One Small Step (episode)

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Real World article
(written from a Production point of view)

"One Small Step"
VOY, Episode 6x08 Production number: 228 First aired: 17 November 1999
←	126th of 168 produced in VOY	→
←	126th of 168 released in VOY	→
	{{{nNthReleasedInSeries_Remastered}}}th of 168 released in VOY Remastered
←	586th of 727 released in all	→

Teleplay By Mike Wollaeger & Jessica Scott and Bryan Fuller & Michael Taylor Story By Mike Wollaeger & Jessica Scott Directed By Robert Picardo
53292.7 (2376)
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For the novel, please see One Small Step.

Voyager finds an ancient spacecraft – the derelict of one of Humanity's first manned missions to Mars.

[edit] Summary

Lieutenant John Kelly

October 19, 2032. The Ares IV command module, piloted by Lieutenant John Kelly, orbits Mars. Down on the surface, two astronauts, Rose Kumagawa and Andrei Novakovich, are finishing up their mission. Suddenly, turbulence shakes the module. Kelly initially thinks it's due to a solar flare, but then a large yellow ball appears in space, and heads straight for the module. It's over 1,000 meters across, and closing fast, as Kelly attempts to get out of the way.

Stardate 53292.7, USS Voyager. Chakotay is in his quarters, reading, when the door, as well as communications, starts to malfunction. He goes to engineering to see what the problem is, where he finds Seven of Nine making unauthorized modifications to the computer core to make it more efficient. As Chakotay questions her, Voyager experiences a ship-wide power drain, and is then hit by turbulence. Chakotay is called to the bridge, where Harry Kim informs him of a level nine gravimetric distortion closing on their position. A yellow ball emerges from subspace; the same one that appeared in 2032. It starts to follow Voyager, which is unable to go to warp.

A graviton ellipse

Seven recognizes the anomaly, which the Borg designated as spatial anomaly 521. It is attracted to objects that emit electromagnetic radiation, so to avoid it, Voyager reduces power output and reverses shield polarity, and the anomaly passes them by. Janeway also recognizes the anomaly, calling it a graviton ellipse. It travels through subspace, emerging occasionally and without warning, and has been observed only a handful of times.

Chakotay recalls that the Ares IV was engulfed by the phenomenon, leaving the two astronauts on the surface stranded for weeks. Janeway decides to study the anomaly, and tells Tom Paris to follow it, keeping power output to a minimum. A probe is launched to gather more information. In astrometrics, Seven and Tuvok analyze the telemetry. It reveals that there is a stable core in the middle of the ellipse, similar to the eye of a storm. While an analysis of the core is run, Seven informs Tuvok that the Borg developed shields to provide protection from the gravimetric currents. She thinks investigating the ellipse is too risky, but Tuvok disagrees. The core analysis reveals traces of titanium and polymers used in the construction of early spacecraft. The alloys present are consistent with the hull of Ares IV.

In the briefing room, Chakotay tells the story of Ares IV to the bridge crew. When Kelly and the command module disappeared off NASA's scopes, it almost derailed the Mars program. Seven informs them about the shield enhancements, which Janeway orders her to apply to the Delta Flyer, with B'Elanna Torres and Kim helping. She instructs Paris to review the database from Ares IV, with Chakotay volunteering to lead the mission. There are only fifteen hours before the anomaly returns to subspace, so they have to work fast. Seven tells the captain she thinks it is too dangerous to investigate the ellipse, that the mission is "more sentimental than scientific". Janeway recommends that she go on the mission to get a sense of history and exploration.

The Ares IV command module in orbit over Mars in 2032

Paris and Chakotay are watching the last transmission of Ares IV, which NASA received at 09:22 hours on October 19. It turns out that Kelly was a childhood hero of both men. Paris muses that they have it easier now with warp, transporters and shields. The astronauts back then were the real pioneers. Seven enters and accuses them of hero worship. She lets them know that the Delta Flyer is ready, and that she is going along with them to operate the shields, albeit not voluntarily. The Doctor gives each of them an inoculation against gravimetric radiation. When he tells Seven everyone is jealous of her, she doesn’t believe him. He recalls his first away mission, and how exhilarated he felt when he first set foot on an alien planet.

