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Men Into Space (1959)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2022 8:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Men Into Space S01E33 Moon Trap

This is a "Survival Story" in the strictest sense of the phrase.

A four-man lunar mission suffers power failure just before landing, and their spacecraft crashes 200 miles from the nearest Moonbase!

The two surviving crewmen devise an ingenious plan to survive. They make their way to a supply cache on the lunar surface which includes large bottles of liquid oxygen. They manage to drag one of these to a cave in the Moon's Rupes Recta, commonly known as the "Straight Wall".

The Straight Wall is a linear fault on the Moon — although that description doesn't do it justice. It's a 984 foot high cliff that runs across the lunar surface for 68 miles, almost in straight line. Wikipedia calls it "a popular target for amateur astronomers".

By a strange coincidence, I spotted it myself late one night in 1973 with the beautiful 3" refractor telescope I owned. I spotted a straight shadow on the lunar surface which excited my interest, and I promptly dashed into my apartment to consult the large map of the Moon on the wall of my dinning area! Shocked

Here's Wikipedia's image of he Straight Wall.






And here's the matte shot from this episode of Men into Space which shows what the astronauts saw.





After finding the cache of supplies which had been left on the lunar surface, the two stranded astronauts pulled a large metal container of liquid oxygen into a small cave in the Straight Wall and packed loose rocks round it to seal up the cave's entrance.

While doing this, a small landslide of loose rocks and gravel in the area above the cave's opening was jarred loose and covered the cave's entrance. Unfortunately, this made it seemed unlikely that a rescue party would spot the opening of the cave!

After sealing up the entrance to the cave around the oxygen bottle, the two men opened the valve and let the oxygen spew out until the cave contained enough pressurized oxygen to supplement the dwindling supply in the air tanks.

Frankly, guys, I think this is absolutely brilliant! Very Happy

Meanwhile back on Earth, Colonel McCauley receives permission to launch a rescue mission.

Once the rescuers reached the crash site, McCauley and a fellow astronaut follow the footprints in the lunar soil left by the two survivors. It leads them to a point at the base of the Straight Wall, and they realize that the men must be in cave just beyond the pile of loose material! Shocked

However, knowing that the two men in the small cave would only be alive if the oxygen tank had pressurized the enclosure and allowed them to remove their helmets while awaiting rescue, McCauley banged on the exposed portion of the metal oxygen tank and used Morse Code to tell the men to put on their helmets before he opened up the cave entrance! Very Happy

Good Lord, what a great "hard science" story this remarkable episode presents!

I hope some of the members of All Sci-Fi will watch the video below and then offer their own thoughts on this highly intelligent story! Cool

But of course, I'm sure there ARE members like that. I just hope they'll take the time to prove it with intelligent and interesting replies!

Gentlemen . . . the ball is in your court. Very Happy


___________Men Into Space S01E33 Moon Trap


__________

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2022 1:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Men Into Space S01E37 Mystery Satellite

The intro lets the viewer know that the story is about a unidentified satellite which orbits the Earth and might be of alien origin.

Colonel McCauley and his crew are in Earth orbit when they detect an object which parallels their trajectory . . . even when they change course!

John Archer (Destination Moon) is the ranking officer at Ground Control who confers with McCauley during the initial encounter before they resume course for the Moon and leave the object behind.

Soon thereafter, a rocket from the Moonbase is traveling back to Earth when the mysterious object is encountered again, and they give chase! They're so determined to catch it that they don't realize they're dipping down into the atmosphere while they using up the fuel they'll need to land.

The crew of the ship gets close enough for visual contact, and right in middle of a transmission when the captain was about to describe it, the transmissions ceased . . .






John Archer radios McCauley at Moobase that the ship burned up in the atmosphere.

McCauley orders the spacecraft on the Moon to be manned and kept on permanent standby, ready to launch at a moments notice.

