By the ending of A Million Miles Away, the spacefaring aspirations of astronaut José Hernández (Michael Peña) culminate in his function as Mission Specialist on NASA’s 2009 manned mission, STS-128. Within the triumphant but bittersweet conclusion, José embarks on his mission to the Worldwide Area Station, leaving his household behind. In his flight from Earth, he should discover alternatives to embody the neighborhood he inevitably departs.
José boldly, if not quietly, pursues his dream regardless of six rejections up to now. His fierce dedication doesn’t independently result in his success, nonetheless. Fairly, by opening up and leaning on his household for assist, José positive aspects the power to push via the rejections that preserve him grounded on the launchpad to appreciate his dream. A Million Miles Away sends a message that overcoming seemingly insurmountable rejection is never resulting from distinctive braveness or remoted glory, however to a collective effort born out of mutual assist and love.
When José lastly enters the NASA astronaut program, he clearly lags behind his colleagues regardless of his lifelong preparation, most clearly noticed in his preliminary water coaching scene the place his struggles trigger him to be safely faraway from the train. Nevertheless, NASA approaches its candidates with a holistic concentrate on teamwork, as the cruel realities of house require a crew that may belief and depend on one another. It’s a turning level in José’s mindset that happens when he’s recommended for taking accountability in a earlier flight management failure.
José realizes that his enchancment and refinement in this system serve not simply himself but additionally each different trainee with him, a trait mirrored in his coaching supervisor and mentor Chawla. Her tragic loss of life, together with the remainder of his pals on the house shuttle Colombia resulting from a failed re-entry, galvanizes him to prioritize his coaching for the betterment of his friends of their honor. Highlighted in a subsequent team-oriented water coaching scene the place José dangers his life to help one other, his dedication and take care of his fellow teammates, alongside along with his eventual mastery of the abilities, contribute to NASA’s number of him for the STS-128 mission.
The opening sequence exhibits José’s upbringing selecting crops within the subject along with his household. After José explodes in frustration, his father explains to him the 5 components to success that might change into the construction of the remainder of the movie. Every following part of the film corresponds with one of many 5 steps as José progresses ever nearer to realizing his dream of turning into an astronaut. Within the first sequence, “Discover Your Aim”, José’s pure curiosity for the celebs matures right into a want to change into an astronaut, prompted by an task from a trainer that believes in his potential. The following, “Know How Far You Are”, exhibits José practically succumbing to the lure of an engineering job on the Lawrence Livermore Nationwide Laboratory, a secure, respectable profession path that seems much more attainable than traversing outer house.
Together with his father’s insistence, José refocuses on the pursuit his dream, and within the sequence “Draw A Roadmap”, he lastly confesses to his spouse that he has been making use of to NASA for years. This honesty strikes her to encourage José to replicate on his functions, perceive the place he falls brief competitively, and spend money on tangible adjustments in his life to deal with them. As soon as NASA lastly admits him into this system, within the sequence “If You Don’t Know How, Study”, Chawla’s steering and supreme sacrifice instill José with the required closing lesson of service. Within the final sequence, “When You Suppose You’ve Made It You In all probability Have To Work More durable”, José’s whole neighborhood exhibits as much as assist his mission, implicitly reinforcing his sturdy work ethic.
All through the movie, a number of characters, together with his childhood greatest good friend, Beto, and younger son, Julio, query José’s excessive ambitions, questioning what lies on the market that he doesn’t have already got on Earth. By all accounts, in accordance with Beto, José was profitable, with each a strong profession as an engineer and a loving household along with his spouse. It’s an inexpensive assumption: within the regular narrative, anybody trying to make such a drastic change to their life normally does so as a result of they really feel trapped or dissatisfied with their present standing.
Nevertheless, as an alternative of stemming from a way of dissatisfaction along with his life, José’s obsession with house persists out of a mix of a real ardour found as a baby and a fearless dedication to beat the world’s obstacles. Whereas José learns to take pleasure within the fieldwork during which he was raised, he by no means needs nor believes it ought to outline his future. That is superbly symbolized by a shot of him taking a look at his palms as an astronaut about to elevate off, which resembles an earlier shot of his palms within the fields as a baby, displaying how far he had come.
From his schooling requiring his mother and father to plant roots in California and quit their former line of labor, to his preparation for NASA delaying his spouse’s personal desires of turning into a restaurant proprietor, José’s dream forces his family members to dramatically regulate their lives for his profit. It’s all willingly carried out as an act of pure, trusting love, however it’s not simple, particularly on his spouse, who’s left to boost their 5 children usually on her personal.