The space commitee plans to start its first rocket to orbit the moon from the
giant space station BB, that orbits the earth. But only seconds before the
rocket launch, BB is hit by a meteorite, causing them to postpone the launch
indefinitely. But while the meteorite does little damage to the statin, it does
have serious repercussions back on earth, because senator Royce (Robert
Cornthwaite) takes this occasion to question the viability of the space
station, plus its future altgether.
Only a heartfelt speech by the stations commander Jim Benedict (Harry
Townes) does ensure further financial backing for the station, but Benedict has
to take an independent observer, Easton, on board with him. Easton however is
soon convinced about Benedict's way of handling the program, & soon the
launch of another moon-rocket is immediately imminent. But it'S again only
seconds before the launch that the rocket shows a grave malfunction that
threatens to blow the thing up.
Of course the rocket's pilot Dave & crew manage to do the necessary
repairs for the rocket not to blow up just in time, but again, the launch is
postponed - indefinitely ...
A more serious than usuakl science fiction movie, this was supposed to be
made into a series, but this first episode, despite some soap opera trappings
& an open ending, just lacked the dramatic impact to really glue its
audience to the screen. It just took itself a tad too serious & opted for
realism in its futuristic surroundings (& yes, from today's point of view -
using the gift of hindsight - it looks somewhat ridiculous, but back then this
seemed to be a realistic scenario).
John Agar, a familiar face of 50's science fiction, is totally wasted here,
having to do next to nothing, but the special effects are pretty good
considering the year of production and the limited budget.
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