When Archer is informed that the object has been sighted leaving Earth orbit and headed toward the Moon, he informs McCauley of this. McCauley and two other astronauts blast off, hoping to parallel the objects course.

In a tense scene, McCauly's ship is literally chased by the object as they head straight towards the Moon. When McCauley orders his pilot to cut power, it causes the object to crash into the Moon.

Unfortunately, guys, the conclusion of the episode is very disappointing, so be ready for a letdown. Sad

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Wed Apr 12, 2023 5:58 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2022 2:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Men Into Space S01E38 Flight to the Red Planet

Marshall Thomas is McCauley's pilot on this unaired episode that would have been the last one in the series.

It's a great episode as far as the FX go, such as the imaginative way it portrays Phobos. Here's two screen grabs from the episode.








But here's what poor little Phobos really looks like.





However, the episode makes some bad mistakes with it's science.

The ship lands on Phobos, and they state that it's magnetic, so they won't have to use magnet boots.

Ummm . . . what?

That sounds like their saying Phobo's magnet field is acting like gravity! Shocked

The scientist in charge of making observations of Mars views it through the telescope they brought, and he claims the canals are in fact waterways with green areas along the banks.

By 1960, when this episode was made, scientist no longer thought there was any chance Mars could have canals filled with water, or that there were any cultivate areas created by intelligent beings.

Still, the episode is enjoyable, and would have served as a fine season finale for this series if it had not been cancelled. Sad

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Wed Apr 12, 2023 5:59 pm; edited 3 times in total
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2022 5:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Men Into Space S01E07 Space Trap

And exciting episode in which McCauley must rescue the crew of a mission recturning from the Moon after they loose consciousness because the carbon dioxide scrubbers failed.

Concerning the science in the episode, it's a bit questionable. The scientists in the group, Dr. Charles Cooper, was on the Moon to collect spores that would prove there was life on the Moon.

That sounds silly today, but when the Apollo 11 crew returned from the Moon, they were quarantine for 21 days!

Dr. Cooper was played by Peter Hansen, the handsome young doctor in When Worlds Collide. Mr. Hansen went on to play doctors and scientists in numerous productions, including one episode of Space Patrol, one episode of The Outer Limits, and six episodes of Science Fiction Theatre!

_________________
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Wed Apr 12, 2023 6:00 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2022 6:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Men Into Space S01E25 Shadows of the Moon

This is the one episode I remember the most about from my days as a twelve-year-old science fiction fan. It includes a Moon mission during which the astronauts discuss a strange rock formation which looks like a face on the side of a mountain!





The idea that the Moon might have once been inhabited by alien beings who carved the strange face puts a few of the guys on edge — especially one scientist who wanders into the area near the stone face and suddenly finds himself facing a giant humanoid right in front of him!







Colonel McCauley discovers the solution to the mystery and takes his men back to the spot, where they find a cliff face made of obsidian — volcanic glass which has created a distorted mirror in which the astronaut was frightened by his own reflection! Cool

Even though this episode only teased the viewer with the idea that they're were aliens on the Moon, I still loved it!

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Wed Apr 12, 2023 6:01 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2022 9:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's been such a long time since I saw these shows (Although your posts have encouraged me to download the series again and start watching them!) but the lack of science accuracy I could rack up to just the level of knowledge at the time. Other inaccuracies I could accept as "dramatic" license in order to tell the story!

One thing that kind of bothered me is that they used Mercury era flightsuits while walking on the Moons' surface. Radiation, extremes in temperature and the air pressure required on the interior all make the suit wrong for Lunar excursions! Not to mention that the regolith and sharp rocks would tear apart the fabric in short order, I'm sure the suits they used were mainly for budgetary reasons.

Still, MIS told good stories in their half hour format and I found them all very enjoyable!

