The Apollo 15’s search for ice on the moon seems destined for failure, pushing Ed and Molly to take some big gambles. Karen and Wayne finally find something to bond over. Danielle’s husband returns home from Vietnam, and has an eventful meeting with her new commander, Gordo.

One thing which continues to impress me about this series is how involved it makes the viewer with what’s going on – it doesn’t matter that we are now well into the realm of fiction with these space missions, the show has made us care so much about the characters, and ratchets up tension so expertly, that you can’t help but be on the edge of your seat as things play out.

This time around, we are dealing with Apollo 15’s mission to find ice on the moon, which begins with the fraught descent to an unknown landing spot on the surface when the planned one appears to offer less potential. That one detour alone is nerve-wracking, both for the crew and for their significant others back home. Wayne makes somewhat of a spectacle of himself toward Karen when he confesses his deepest fears to her about his wife, and though this ends badly, as the episode unfolds it turns out there just might be something human under that cold, steely demeanour that Karen keeps so firmly in place after all.

Up on the moon, Ed and Molly find their search to be increasingly fruitless, until Molly hits upon a new idea that will involve being lowered into a deep crater using some serious repurposing of NASA equipment to achieve. The descent feels appropriately claustrophobic as the millions of people on Earth watch live, holding their collective breath. The viability of the mission, and of the establishment of a base on the moon, rest on this one last chance, and it’s impossible not to get caught up in the drama.

Back on Earth, Danielle’s husband is back from Vietnam, and couldn’t be more pleased for his wife and her new position. However, a meeting with Gordo in the bar to make introductions and celebrate her news proves to be a tense affair in and of itself, as the two men size one another up with Danielle left in the middle trying to keep the peace.

It’s genuinely engaging and gripping stuff, the human terrestrial drama every bit as much as the stuff involving daring pioneers entering the unknown with all the grit and determination they can muster. In its big moments, the show soars. In its quieter ones, it digs right down into just what makes these men and women take the risks they do, and how that affects the ones they love. It is, in other words, a perfect love letter to those brave pioneers who did this sort of thing for real back in the day.

Verdict: Another big episode full of epic and small-scale drama, nailing both types every time. 9/10

Greg D. Smith