“Breakaway” is episode one of season one of Space: 1999.
At a nuclear disposal site on the Moon, Professor Bergman and Dr Russell are monitoring two astronauts out working, watching for a radiation hazard.
Eagle 2 (the Eagle is a surprisingly realistic ship that still looks viable; perhaps one of the most realistic things in the series) is coming in. Onboard, Commander John Koenig, is put through to Commissioner Simmonds on Earth. Simmonds tells Koenig that Commander Gorski was relieved an hour ago; Koenig’s job is to put men on planet Meta. The probe reports Meta has an atmosphere and is broadcasting a signal. It could support life as they know it. Nothing can be allowed to stop a manned landing on Meta. Not the astronauts’ virus, not anything.
At the nuclear disposal site, there’s no sign of radiation. Then one of the men, Nordstrom, loses it. One eye goes white and he runs into an energy barrier, being hurled back with a cracked helmet.
Eagle 2 has landed and Koenig is greeted by Bergman. Bergman says things are more serious than the commander has been told. People are dying. Koenig asks if it’s the virus infection. Bergman’s pause before mentioning the infection suggests it’s anything but. Gorski greets Koenig and says he will be available if Koenig needs him. In the office, Koenig asks Bergman what it is, if it’s not a virus. Bergman states they don’t know. It looks like radiation, but there’s no radiation. The commander should talk to Dr Russell; Gorski wouldn’t allow her to report her findings.
Koenig asks Russell how long before the Meta astronauts recover from the virus. She tells him it’s not a virus but an unusual form of brain damage. They won’t recover. The commander asks about the backup crew. The doctor says they’re as fit as the others were before they were affected. Another person died that morning. One moment he was fine, the next not. There’s an eruption in the brain consistent with radiation, but there’s no radiation. 11 cases; 9 dead. All the deaths were workers at the nuclear waste disposal site. Which the Meta astronauts never went near. No radiation has been detected. The backup crew is fine, but Dr Russell can’t guarantee the same won’t happen to them at a later date. The risk is great but the decision is the commander’s. Koenig wants to see the astronauts. They’re alive, barely.
Koenig then checks with Carter on the Meta probe, to see if it’s ready to launch, barring a crew. Carter has been kept in the dark regarding what happened to the crew.
Back in his office, Koenig contacts Simmonds on Earth, to tell him there’s been another death. Simmonds states that Russell is competent in space medicine, but she’s wrong about the radiation. He’s going to send a team of experts. Koenig wants him to wait so he can check there’s no radiation leakage. Simmonds states the Meta crew never went near the site. Koenig wants atomic waste to stop being sent; Simmonds agrees to a delay as Koenig says he will get the Meta probe launched. Koenig wants to know why he was lied to. Because the finance committee is meeting and no word of the problem can leak out.
Koenig wants to go to the disposal site himself, and he’s taken on an Eagle along with Bergman. They arrive at Area 1 and Koenig queries it as they’re heading for Area 2. Area 1 is used as a navigation point. Koenig asks Collins to fly lower. No radiation is detected, but it looks like Collins was affected by something.
At Area 2, two astronauts are checking the site for radiation and are finding none. Inside, Bergman and Koenig are talking as Collins is having problems. Collins loses it, displaying a whitened eye, and decides he has to get out. By smashing a window. He’s stunned and everyone gets out before the window blows out.
Koenig wants to check for similarities between what Collins did and what the Meta astronauts did. They do discover a problem, but it can be guessed, given the whole point of the series is that the Moon is blasted out of orbit by a massive explosion, that they don’t manage to fix the problem.