TRUE ADVENTURE

[Music] hi there this is bill bird zhang welcome to adventure true adventure filmed as it happens throughout our fascinating world have you ever wondered what it's like to ride the nosecone of a rocket going nearly 18,000 miles an hour it isn't science fiction anymore it's happened it's been done man's crossed the threshold of space from here on out the sky's the limit just 58 years after the Wright brothers first got off the ground at Kitty Hawk man in space became a reality next stop the Moon Venus Mars the outer planets and eventually who knows because this is the age of space where ever man can go he will it's amazing isn't it now the wild dreams of yesterday become today's confident predictions and tomorrow's common places this is a true adventure that hasn't all happened yet but it will we're going on a trip to the planet Mars then later in the program we'll have a chance to talk to an authority on future space travel first however part fact and part prophecy are true adventure in outer space the countdown is on will blast off on our journey to Mars time the not-too-distant future destination outerspace the planet Mars this lies in the future but the trip to Mars began in the not-too-distant past the exploration of space began with a program to create weapons of war spurred on by international tensions American Science and Industry combined to rush through an emergency schedule of invention of design and construction no one ever dreamed of before neither Mars nor the moon is on the minds of the men working here their job is an intermediate-range ballistic missile their schedule is so tight the demands of national security so urgent that there's no time for mistakes they have to design and manufacture right the first time testing and retesting checking and rechecking cramming what would normally be several years of design and development into a matter of months the missile has a name is now part of history it's called the thorne [Music] there's a good reason for this hurry up program Soviet Russia had developed the hydrogen bomb America's intercontinental ballistic missile is a long way from completion we need the Thor as an immediate deterrent a missile that can drop an atomic warhead with pinpoint accuracy on a target 1,500 miles away and it has to be more than just a good missile wind and rain machines blasted with almost hurricane force to make sure it can retaliate under any conditions January 1957 just 13 months after the contract for the Thor was signed it's time for the first look [Music] what went wrong the liquid oxygen tank ruptured but even so the attempt isn't a total loss enough recorded data is obtained to prove the basic missile concept is valid [Music] so we try again there's not a moment's relaxation other thor's are made ready for launching if one fails another takes its place and the intricate launch procedures begin again almost impossibly demanding work going on at an unrelenting pace a countdown is in progress [Music] a successful blast-off [Music] and after the first others until the successes begin to outnumber the so-called failures now the Thor begins to demonstrate its talents delivering a warhead 1,500 miles downrange and right on target [Music] door is now operational for maximum effect on the international scene Thor launch sites are set up in the United Kingdom here they are a front line of defense against aggression the first task of the men who first dreamed up the Thor has been accomplished we now have a major deterrent force to counterbalance the still growing power of the Soviet Union but whether in England or the United States Thor is more than just a highly efficient weapons system the men who work with Thor are in fact on the edge of a dream less than 60 years after the Wright brothers first successful flight at Kitty Hawk they're almost ready for the long step into space [Music] almost ready but there's still a tremendous amount of work to do after all Thor is still primarily a military weapon and in spite of its rapid success we still have no long-range intercontinental missile but plans are afoot to put Thor to use in a spectacular scientific breakthrough spring 1958 the Thor able combination is born Thor is the first stage or booster and Aerojet generals liquid-fueled Abel is the second stage the combination is used to carry an experimental nose cone 5,000 miles downrange [Music] for Abel reaches ICBM speed and range and delivers its payload with almost unbelievable accuracy but the successful testing and recovery of the nosecone is only the beginning of Thor Abel's career by now Russia has startled the world with her sputnik's the United States has already entered the race space by orbiting the first of the Explorer satellites now it's the Thor Abel's turn the addition of a third stage orbits the first pioneer satellite and then the Explorer six which sends back electronic pictures from 17,000 miles out then comes the Discoverer program again poor Abel is fitted with a third-stage and a whole series of satellites go into orbit each one contributing to the nation's scientific and defense programs more importantly in the long run each firing each successful Earth satellite brings the day closer when man himself will step across the last great frontier Project Mercury America's plan to put man into space is already underway [Music] this is a prelude as long as they've been men on earth they've been responding to the lure of the unknown and out there beyond the atmosphere lies the greatest unknown that unimaginable expanse of outer space stretching between the earth and her sister planets between our Sun and the distant stars on the surface of the earth is steady now almost prosaic seeming preparations continue in the blockhouses at Canaveral and Vandenberg as well as in comparable facilities behind the Iron Curtain highly skilled men practical men go about the task of turning yesterday's impractical dream into tomorrow's reality these matter affect preparations are part of the careful routines being developed for the greatest adventure that man has ever undertaken [Music] meanwhile at overseas bases and within our borders American missiles stand ready to do the job they were first intended for their very presence in the arsenal of the free world goes a long way toward guaranteeing us against sudden attack and the scientific knowledge gained in the development of these weapon systems lies at the heart of our future in the universe because now the sky gives the limit National Defense