Bower (Ben Foster) and Payton (Dennis Quaid), the two astronauts of the 60,000 passenger sleeper ship the Elysium, realize that they are moving along the space 500 million miles from Earth and they are in complete oblivion. They cannot remember their identities and their mission. However, Payton leads Bower through radio to explore deep into the ship to unravel frightening hidden truths. They also find out that some crew members suffer from Pandorum, a grave psychological state that can be prompted by being in deep-space for longer periods. Further, Gallo (Cam Gigande), one of the survivors located by Payton, informs them that planet Earth has been destroyed. To Bower and Payton, self-protection is most important at this juncture.