"Deep Space Homer" is the fifteenth episode of the fifth season of American animated television series The Simpsons, which was first broadcast on Fox in the United States on February 24, 1994. In the episode, NASA selects Homer Simpson to participate in a spaceflight to spark public interest in space exploration and boost low ratings of the launches. Once in space, his incompetence destroys the navigation system on board the Space Shuttle.
The episode was written by showrunner David Mirkin and directed by Carlos Baeza. Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin and musician James Taylor guest-starred as themselves. The episode parodies the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Some of The Simpsons' staff, including creator Matt Groening, feared the concept was too unrealistic, resulting in some jokes being pared down and greater focus placed on relationships within the Simpson family. The episode was well-received, and many critics and fans praised it as one of the best of the series.
Plot
At the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, Homer believes he will win the Worker of the Week award; it is a union requirement that every employee gets the prize and Homer is the only plant employee who has never won. Instead, Mr. Burns, Homer's boss, gives the award to an inanimate carbon rod. Homer thinks no one respects him, and watches television to lighten his mood. Suddenly, the remote breaks and the TV is stuck on a telecast of a Space Shuttle launch, which Homer finds boring. Meanwhile, NASA decides to send an average Joe to space to improve their Nielsen ratings, and pick Homer after he calls NASA to complain about the telecast. When two NASA officials approach Homer the next day, he believes he is in trouble and blames the prank call on Barney. After they invite Barney to participate in a space launch, Homer tells the officials the truth; the officials decide to train both Homer and Barney.
At Cape Canaveral, Homer and Barney compete in training exercises. While under NASA's alcohol ban, a sober Barney develops superior skills and is chosen to fly with Buzz Aldrin and Race Banyon. After toasting with a non-alcoholic drink, Barney reverts to alcoholism and leaves via a jetpack. Homer is selected as Barney's replacement; the launch receives good television ratings.
Homer smuggles a bag of potato chips aboard the shuttle, and opens it upon reaching space. Because of the weightlessness in space, the chips disperse and threaten to clog the instruments. While eating them, Homer breaks an ant farm, and the ants destroy the navigation system. Musician James Taylor, who has been hired to sing to the astronauts through mission control, suggests they blow the ants out the hatch. Homer fails to put on his harness and is nearly blown into space, grabbing on to the hatch handle. The hatch handle bends, preventing it from fully closing. While defending himself from a furious Race, Homer grabs a carbon rod and inadvertently uses it to seal the hatch. The shuttle returns safely to Earth, landing at a press convention. Although Buzz calls Homer a hero, the press only acknowledges the carbon rod. Despite this, Homer's family still celebrates him as a hero.
Production
"Deep Space Homer" was written by showrunner David Mirkin and directed by Carlos Baeza. He based the episode on NASA's cancellation of the Teacher in Space Project, which sent civilians to space to increase public interest in the Space Shuttle program. The staff worried that sending Homer into space was too large an idea, and Simpsons creator Matt Groening said it gave them "nowhere to go". Several gags were toned down to make the episode more realistic, including an idea that everyone at NASA was as stupid as Homer. Instead, Mirkin focused more on Homer's attempts to gain his family's respect.
Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon, and musician James Taylor guest-star as themselves. The staff were concerned Aldrin would consider his line "second comes right after first" an insult, and offered the alternative line, "first to take a soil sample", as a backup. Aldrin however preferred the original line, which was retained in the script. Taylor recorded an altered version of his 1970 single "Fire and Rain" and Carole King's 1971 "You've Got a Friend" for the episode. His recording session appears as an extra on the DVD release of the fifth season. David Silverman directed the potato chip sequence instead of Baeza; the chips were partly animated on an Amiga personal computer to smooth their rotation.