and American plans for the conquest of space proceed hand in hand the flight test program for our fastest moving ballistic missile goes into high gear the silo that will contain a Minuteman missile is open the missile itself is raised above the silo and slowly lowered into position [Music] this flight is planned to test the guidance and control system is the missile glides into its silo and here's the launcher [Music] the first stage is going well [Music] [Music] [Music] the first stage burns out and falls back the second stage is on its way to the target area highly successful flight a new entry into the missile race the Atlas named for the mythological being who supported the heavens and the stars on his shoulders [Music] the atlases plan to travel at 15 times the speed of sound with a range of 5500 miles this blunt nose cone can carry a nuclear warhead six feet in diameter [Music] years of preparation have led up to this moment what we're about to see isn't just another launch this is a big one a tremendous amount of work hope faith hang in the balance for the next few moments [Music] now final countdown [Music] [Music] it's going off course a split-second decision by the Range Safety Officer [Music] a failure is only the signal for a new beginning soon the work in the faith that have gone into the Atlas are justified by now the Atlas has been tested successfully and Cape Canaveral personnel are preparing for a series of traumatic nose cone recovery tests air and sea recovery teams are standing by if the missile succeeds in putting its payload into orbit these teams will attempt to recover it after it re-enters the atmosphere [Music] but no matter how many successful launchings have been made the moments before blast-off are always filled with tension [Music] the rain safety officer it's a careful watch for any sign of trouble [Music] this time everything is gone the bird is flying well already miles above the earth all indications are that a successful orbit will be achieved the Atlas is out of visual contact now it's up to the radar equipment to keep track of it a destroyer hurries toward the recovery area smoke and dye markers locate the spot where the nose cone is landed but it may sink before the ship gets there [Music] that's what the Paradise have to prevent wearing scuba gear as well as parachutes these men are to jump into the ocean and secure the nosecone - inflated rafts to keep it afloat I am to go [Music] the destroyer is approaching [Music] the nose cone is secured and all the remains is for the paradise to await the arrival of the ship to complete the pickup but a successful air-recovery' has yet to be made this catch apparatus will attempt the job on another Atlas nose cone that has just completed in orbit there it goes [Music] at the next pass they've got it [Music] the nose cone and its parachute are drawn slowly toward the catch plane [Music] [Music] even now the tension doesn't lessen the job hasn't been done the catch isn't complete until the cone is safely aboard [Music] finally in it goes another milestone another step toward greater national security through scientific achievement but the missile and space program doesn't end there because we're on our way in the same urge that sent men to see in flimsy boats at the dawn of civilization to explore to extend his world that drove him across the oceans and continents and up to the highest mountains is just as surely sending him to the distant reaches of space we're on our way there now the journey to Mars has begun we took a step when John Glenn the first American to orbit our earth made his historic ride into space we took a step when the first man learned to walk now our destination is the Stars and true but as you can see what Buck Rogers achieved in the comic strips man is now actually achieving in reality I'd like to have you meet our special guest he is mr. Ted Smith he's the chief engineer of space systems for the Douglas Aircraft Company Ted we're grateful to have you with us and I I think the first question to ask you is what is Douglas doing now to help it or planetary travel well Bill Douglas is is working at a very high rate on all sorts of studies involving lunar and interplanetary travel we have developed a line of spaceships which we call the Rita's the reusable interplanetary transport approach it's our feeling that before space travel can become a reality we must develop single stage vehicles that can be used over and over much as a commercial airplane to allow us to amortize the initial development costs until we get to this point I don't think we'll ever really have space travel in the ordinary sense of the word now when we reach this point will it be possible for let's say people watching us right out there or their children or their children's children to travel into space there's no question about it sooner or later we're all going to get into space I think within 10 years many people will be going as far as the moon and a few people as far as Mars and Venus and from there on who knows and of course I think we point out again that your point being that the Douglas system would bring the spaceship back to earth and then you'd refuel it just right like the commercial air transport we feel that you must have nuclear power to achieve this this kind of a reusability that will put you on the same par as the commercial airlines today and that the way to get this is to get the highly efficient nuclear engines where you can get enough impulsive speed to take you clear to the planets and back again without the great multiple staging that the preeminent present chemical systems use there'll be kind of get him out there and not be able to bring it back Oh we'll have gas stations up there before you know it I see dead what about your personal feeling on whether there is life in outer space and one of the many galaxies do you suppose there are other planets that are perhaps doing the same thing we're doing at a certain level well bill you really asked the wrong guy I'm an engineer and not a scientist I read the magazines to and from from what I hear there are billions of places in space that have conditions just like our earth so I assume they're there probably are such places well let's hope that we get to them before they get to us Ted Smith of Douglas thank you for being on our program and of course I want to thank you for sharing this true adventure with us until we meet once again this is Bill Barret saying may all your adventures be happy one [Music] [Music]