The West Wing - Galileo V

BARTLET Galileo V. BARTLET Just the name... C.J. Galileo V! BARTLET You can feel the adventure. C.J. Yes, indeed. BARTLET NASA's great at naming things. C.J. They are. BARTLET Mercury, Apollo, Atlantis, the Sea of Tranquility, the Ocean of Storms... C.J. Good names! BARTLET First time I heard 'Galileo V,' the way the imagination immediately... It reminded me of the way folks in my generation felt when we heard "Yellow Submarine." We really did all want to live in a yellow submarine. C.J. I can't believe they gave you people drivers' licenses. ... BARTLET Say it again. Your imagination, like a child, will explode with unrestrained possibilities for adventure. C.J. [with gusto] Galileo V! BARTLET You didn't say it right. C.J. I said it fine! BARTLET Say it again. ... TATE Look, I don't want to step on your toes. You don't want to step on mine. We're both writers. SAM Yes, I suppose, if you broaden the definition to those who can't spell. TATE Excuse me? ... C.J. Sir, we're going to run you through the drill for tomorrow morning. First of all, you'll be flanked on either side by the Flight Operations Manager David Narakawa and NASA Chief Administrator Dr. Peter Jobson. On either side of them will be Dr. Samuel Thurman of the Meteorite Analysis team from the Johnson Space Center, and Dr. Joyce Grey-Sutton, Planetary Geologist from Cal State Northridge. On these monitors you'll be seeing the images beamed back from the surface and on this computer screen you'll be able to read the questions being sent in by the kids. I strongly urge you... BARTLET Yes. C.J. I strongly urge you... BARTLET I know. C.J. I strongly urge you, Mr. President, to act as moderator and pass the questions of to one of the experts on the panel rather than answer it yourself. BARTLET Yes. C.J. Would you like to see some of the questions? BARTLET We have questions in advance? C.J. Some of them. Would you put them on? CREWMEMBER [OS] Sure. BARTLET Katie, sixth grade, Green Oaks Junior High School, Austin, Texas, asks, "How old is the planet Mars?" That's a great question, Katie. The planet Mars is 4.6 billion years old. C.J. What did I just say? BARTLET I knew that one. C.J. Nobody likes a know-it-all! BARTLET Yes, God forbid, that while talking to 60,000 public school students, the President should appear smart! C.J. That's fine. Just don't show off. BARTLET I don't show off. [reads again] Stevie, fourth grader, PS 31, Manhattan, asks, "What is the temperature on Mars?" Well, Stevie, if one of our expert panelists were here, they would tell you the average temperature ranges from 15 degrees to minus 140. C.J. [looking through her papers] That happens to be wrong. It ranges from 60 to minus 225. BARTLET I converted it to Celsius in my head. C.J. Thank you. BARTLET Can I see the intro? SAM It's up on the Prompter. BARTLET [reads] "Good morning! I'm speaking to you live from the West Wing of the White House. Today we have a very unique opportunity to take part live in an extremely historic event which..." Whoa, boy... SAM [waves and smiles] How you doing, Mr. President? BARTLET Who wrote this intro? TATE I did, sir. I'm Scott Tate from NASA Public Affairs. BARTLET [gets up and shakes his hand] Scott. "Unique" means "one of a kind." Something can't be very unique, nor can it be extremely historic. C.J. While we're at it, do we have to use the word "live" twice in the first two sentences like we just cracked the technology? TATE Look... C.J. We're also broadcasting in living color, right? BARTLET Sam? SAM Yeah. BARTLET [to Tate] He's gonna make some changes. TATE [following Sam] You're going to clear them with me? SAM I doubt it. [to a recording staffer] Write this: "Good morning. Eleven months ago a 1200 pound spacecraft blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Eighteen hours ago..." Is it eighteen hours ago? We're on the air at noon eastern. C.J. Yeah. SAM "Eighteen hours ago it landed on the planet Mars. You, me, and 60,000 of your fellow students across the country along with astroscientists and engineers from the Jet Propulsion Lab in Southern California, NASA Houston, and right here, at the White House, are going to be the first to see what it sees, and to chronicle an extraordinary voyage of an unmanned ship called Galileo V." BARTLET [taps C.J. on the arm] He said it right.