What Really Happened On Apollo 18 In Constellation?

Warning! Contains major spoilers for Constellation.

Several details surrounding Bud and Henry Caldera’s Apollo 18 mission remain a mystery, but Constellation‘s episode 6 might have provided some answers. Going back and forth between two alternate universes, Constellation presents a mind-bending drama that combines some well-known tropes of the sci-fi genre with complex quantum physics concepts. With each episode, the Apple TV sci-fi series gradually removes the tapestry around its overarching mysteries and what is happening to its respective characters.

Jonathan Banks, of the Breaking Bad fame, does an incredible job at portraying two alternate versions of the same character. With his acting forte, he convincingly establishes Henry and Bud Caldera as two distinct characters, somehow intricately intertwined across parallel universes. The actor’s performance, especially in Constellation episode 6’s ending arc, also helps generate intrigue surrounding Bud and Henry’s confusing history and how their past Apollo 18 missions rippled into their present realities.

Bud & Henry Swapped Universes During The Apollo 18 Accident

Bud and Henry are not living in their original realities

Unlike Jo, Paul, and Alice, who are still figuring out what is happening around them, Bud and Henry seem aware of each other’s existence and even communicate with one another. Several scenes in Constellation‘s episode 5 reveal that Bud is mad at Henry and wants to hurt him. Although Constellation has not yet fully revealed what happened on Apollo 18, the show has established that Bud and Henry are the alternate versions of the same person. Both were a part of the Apollo 18 mission in their respective universes, but things took a strange turn during their space endeavors.

Many clues in Constellation‘s early episodes suggest that, like Paul and Jo, Henry and Bud are not in their original universes. During their Apollo 18 missions, they swapped places somehow and landed in each other’s universe. What caused this switch has not been explored in Constellation yet. However, it is evident that swapping places greatly benefited Henry, but Bud got the short end of the stick.

Bud Took The Blame For Henry’s Failed Apollo 18 Mission

Bud was not responsible for the Apollo 18 deaths

Before killing the interview host on the cruise ship, Bud tells him that he fixed everything on Apollo 18 and that all his fellow astronauts were alive before Henry ruined it. This suggests that Bud’s Apollo 18 mission was successful, and everyone on his crew survived. However, in an alternate universe, Henry’s Apollo 18 mission went downhill, leading to the deaths of his fellow cosmonauts. Luckily for Henry, before he could return to Earth as the sole survivor of his space mission and face the dire consequences of his failures, he swapped places with Bud.

Despite doing everything right, Bud returned from space in a universe where his Apollo 18 colleagues were dead. Henry, in contrast, made some irreparable mistakes in space but returned home as a hero. When Bud tried telling his side of the story, no one believed him and offered him anti-psychotic medicines. As a result, he gradually turned to alcohol to be able to cope with the sudden shift in his reality. This only made him angrier and more bitter over the years.

Henry, on the other hand, remained quiet about what actually happened in space. He became a celebrated astronaut who studied more about his experience in space and eventually won the Nobel Prize. To better understand how he switched places with Bud, he even created the Cold Atomic Lab experiment without realizing that it would make things even worse. All in all, both Henry and Bud are victims of their destiny. While Henry is reaping the benefits of Bud’s actions during Apollo 18, Bud is suffering the consequences of Henry’s failed Apollo 18 mission.

The Apollo 18 Accident Explains Why Bud Wants Revenge

Bud is tired of paying the dues for Henry’s mistakes

In Constellation‘s episode 5, Irena reads a newspaper article about quantum entanglement to Henry. Quantum entanglement is a phenomenon in which two or more particles become intertwined or connected in such a way that the changes in one particle instantly bring similar changes in the other. Bud and Henry seem to be in a state of quantum entanglement where one can influence the other. Bud threatens to kill Henry in episode 5 by claiming that he can control him and backs his claims with proof by making Henry urinate in his pants.

Bud wishes to hurt Henry because he is sick of taking the blame for his mistakes. He is tired of thinking about what his life would have been like if they had not switched places before returning from space. Only time will tell whether he will be successful in his pursuit of finding vengeance against Henry in Constellation, but it seems likely that his warpath will not end well for both of them.