Following the humiliation of Gagarin’s flight and the Bay of Pigs incident, newly installed President Kennedy decides he needs a big win, and throws the full weight of his administration behind the space program. With the whole world’s eyes on them, can the team get this one right?

Perhaps inevitably, given the overall trajectory of its main plotline (anyone familiar with the history of the Mercury program will know), this episode rather pushes the big events at play to the side and instead focuses on a series of smaller, more personally devastating ones for all concerned instead.

The whole team are understandably not at their happiest having been beaten into space by the Russians, and the catastrophe of the Bay of Pigs unfolding convinces them that another World War looms and their efforts are finished. But Kennedy – as we know – goes the other way. Suddenly not only does the program have all the money it needs, but they have to make ready to launch as soon as possible, with an avalanche of press descending on them to watch their every move, eager to find out who will be the first American into space.

This of course causes a fair amount of tension – the team themselves know who it is, but none of them can tell anyone outside the group. Shepard is the cat who got the cream, of course. John Glenn’s life is made even harder by the conviction of the rest of the world that it will be him who is the first, and everyone else is still giving John side-eye, assuming that Shepard was right and he only went about things the way he did when covering up Shepard’s indiscretions to make himself look good. Imagine what’ll happen if any of them find out about his little letter-writing exercise…

Meanwhile, Trudy is increasingly excited about the possibility of becoming part of a team of female astronauts under Jennie Cobb, but when the news breaks and Gordo is questioned about it by the press surrounded by his comrades, she’s in for a taste of disappointment.

As for Shepard himself, well his cosy little homelife might just be about to get a little less cosy, thanks to a confrontation between Scott’s wife and his own that leads to some uncomfortable revelations. But that’s not going to be his only issue before the credits play out on this one.

As is the pattern of the show, this is far more focused on the domestic lives and interpersonal conflicts of the team than the actual mission itself, but it really does land those quiet moments every time. The characters are all complex and fascinating – Glenn is clearly trying to be a good man, even though he’s unable to rein in all of his baser impulses. Shepard is venal but also has layers of vulnerability and genuine warmth under that smarmy façade. It’s almost going to be a shame when they finally launch the damned rocket.

Verdict: Tense, emotional human drama that just happens to be taking place against the backdrop of the space race. 9/10

Greg D. Smith