A troubled 17-year-old Todd Baker restores a Mercury Redstone rocket as a science project with the help of his ex-astronaut grandfather. When a NASA emergency leaves a space shuttle and its crew in danger, Todd's rocket is the only one ready for immediate launch.

When Elliot comes to the aid of a beautiful hitchhiker named Andrea while traveling on the open road, he is drawn into a world of drugs and deceit his quiet Middle American background never prepared him for. As a relationship develops between the two loners, Elliot becomes convinced that he can give Andrea a good life that will lift her up from the throes of heroin abuse and criminal activity. Ultimately, it is the deep wounds of his own past that prove to be the greatest obstacle in his quest to save his damaged love.