Ellen Waverly

Ellen Waverly arrives at NASA as one of the new astronaut candidates recruited after the Soviets beat America to the moon, an engineer thrown into a program still built around military test pilots. She is precise, disciplined, and quietly hungry to prove she belongs, giving away little of herself while she works twice as hard as anyone watching.

Jodi Balfour plays ambition as something guarded rather than showy, all controlled poise and careful smiles that let you sense a private cost without the show spelling it out. Ellen's competence is never in doubt; what keeps you watching is how much she has learned to keep hidden while performing it.