
Samples would be worth billions, worth far more than Moon rocks are worth today. Every scientist on earth would be champing at the bit to get their hands on a sample of Martian rock.

Obviously it was planned to have the astronauts "return" to Earth as heroes after their supposed trip to Mars, maintaining their deception (under threat if necessary) for the rest of their lives. The film ends with Caulfield and Brubaker arriving at the astronauts' memorial service, exposing the conspiracy in front of television cameras and scores of witnesses who are astonished at his arrival.Plot hole: The "death" of the three astronauts and the requirement to then fake the whole scenario of the failed mission was obviously unplanned - it came about because of an unexpected computer glitch which reported that they had burned up on reentry, causing a mad scramble to cover up the fake mission and kill the astronauts. With the help of crop-dusting pilot Albain (Telly Savalas), he rescues Brubaker before the men in the helicopters can capture or kill him. Brubaker is the only one to avoid capture.Ĭaulfield's investigation leads him to the desert, where he finds the military base and the set. Forced to crash-land and stranded in the desert, they attempt to return to civilization while being pursued by a pair of "black helicopters" (figuratively speaking actually painted olive drab in the film). Knowing that the only logical solution for their captors is kill them during the cover-up process, they escape in a Learjet, which runs out of fuel soon after take-off. The captive astronauts quickly realize that something has gone badly wrong with the re-entry process, and that officials can never release them because doing so would automatically expose the hoax. Upon returning to Earth, the empty spacecraft unexpectedly burns up due to a faulty heat shield during re-entry. Caulfield discovers that all evidence of his friend's life has been erased and begins investigating the mission, surviving several attacks on himself and his reputation. Whitter mysteriously disappears before he can finish sharing his concerns with journalist friend Robert Caulfield (Elliott Gould). The conspiracy is known to only a few officials, until alert technician Elliot Whitter (Robert Walden) notices that ground control receives the crew's television transmissions before the spacecraft telemetry arrives.
#Capricorn one quotes tv#
They also appear in a live TV broadcast talking to their wives in a normal dialogue - despite the fact that radio signals take at least several minutes to reach Earth from their location in space. The astronauts remain in captivity during the flight and are filmed landing on Mars within a studio located at the base. Initially they refuse, but Kelloway, himself under extreme duress (from whom, what, or where is never clearly specified) to go through with the hoax, threatens their families if they do not cooperate, claiming a bomb will explode on a plane carrying the family members. At the base, the astronauts are informed they will help counterfeit the television footage during the flight to and from Mars, and that it is their patriotic duty to participate for the sake of national morale and prestige.

The launch proceeds on schedule, but the public is unaware that the spacecraft is empty. Simpson) are removed from Capricorn One and flown to an abandoned United States Army Air Corps desert base.


Minutes before launch, the bewildered crew of Air Force Colonel Charles Brubaker (James Brolin), Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Peter Willis (Sam Waterston), and Navy Commander John Walker (O. As the manned space program needs a success to continue, they find themselves forced to falsify the landing rather than cancel the mission. James Kelloway (Hal Holbrook) realize, too late, that a faulty life-support system supplied by a corrupt NASA contractor will kill the astronauts during the flight. At an unspecified time, Capricorn One-the first manned mission to Mars-is on the launch pad.
