A journalist learns the first manned flight to Mars was an elaborate hoax organised as part of a sinister political plot. Meanwhile, the astronauts who were supposed to be on that mission are hunted by government agents to guarantee their silence. Thriller, starring Elliott Gould, James Brolin, OJ Simpson and Telly Savalas.

In order to protect the reputation of the American space program, a team of NASA administrators turn the first Mars mission into a phony Mars landing. Under threat of harm to their families the astronauts play their part in the deception on a staged set in a deserted military base. But once the real ship returns to Earth and burns up on re-entry, the astronauts become liabilities. Now, with the help of a crusading reporter, they must battle a sinister conspiracy that will stop at nothing to keep the truth hidden.