Nile Price, Director, Writer 

Sloan Grant(s) Received: 2023, NYU, Screenwriting Award

Project Type: Feature 

Genre: Drama

Length: 90 Minutes

Field of Science: Engineering

Stage: Development

Synopsis: 

In 1959, a young Ron McNair experiences hardships on a tobacco field at nine years old, resulting in him entering a segregated library for science books. When the police are called, young Ron flees with his books. Years later, in 1977, an older Ron interviews for NASA’s Space Shuttle Program at 27 years old, which puts a strain on him and his young marriage to Cheryl. Cheryl urges them to plan their future together. During their argument, Ron receives the call: he has been accepted into NASA.

In 1978, NASA introduces Astronaut Group 8. Ron and Cheryl move to Houston, where they confront racism and the ever-present risks of space travel. During orientation, Chief Astronaut John Young plays the black box recording of the Apollo 1 fire. Ron struggles through the intense training but finds strength in the bonds he forms with fellow Black astronauts Guy Bluford and Frederick Gregory. Later, an anonymous magazine headline reading, “Beam Me Out of this Deathtrap Scotty!” With “No Coons on the Moon” written inside, arrives at the McNair’s doorstep.

Concerns grow about the shuttle’s safety, but later, in 1981, the first space shuttle, Columbia, launches. Ron celebrates with his family, where Cheryl reveals that she is pregnant. Later, Ron is assigned to STS-8 Challenger but is sidelined after a car accident leaves him badly injured and forces Cheryl into early labor. Their son, Reginald, arrives safely, and Guy Bluford becomes the first African American in space on the flight Ron would have been on. During his recovery, Ron engages in fatherhood, regains his drive, and earns his place on STS-41-B.

In the final epilogue of the film, it is revealed that Ron fulfilled his lifelong dream in 1984, proving that perseverance knows no bounds. With the unfortunate Challenger disaster to follow two years later that claims his life, leaving Cheryl to honor his memory and raise their children. The story concludes with the founding of the McNair Scholarship Program to uplift underprivileged students, while Ron’s voice from his commencement speech to the University of South Carolina echoes through time.