Pritchard, a taxpayer from Ohio, wants desperately to go to Mars. Fearing the looming atomic war on Earth, and wanting to get away from the "censorship and statism and conscription and government control of this and that," Pritchard yells at the guards patrolling the gates of the launch pad, angrily demanding they allow him on board. As the guards laugh at him, and attempt to explain that the first two expeditions were failures, Pritchard argues that Mars may be wonderful, and that Captain York and Captain Williams may have simply chosen life on Mars over life on the dull, government-controlled planet of Earth. As the astronauts approach the rocket, Pritchard is hauled away in a police wagon, pressing his face against the rear window, and watching the launch.
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