 How does Phil respond to Mary's concerns regarding the space mission?
If anything could go wrong, they wouldn't be sending me; you know that. It existed only because of the huge ship standing poised in the take-off zone five miles away in the desert. Its future as a town rested with the ship, and the town seemed to feel the uncertainty of its future, seemed ready to stop existing as a town and to give itself back to the desert, if such was its destiny. Phil turned the car off the highway onto the rutted dirt road that led across the sand to the field where the ship waited. He read Phil's pass, shined his flashlight in their faces, and then saluted.
 He tries to present reassuring evidence and be honest about his fears if he is not allowed to fulfill the mission
 He strives to communicate that he should not have to choose between his relationship and his lifelong passion  He lovingly teases her about her emotions, but ultimately them as unfounded and hyperbolic  He tries to present reassuring evidence and be honest about his fears if he is not allowed to fulfill the mission  He insists that she trusts in his competency and readiness for the mission at hand