Kenji and Nitta continue their training, despite having no clear objective. With the long hours keeping him away from his family a lot, Kenji feels like he isn't doing a good job of being either an astronaut or a father. A Christmas barndance is held in Houston—Mutta goes dancing with Serika and Ena, Hibito plays guitar in the band, and while Kenji and Nitta sit out the festivities due to being so busy, Chief Butler takes them aside and tells them that they have been assigned to a mission—the first crewed mission to an asteroid. Soon after, Kenji and Yuki's second daughter is born and they name her An, from a suggestion from Fuuka and the name of the asteroid that Kenji will visit.