" In the struggle Lowell's right leg is injured. He then traps the other two crewmates in one of the domes that is about to be jettisoned, and they are killed when Lowell releases the dome and blows it up . Lowell then overrides the programming of the service drones so they can perform surgery on his leg, and renames them Huey, Dewey and Louie. They fly through the rings of Saturn. The three drones are outside the ship; Louie's leg gets stuck and he is ultimately blown away from the ship due to the turbulence of the rings. Huey is badly damaged in an accident when Lowell runs into it with one of the ships buggies. After almost a year alone in space, the radio again begins chattering - "Valley Forge, this is Berkshire. Running Dog Picture" Lowell realizes that his crime is soon to be discovered by a rescue spacecraft, and not only will he face imprisonment or worse, the dome will be destroyed after all. Lowell chooses to leave Dewey in charge of the last dome, jettison it to safety, and destroy himself and the "Valley Forge" with the last of the onboard nuclear weapons. "

" Trivia Trumbull had been involved with creating effects for Saturn for "2001" and these were recycled for "Silent Running". The cult show "Mystery Science Theater 3000" began as a spoof of Silent Running. The interiors were filmed aboard the decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Valley Forge (CV-45). The original "Battlestar Galactica" series used stock footage of the Space Freighters in several episodes. On that show, they were called "Agro Ships," and were the source of all the food in the Rag-Tag Fleet. Initially there were three of them, but two were destroyed by the Cylons. As an hommage in the current incarnation of Galactica, there is one "Agro Ship" in the fleet, which is of a different, but clearly derivitive design. Child Running Picture Mike + the Mechanics (Genesis's Mike Rutherford's band) paid tribute to the movie with their song "Silent Running" A running mate is a person running for a subordinate position on a joint ticket during an election. The term is usually used in reference to a prospective vice president of the United States, who the prospective president appoints sometime during the course of the election campaign. "