The Delta Flyer enters the ellipse. There is a lot of turbulence on the way in, but the core is calm, with a natural luminescence. It is full of floating debris. Voyager loses sensor contact with the Flyer – the only link is through voice communication. There is matter in the core from every quadrant of the galaxy. Voyager notes that the anomaly has altered course slightly. With only five hours until the ellipse returns to subspace, Paris enters in a search pattern to find the command module.

Chakotay tells Seven that this is their chance to explore. They beam some samples aboard, where they find some previously unknown microbes with metallic membranes. Chakotay is excited by this, and tries to get Seven to appreciate history by telling her that the anomaly is as old as anything they have ever encountered. He reveals that paleontology was his first love, and the reason he joined Starfleet. However, things kept getting in the way, like the Maquis, and then Voyager.

Paris calls them, saying he has found the module. It is intact, although it does have a hull breach and corrosion. Chakotay decides to use a tractor beam to bring it back. The anomaly makes another course change. Kim realizes that it is being attracted by electromagnetic radiation from something their sensors can’t detect without modification – a dark matter asteroid. Impact is in four minutes. Janeway orders Chakotay to get out. Chakotay gets overzealous and orders Paris to tow the module out with them, despite Seven's objections. Towing the module only slows them down. Just before they reach the edge of the ellipse, it collides with the asteroid. The Flyer is thrown back into the core, and Chakotay is knocked unconscious by a plasma discharge. Voyager also loses all communication with the Flyer. Had the Flyer not tried to tractor the module, they certainly would've escaped.

Paris tells Seven that Chakotay has internal injuries and a concussion. She in turn tells him that shields and propulsion are off line. The shields can be repaired, but the engines are unsalvageable, and the anomaly will return to subspace in two hours. Chakotay wakes, and Seven appraises him of the situation. Paris tells him to lie down, before going off to fix the shields. Seven then argues with Chakotay about their situation. She rebukes him for disobeying a direct order from the captain. Now they're trapped, and probably won't survive. Chakotay agrees, saying he made a mistake and put the mission at risk. Seven replies that he put lives at risk.

Voyager restores communication with the Flyer, and learns of its predicament. It will take too long to modify the shields of another shuttle, and a tractor beam won’t reach all the way to the core. The Flyer needs a plasma manifold, so Torres comes up with the idea of substituting the ion distributor from the command module. Since Paris is needed at the helm, Seven must beam over and find it. As she puts on her space suit, Chakotay asks her to look around, and appreciate the fact that she’s stepping into history. He also asks her to download the module’s database. Seven says she'll try.

Seven beams over. It’s cold and dark in the module. She brings the main computer back online, and sees a video of a log entry made by Kelly, when he was inside the ellipse. Chakotay asks her to play the log entries. Both he and Paris are astonished, as it was thought that Kelly was killed instantly upon being engulfed by the anomaly.

Debris of another spaceship floats by outside the module.

A series of flashbacks shows the log entries. In the first, Kelly switches on the trans-spectral imager to record as much data as possible. On October 23rd, he tells of not being able to see the stars, and therefore being unable to get a fix on his position. Much of the information collected by the imager on the matter in the ellipse defies analysis. He reckons he has discovered some new elements. Then he sees part of a starship fly by the window, made of an unknown alloy. He considers how previously he had been dismissive of UFOs, and now here is proof right before his eyes.

October 25th. Kelly decides to try to escape the ellipse. He has enough fuel for one last engine burn, but he fails to break free. In his last log entry, Kelly says he has no regrets over the mission.

"What I’ve seen proves we were right to come out here. We are not alone."

The module is losing power, so he takes the life support off-line in order to keep the imager running for as long as possible. He asks whoever finds the data to put it to good use, and finishes by saying he doesn’t regard the mission as a failure. His one regret, he notes, is not being able to find out who won the World Series.