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 09, 2022 11:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Right on all counts, Gord — and it's just the kind of reply I've been hoping for! Very Happy

Yes, indeed, the viewer has to forgive a great many cost-cutting measures in this otherwise enjoyable series. For example, we constantly see Atlas missiles lifting off, and then the model ship in space is one of the same few they used footage of over and over.

They did do one or two nice FX liftoffs, shot on a dark set to simulate night so they didn't have to give it background.

They had a limited amount of music to use, so we heard the same pieces over and over — just like Star Trek TOS did.

As for not having seen the episodes in a while, please DO watch them on YouTube. Sadly, you've missed your chance to get them from Shout Factory, and the DVDs I bought from them look much better than the YouTube versions.

eBay has a box set, and even though the picture doesn't show the box, the description matches mine in every way.
________________________________

This set contains ALL 38 episodes of this series on 10 discs and are shipped in 2 hardshell DVD cases with case inserts for easy identification . Series name, disc # and episode titles are on each disc. Picture quality is 8 out of 10.
________________________________

I doubt they're copies of the Shout Factory discs, because copies probably wouldn't have the labels on the upper side of the discs, the way mine do.

In view of the fact that the Robby and the Gort toys you sent me are now giving me stern looks, I just ordered the set, and I'll mail it to you after I receive it. Very Happy

Enjoy!



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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 09, 2022 5:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Gord, I've been wondering if the members have avoided repling to my posts for each episode because it meant they have to use the "quote" feature — which some folks have trouble with.

In other words, if they wanted to add a comment to a post on page 2 of this 3-page thread about Men Into Space which pertained to my post about S01E27, they just need to hit the "quote" button on that specific post, then simply cut out all the text except for the part they wanted to reply to!

Then they can add their reply below it!

It's easy. Here's a hypothetical example

________________________________

Bud Brewster wrote:
Men Into Space S01E27 Lunar Secret

The original story on which Destination Moon was based on included story elements which suggested that some other nation had a base on the Moon.

Hey, I remember reading about that element of Heinlein's story being left out by George Pal, and I'm glad he did it! Shocked

Destination Moon is about beating America's enemy's to the Moon — not about getting there and finding out we're in 2nd place!
________________________________

See, what I mean? It's easy!

You guys can do that with any post on this thread, and everybody will know just which part of a given post you're replying to.
Cool
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2022 1:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

HEY Bud! Much thanks....I'll be looking forward to seeing better copies of one of my favorite shows!

I don't think I ever really told the story why I really came to love this series. It played on (I think) Saturday nights (Maybe Friday?) and that was the night my Mom and Dad loaded my sister and myself off to my Moms' Father and Mothers house to play cards. My sister and I got full run of the TV...Even though it was just a little screen B&W set.

MIS was a not to be missed treat! I believe there was another half hour show on the same night called MAN AND THE CHALLANGE that was also about science oriented adventures. My sis and I would drink our Vernors gingerale and munch on popcorn while we watched these great shows!

Another thing I really liked about MIS was that it used spaceships and not capsules so it really seemed like a serious view of the Space Age to come! I also enjoyed that the series showed a progression from development, testing, and achieving increasingly complex missions!

Presented in a quasi-documentary style, the series chronicled a fictitious U.S. Air Force space program as it progressed from the first manned flight to the first moon landing and, eventually, the first trip to Mars.

The program attempted to be as realistic as possible for its time and limited budget.

The show's "hero" ship -- if there was such a thing -- was an unnamed "winged-bullet" capable of carrying up to four astronauts. This ship made it to the Moon and all the way to Mars!

The most common variant was what is called the "Type 1," which was distinguished by its four engine bells. Another variant, which is called the "Type 2," had only a single engine bell and also spouted a distinctive nose spike.







Launched as the third stage of a three-stage chemically fueled rocket, both the Type 1 and Type 2 made powered landings, although how they landed and/or were recovered was never specified. In some episodes it showed a ship (NOT the MIS ship!) landing on a dry lake bed(Possibly White Sands.).







