poured a lot of time and energy into, and the women who’ve come through it.

When one of them is inevitably picked to replace a member of the Apollo 15 crew, it creates a whole new set of challenges. She’s got the talent and the confidence, but is her attitude and determination to be pissed off at everyone all the time going to end up standing in her own way? It’s certainly a fascinating examination of the character who was easily one of the standouts of the last episode and is also based on a genuine historical figure who unfortunately never actually got her own chance to fly into space.

Meanwhile, Gordo is struggling with many things, not the least of which is his wife being a part of the NASA programme and getting her own little bits of private revenge on him for the years he’s spent doing his own thing. There’s an interesting dynamic going there and I’ll be fascinated to see whether the show ever does give us Nixon’s desired ‘Couple in Space’ at some point.

There’s also revelations regarding another member of the female team and one of the mission staff which are unexpected and welcome, if once again reminding us of the less salutary parts of the era. Mostly though, I have to say that Joel Kinneman’s Ed Baldwin is greatly welcome here. His attitude to the whole idea of training a female astronaut – even in spite of his wife’s strident views on the matter – is pragmatic if not wholly progressive. There’s a great line about discussion of the fact that space suits haven’t yet been designed at this point for waste disposal for ladies, and Baldwin’s robust response to the engineers on the matter is welcome and reveals the depth of his commitment to his crew first and foremost. If only he’d be a little bit nicer to his poor son!

Verdict: Follows on beautifully from the previous episode and a fitting tribute to a real American icon who never quite reached the heights of which she was capable. 9/10

Greg D. Smith