Seven pries the distributor free, and downloads Kelly's database. She then tells Paris to beam both herself and Kelly's body off the module. Back on board the Flyer, Paris manages to integrate the distributor into the engine, and restore power. With just four minutes until the ellipse returns to subspace, Janeway brings Voyager as near as possible to the ellipse, in order to get the tractor beam in range. As the Flyer heads out toward Voyager, the ellipse begins to return to subspace. Tuvok locks on the tractor beam, and tows the Delta Flyer to safety, just in time.

Voyager's crew pay tribute to Kelly

Stardate 53301.2. Over 60 teraquads of data has been collected by the away team, and the crew of Voyager hold a funeral, with full Federation honors, for Lt. Kelly. Captain Janeway makes a speech, in which she praises Kelly and his comrades, saying they paved the way for the first colonies and first starships.

Seven, who has gained an appreciation for the courage and dedication of Kelly, also makes a short tribute to him, saying that they are both more alike than she initially thought. Finishing, she speaks softly to the coffin: "The Yankees, in six games", answering Kelly's question. Paris smiles knowingly. With that, the coffin is launched into space.

[edit] Log entries

(extract from a log entry made by Lieutenant John Mark Kelly of the Earth spaceship Ares IV in 2032)

"I've lost contact with the team on the surface, and I can't get a fix on my position. But I’m alive and the CM seems to be intact. I'm inside this whatever it is...what I've gotten myself into. It's very calm, like in the eye of a hurricane. It's a little spooky but, the way I figure it, if there's a way in, there's gotta be a way out. I'm gonna fire up the transpectral imager before I initiate another engine burn, collect as much data as I can. Jeannie, I may not be bringing you back the Mars rock, but I promise you, I'm gonna do everything I can to get home."

(log entry made by Lieutenant John Kelly of the Earth spaceship Ares IV in 2032)

"Ares IV, mission record, October 23rd. I'm starting to feel like Jonah. How long was he in the belly of that whale? Three days? I got him beat by a day or two already. The EM interference is disrupting communications and LIDAR, and I can't see the stars. There's no way I can get a fix on my position. If this thing's moving as fast as it was when it pulled me in, I could be a long way from Mars by now. The imager's been working overtime cataloging all the matter in here. But a lot of it defies analysis. I think we're going to need to make room on the periodic table. Where the hell am I? Power levels have dropped another 15% since my last systems check. (rumbling) I think I just saw another spacecraft. Either that, or all this dehydrated food has gone to my head. I got it. The hull's made of some kind of alloy. I can't make heads or tails of it. I shouldn't have been so dismissive. I remember giving Kumagawa a hard time when she claimed she saw a UFO over the Gulf. I told her it was a meteor or another piece of MIR. I guess I owe you an apology, Rose."

(log entry made by Lieutenant John Kelly of the Earth spaceship Ares IV in 2032)

"Ares IV, mission record, October 25th. This has been a nice place to visit, but I'm ready to come home. I prepped the ion drive, channeled all the power from the thruster reserves into the main tank. I have enough fuel for one last engine burn. Wish me luck. Ignition sequence. Five, four, three, two... I'm losing pitch control! Gyros aren't responding. Power failure. I've gotta abort. I'm not gonna to make it. All systems go. Watch me, Dad. I'm flying. Poooooogh! Bad landing. Call a MedEvac team. John Kelly's first flight, not exactly A-OK. Remember that, Dad? Jumped off the roof with a parachute made out of blankets. I guess I didn't calculate the aerodynamics. Of course, I was only six. I guess this is John Kelly's last flight. This time, I can't blame it on pilot error. This time, no regrets. What I've seen proves we were right to come out here. We're not alone, I know that now. The module's losing power. I'm taking life support off-line. Re-routing whatever's left to the imager. Keep it running as long as possible. Mission Control... Dad... Whoever finds this... Do me a favor. Take all the data I've collected. Put it to good use. I hope you don't look at this as a failure. I don't. Actually, I do have one regret. I never found out who won the World Series. I'm tired. And I can't..."