Both the Type 1 and Type 2 "Men into Space" rocketships frequently appeared via the magic of stock footage on the ABC sci-fi anthology series "The Outer Limits."



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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.


Last edited by Gord Green on Mon Feb 14, 2022 3:12 am; edited 1 time in total
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scotpens
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2022 2:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gord Green wrote:
Both the Type 1 and Type 2 "Men into Space" rocketships frequently appeared via the magic of stock footage on the CBS sci-fi anthology series "The Outer Limits."

The Outer Limits was originally broadcast on ABC.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2022 11:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Wow, what a great story about how you enjoyed Men Into Space! I got a wonderful mental image of you and your sister getting your weekly "science fiction experience" with those two shows.

Gord, have you seen All Sci-Fi's The Man and the Challenge thread? I wish all the episodes of that great show would become available, because I was a fan of that series, too!

On a similar note, George Nader also starred in Shannon, which we also have a thread for. George drove 1961 Buick Special which was equipped with cameras, a dictating machine, tape recorders, weapons, and a mobile phone — decades before cell phones, when car phones were rare. The car required a long whip antenna for the phone.






The 1961 Buick Special is a gorgeous car!





Gord Green wrote:
Launched as the third stage of a three-stage chemically fueled rocket, both the Type 1 and Type 2 made powered landings, although how they landed and/or were recovered was never specified. In some episodes it showed a ship (NOT the MIS ship!) landing on a dry lake bed (possibly White Sands.).

Apparently all the spacecraft returned to Earth by landing on the dry lake beds, using the same terrible stock footage to represent every landing that was shown.

It's nice to know that in one respect our current technology surpasses that of Men Into Space, because now we at least have the ability land our boosters vertically, even though we still use parachutes for the manned capsules., Sad

However, the space shuttle, of course, made controlled landings on runways, so that technique is the same as the horizontal landings in Men Into Space.

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~ The Space Children (1958)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 12, 2023 6:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

__________________________________________________

I had to delete several of the YouTube links for episodes of Men into Space because the videos had been removed, dammit! Rolling Eyes

But Archive.org has all the episodes, and they look as good as the YouTube versions. Very Happy

Here's the link to the Archive.org site which has the episodes.

Men Into Space on Archive.org

To download each episode, scroll down to —

~ DOWNLOAD OPTIONS

~ Then click on MPEG4

~ Next, scroll down to the episode you want to download.

~ Click on it, and it will begin to play in a small window.

~ Right click on the video window and select "Save Video As" from the menu that drops down. This will download the video to the location you select on your computer.

Yeah, yeah, I know — that sounds complicated. But if a dumbo like me can do it on regular basis, anybody else can too. Rolling Eyes

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Fri Feb 16, 2024 4:34 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 16, 2023 3:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gord Green wrote:
This is also being shown on COMET TV on Sunday nights after MST3K. Still cool after all these years!

Agreed! I wish Comet still aired it. I love this series. Cool
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orzel-w
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 17, 2023 1:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
. . . George Nader also starred in Shannon, which we also have a thread for. George drove 1961 Buick Special . . .





The 1961 Buick Special is a gorgeous car!




This brings to mind an old game we used to play as kids. When we would spot a Buick driving by we would call out either "Three-hole Buick" or "Four-hole Buick", depending on how many holes were in the side of the hood or fender. (It was a choice between that and total boredom.) It was only in the past year that I found out why some models had three holes and others had four . . .

https://jalopnik.com/i-bet-youd-like-to-know-what-those-holes-in-the-sides-o-1818673895

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 17, 2023 5:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

______________________________________________

I built AMT models of Buicks that had those holes, and I loved them! I knew they were just decorative elements of the Buicks, but they were consistent with the "Jet Age" nature of cars during that exciting era!

I'll confess, however, that I never noticed that some Buicks had three holes, while others had four!

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~ The Space Children (1958)
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