After a two-man mission into distant, dangerous space returns with a single survivor, a once-celebrated spaceman emerges physically and mentally damaged and drifts into alcoholism. A former partner abandons a promising career to help him and later travels to the Moon, discovering priorities that outweigh personal love. Phil Kutler seeks to discover what space has done to the survivor, while a congressman maneuvers to seize control of the space program. The narrative follows the collision of trauma, fame, secrecy, political ambition, and the human costs of technological exploration.