It was supposed to be the crowning moment in the history of space travel. But when the first manned flight to Mars is deemed unsafe and scrubbed on the launch pad, anxious authorities must scramble to save face and retain their funding - and so an unthinkable plot to fake the mission is hatched. Only an intrepid journalist stands in the way of the cover-up, but the powers that be will stop at nothing to keep their secret from going public.