After a massive meteor shower destroys the Space Shuttle Atlantis, NASA scientists discover they have eighteen days before an asteroid the size of Texas impacts Earth, destroying all planetary life. NASA executive Dan Truman leads a team which devises a plan to have the world’s best deep core oil driller train a group of astronauts to drill a hole into the asteroid into which they will insert and detonate a nuclear bomb to split the asteroid in half.
They recruit Harry Stamper, a third generation oil driller and owner of his own oil drilling company. Harry agrees to help NASA, but on the condition that he bring in his own team to do the drilling. He picks his best employees for the job: Chick, his best friend and right-hand man, drillers Bear, Fred Noonan, Max, and A.J. Frost, who has been dating Harry’s daughter Grace over Harry’s objections, and geologists Rockhound and Oscar. Over 12 days, they train with skeptical professional astronaut Willie Sharp, who will pilot Freedom, one of the two shuttles to fly to the asteroid, the other being the Independence. Before leaving, Chick apologizes to his ex-wife for wronging her and Grace accepts A.J.’s marriage proposal.
Both shuttles take off without incident and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir to take on the necessary fuel for the continued journey to the asteroid. During fueling, a spark ignites fuel from a leaky fuel line, causing a fire. A.J. and Russian Cosmonaut Lev Andropov are nearly killed, but manage to get on board the Independence before the space station is destroyed.