born on the Moon, its body will never be strong enough to return to Earth, even if UNIDAC’s mining fails. The town would lose its option to return to Earth as it would be unethical to abandon the child on the Moon. Earth controllers inform Plymouth that a very strong solar flare is en route. The residents leave the colony on the surface and head to shelters in deep lunar caverns. Eugene had been showing Simon around in shallower caverns and the boys find themselves trapped when the doors automatically seal because of the alert. Eugene reasons out that they can be shielded from the radiation by large tanks of water used for irrigation. The mining crew is unaware of the flare because of a damaged transceiver. Gil volunteers to take a lunar rover to try to warn them and take them to a semi-buried module for oxygen and shielding. Worried for her brother, Hannah tells Gil about Nathan’s “hot rod” so he can make the trip faster. He contacts the crew in time. After the flare passes, the colony anxiously waits for the crew to return, by that time critically low on oxygen. Examination of the crew shows most are unaffected, but Gil’s friend Jimmy received a severe dose of radiation, ending his hopes of working with Gil on the space station. Wendell talks to Gil privately. Gil wants to quit UNIDAC and stay as part of the town to raise his child with Addy. Wendell suggests he run for mayor because of his technical experience and renewed popularity due to his heroic rescue. Production The film had a reported $8 million budget, with $3.5 million coming from ABC. After production was finished in 1990, it remained unaired for a year. Despite apparent enthusiasm from ABC executives and Walt Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, ABC declined to purchase the series, saying only, "It just didn’t meet our needs." Cast Dale Midkiff as Gil Eaton Cindy Pickett as Addy Mathewson Lindsay Price as April Mathewson Perrey Reeves as Hannah Mathewson Jerry Hardin as Lowell Richard Hamilton as Mayor Wendell Mackenzies James Rebhorn as Ezra Fran Bennett as Debra Sab Shimono as Hiro Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Simon Pete Conrad (Apollo 12 Mission Commander) in a cameo role References External links Plymouth opening - Youtube clip Say; Hello Spaceman blog - Some images of the Lunar EVA suits designed for Plymouth, and information