As the Terra Nova begins its 583-day trip to Mars, the mission led by American Commander Rick Erwin (Michael Riley) is plagued by electrical power system malfunctions. Canadian flight engineer (Pascale Bussières) is forced to jettison one of the Canadarms. Tension mounts between the Russian co-pilot (Frank Schorpion) and the French flight engineer (Lothaire Bluteau). A Chinese craft with a robotics crew lands on Mars. Mission Control advises that Terra Nova's electrical system is compromised and suggests aborting the mission.