The program follows the adventures of eight astronauts on board the international spacecraft Antares, the next ambitious manned space mission after the Mars landing. The lives of the astronauts are being constantly recorded and broadcast back to Earth both as part of an ongoing documentary and as part of mission monitoring. In spite of a libido-suppressing device worn by each crew member, referred to as "HALO" for "Hormone Activated Libido Oppressors", romantic entanglements develop among some crew members. Further complicating their lives is a mysterious storage pod which contains something referred to as Beta, which is exerting a secret impact on their mission.