Filmens officiella novellering (baserat på det ursprungliga manuset) indikerar att ordern för att jettison och auto-destructera kupolerna gavs den 14 november . Detta inträffar strax innan besättningen drabbas av sin olycka och fartyget tumlar genom Saturns ringar.
A clock/calendar on the wall read: 21:00 Wednesday 14 November
All at once the radio filled the room with whistling, howling static which finally gave way to a very distant-sounding voice . . . Lowell tried to tune it in, but Barker took over.
Nästa gång vi ser en klocka är det precis innan Berkshire anländer den 8 april några 5 månader senare.
Lowell’s laughter went on and on. It was uncontrolled and hysterical amidst his loneliness with only the companionship of the unfeeling drones. His eyes watered and his lips trembled and his laughter filled the recreation room and spilled out over the bronzed hull of Valley Forge, drifting through space under a sea of stars.
At last Lowell fled from the recreation room to the corridor and then to his room. He flopped on his cot . . .
Above his bed, on a shelf, a calendar clock read: 04:02 Tuesday 8 April.