donner and shaw (the ron livingston and malik yoba characters) are on a mission on mars 10 years earlier. they are in the ship ready to leave the surface, but two people are still out on mars trying to make it back. mission control tells donner to leave anyways (storm is coming) and donner agonizes before taking off. this haunts them when they get back to earth. then its at the bar present day, when they are celebrating the upcoming mission
i see there is 13 episodes total, hope the ratings are good enough to keep it on air