During the course of the mission, a Russian cosmonaut - Lev - is picked up unexpectedly from MIR. However, no American astronauts/drillers have died. How, then, did Lev survive the 9.5 gee trip around the moon and the rough landing on Dottie? Did NASA think to add an extra flightsuit and chair on a ship that would meet only one other person out in space? Or, perhaps Lev is an engineered super-Russian who was able to survive the rough trip around the moon, and then live long enough in a vacuum to take dead Noonan's suit off of him and wear it himself. . . But even that doesn't fit the movie, since Lev is seen in a flightsuit and chair during the moon scene. The final possibility, and the only one that seems to fit the data, is that Noonan, the bit part, was jettisoned to make room for the comedy relief. Noonan is never seen during or after the moon orbit scene.