Men Into Space

"Men Into Space" was one of two 1959 TV series created to 'cash in' on the burgeoning NASA space program, as the first astronauts were being selected, and this CBS production benefited from the participation of two space 'legends' in the production team; for technical advice, Willy Ley, America's best-known space 'expert', provided uncredited assistance, and Chesley Bonestell, the 'father' of space illustration, was listed as 'creator', and provided the remarkably accurate 'look' of the series. As the pair had also worked on George Pal's production of Robert Heinlein's DESTINATION MOON (1950), the series had a very similar 'feel', with aerodynamic multi-stage rockets with fins, a classic 'wheel-within-wheel' space station, correctly envisioned 'pressure-suit' inspired spacesuits, and a 'moon' that was composed of jagged peaks and sharply defined craters (a conception that would carry over to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, and would only be modified when astronauts discovered the clinging dust that actually covers the lunar surface, and 'softens' the appearance).

With Ivan Tors as an executive producer, the stories were 'kid-friendly', with plots focusing on fundamental space issues (weightlessness, oxygen, navigation in space), although, with the Cold War raging, sabotage and politics were also touched on, if only lightly. Veteran actor William Lundigan starred, as 'no nonsense' commander Col. Edward McCauley, and while he seemed a bit old for hopping around space, he was an adequate 'father-figure' for the young cast assembled.

CBS expected the show to become a hit with kids, and marketed a variety of merchandise (including a 'lunch box' that I was a proud owner of!), but the special effects turned out to be cost-prohibitive, and the series was canceled after a single season, and never syndicated.

Considering the fanciful 'space opera' series ("Lost in Space", "Star Trek") that would dominate the airwaves within a few years, "Men Into Space", with it's realistic approach to space flight, was far ahead of it's time.

But it was as adult as could be expected. A fine depiction of men (and women? I forget) on the moon operating from space bases. Forty years later we STILL have no moon bases! I remember best the great fear they all had about their space suits being punctured (what WOULD happen, besides "instant death"?). A well done drama. Never rerun, unfortunately.

I was fourteen when MEN INTO SPACE aired, and missed very few episodes. In those days I had the pathetic notion that I would be involved with space engineering or sciences, a star that was already setting as I augered in at school. MEN INTO SPACE, however, kept the vicarious juices going, and it fuelled my passion for the embryonic space programme. In a way it was so good for television of the late '50s, one could almost consider an instrument of propaganda.

I recall that it a good show, which as per others, did try to be realistic. There was an episode of a runaway thruster on the space station -- a proper Ley wheel, not the contemporary lash-up of ash cans. Another episode treated the ejection of nuclear waste into orbit or the Sun. As some of my juniors have commented, the situations and projects depicted in that humble half-hour show are yet to-day only contemplated, so perhaps MEN INTO SPACE was more science fiction than future faits accompli that my young hopes embraced.

It was too early, and certainly too "technical" for television then and possibly now. Whereas TWILIGHT ZONE and ONE STEP BEYOND (both of 1959 et seq.) could count on pure fancifulness to secure loyal audiences, MEN INTO SPACE was "hard" S.F. There were just not that many people out there then to sustain a series, and it went the way of its distant cousin THE MAN AND THE CHALLENGE, also from 1959. Having no cable, and not attending science fiction conventions, I have not seen MEN INTO SPACE since the summer re-runs of 1960, which is . . . FORTY years! I am glad, however, it made an important impression on so many young kids, and their comments are actually moving.

This ran against Ozzie and Harriet, as I remember, as well as my Cub Scout base ball games. It was a fight against the whole family to let the one sci-fi nut of the group to see the one show he really cared about.

Looking back at the tapes from this future perspective, it is still the most accurate portrayal of space flight on TV. It is the space program us baby boomers from the 60's wish we had developed and followed thru.

If you get a chance, watch it. For a half hour 50/60's series, it's hard to beat. I still remember wishing my parents had bought me that Colonel McCauliffe space suit from the 1960 Sears catalogue.

This show was another that vanished after one season but appealed to the imaginations of kids with unfamiliar concepts as weightlessness and a "hard vacuum". The show featured the McCauley character and crew blasting off on missions in a standardized multistage (?) vehicle, and doing space walks, rendezvous and powered landings. One episode had McCauley rescue a colleague on a very small asteroid doomed for destruction. As they departed the asteroid, the viewer sees petroglyphic markings on the space rock evidently left by an alien civilization (is this the episode titled "Is There Another Civilization?"). Shows of this genre inspired a generation of scientists and science buffs.