Space Cowboys (2000) - Synopsis

Space Cowboys (2000)

Team Daedalus was the best and brightest and seemed destined to forge mankind's path into space. The bravest, boldest and fastest test pilots this country had to offer, they were the future, they were brothers, and most of all, they were mavericks. The promise of space flight seemed theirs for the taking ... but the government had other plans. And Team Daedalus was grounded.

Until now.

Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland and James Garner star as a group of pilots whose time has come to serve their country and fulfill their dream of going to space in "Space Cowboys," a high tech adventure produced and directed by Eastwood. Filmed with the full cooperation of NASA, with segments produced both at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX, and the Kennedy Space Center in Orlando, FL, "Space Cowboys" is written by Ken Kaufman & Howard Klausner.

In 1958, the members of Team Daedalus, a group of top Air Force test pilots, were ready to serve their country as the first Americans in space. When NASA replaced the Air Force for outer atmospheric testing, Team Daedalus was pushed aside and a chimpanzee got the honor. The team retired, but the dream of going into space never died.

Now, over four decades later, the Russian satellite Ikon has suffered a systems failure that Russian officials insist will cause a total communications blackout in their country. NASA bureaucrat Bob Gerson (JAMES CROMWELL) stumbles toward a solution - and finds it in a very unexpected place. Since Ikon has the same guidance system as early American satellite Skylab, Skylab's designer should know how to fix Ikon.

Now retired, Frank Corvin (CLINT EASTWOOD) is the one man alive who can do the job. This is the chance of a lifetime to finally go into space … but Frank won't take it unless he can surround himself with the only crew he trusts.

Team Daedalus is back in action.

Frank, Hawk Hawkins (TOMMY LEE JONES), Jerry O'Neil (DONALD SUTHERLAND) and Tank Sullivan (JAMES GARNER) relish the opportunity to show their stuff. Seasoned veterans with an attitude, the team stretches the rules and strains the patience of Eugene Davis (WILLIAM DEVANE), their Flight Director, as well as their much younger counterparts, Ethan Glance (LOREN DEAN) and Roger Hines (COURTNEY B. VANCE).

They will need every ounce of strength and resourcefulness to make it through their abbreviated training, complete their mission and rescue Ikon. The heroic challenge has arrived.

Let the countdown begin.