"Captain's log, stardate 53301.2. The away team collected over 60 teraquads of data on the anomaly. Before we begin to analyze them, we've decided to pay our respects to an old colleague."

[edit] Memorable quotes

"One small step for a hologram, one giant leap for mankind."
"To coin a phrase."

- The Doctor and Seven of Nine

"Clearly, Voyager is not yet ready for assimilation."

- Seven of Nine

"Feels like I just went ten rounds with an Andorian..."

- Chakotay, recovering after being injured

"Ironic. You're doing what I've always dreamt of."

- An injured Chakotay tells Seven of Nine before she beams over to the Ares IV

"Space, literally it means "nothing," a vacuum between stars and planets, but by the same token it means "everything." It's what connects all our worlds, Vulcan, Qo'noS, Talax, Earth. Centuries ago mankind sent its first wave of explorers into that void, astronauts like Mr. Kelly. They paved the way for the first colonies, the first starships for those of us who've made space our home. We commend the spirit and the bravery of Lieutenant John Mark Kelly as we commit his body to space. He will not be forgotten."

- Captain Janeway, giving John Kelly's funeral eulogy

"I did not know this individual. Had I encountered him while I was a Borg I would have found his technology unworthy of assimilation, but we are more alike than one might think. In a sense, his desire to explore was not unlike a quest for perfection. His contribution helped secure Humanity's future and in some ways my own."

- Seven of Nine

"Do you remember what you wanted to be before you were assimilated?"
"I was assimilated when I was a child."
"I knew I wanted to be a paleontologist when I was six."
"A ballerina."

- Chakotay and Seven of Nine, examining artifacts from inside the ellipse

"The Yankees. In six games."

- Seven of Nine, on the results of the 2032 World Series

[edit] Background Information

Phil Morris has literally grown up with Star Trek, and has played several supporting roles throughout his life, including one of the children in TOS episode "Miri", a Starfleet cadet in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, a Klingon bodyguard in DS9 episode "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places", and a Jem'Hadar soldier in DS9 episode "Rocks and Shoals".
Buck Bokai, a baseball player often mentioned in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (and "seen" in "If Wishes Were Horses") is mentioned. In this case, Lt. Kelly, a fan of the New York Yankees (who were playing Bokai's London Kings in the 2032 World Series), speaks perjoratively of him.
Of interest in the chronology of Star Trek is that World War III would have been going on at the same time as the Mars Mission (WW-III is stated to have begun sometime around 2026). However, as indicated in Star Trek: First Contact, the "worst" of the war may not have yet happened explaining why there were still manned missions to other planets occurring during this time frame. This is plausible from an historical viewpoint, since Cold War tensions fueled the Space programs of the mid-twentieth century.
The visual effects for Mars were originally supposed to be an adaptation of real NASA photographs of the Viking probe, but producers said it didn't look enough like a "Voyager planet." So stock footage from the Paramount Pictures library was recolorized and manipulated.
In one of Robert Beltran's renowned criticisms of the direction the series was taking, he stated in an interview on his website that he was looking forward to filming this episode, as it provided a rare development of Chakotay's character (largely missing in the latter seasons). His excitement turned to frustration however when the majority of the episode was given over to Seven of Nine's character development, leaving Chakotay's as largely secondary.
Interestingly, there is now an "Ares IV" rocket proposed for Project Constellation, a new American initiative to explore the Moon and Mars. However, it seems highly unlikely that humans will reach Mars by 2026.

[edit] Video and DVD releases

UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment): Volume 6.4, 5 June 2000
As part of the VOY Season 6 DVD collection

[edit] Links and references

Previous episode:
"Dragon's Teeth"

Star Trek: Voyager
Season 6

Next episode:
"The Voyager Conspiracy"

One Small Step (episode)

From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference

Contents

[edit] Summary

[edit] Log entries

[edit] Memorable quotes

[edit] Background Information

[edit] Video and DVD releases

[edit] Links and references

[edit] Special guest star

[edit] Co-star

[edit] Uncredited co-stars

[edit] References

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