Spacemens Luck

 

Where Tom Corbett, Captain Video, CMDR Corry and Other Spacemen Still Live

The state of America’s manned space travel program today is in disarray. With the US having no spaceship in it’s fleet capable of carrying personnel into space. And the only other means for American’s to get into space is via the Russian space fleet which has been temporarily (Hopefully) de-certified due to the failure of last weeks cargo flight to the ISS space station.

The reason we are in this position is because our national leadership has failed to keep their eye on the ball over the last ten or fifteen years and allowed our space program to decline to the point it is today.

What prompted me to right this article is I came across a classic failed pilot for a CBS TV series from 1959 named “Destination Space”. The movie over all is standard science fiction for day. But what I found interesting was the speech before a congressional sub-committee criticizing the congress and other leaders on their leadership in the space program. It is to my knowledge the first time that space travel was shown in a plausible political context that is relevant to this day. A leader of the congressional sub-committee suggests that space travel was not just a technological triumph and a great adventure but also costly and that financial justification is an important consideration as well.

I regret that there was only this one pilot episode and not at least one season of the show made. The film used a lot of stock footage from the earlier 1955 space travel movie “Conquest of Space”. Specifically the views of the “The Wheel” (space station) and the spaceship which is bound for the moon. In the source movie of the stock footage “Conquest of Space” A team of American astronauts leave their space station on the first mission to Mars.

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Tom Corbett Space Cadet Show Logo

While returning from leave on Venus Astro is at the Venus Space Port and is confronted by a stranger in the dark. At first Astro doesn’t see who the stranger is but once he identifies himself as his cousin Murko, Astro see’s that the stranger is an exact duplicate for himself. Murko distracts Astro while his companion Beal hit’s Astro over the head knocking him out. They drag Astro off somewhere secluded and give Astro a shot of Sodium Pentathol (truth serum) to learn about the patrol and his Space Academy friends.

Murko takes over Astro’s place at the Space Academy. Almost immediately Tom becomes suspicious and Murko senses the suspicion. So he fakes an episode of being stunned and goes blank and when he comes out of it he explains to Tom and Roger that after they left Venus he was in an accident with a head injury. Tom and Roger are immediately concerned and want to take Astro (Murko) to the dispensary but he convinces them that he is alright and if he has another episode he will check into the dispensary himself.

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The Amazing Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordon

In the last episode Flash, was drugged with lethium by Queen Azura with lethium, forcing him to forget his friends and fooling him into believing that she is his beloved. Under the influence of the drug, Flash rejects Dale and declares Azura the most beautiful woman he has ever seen and swears his loyalty. The Queen has Tahl bring Dale and Captain Kahn back to life and Flash declares he does not know them.

Our story continues this episode in the the Kingdom of the Hawkman where King Vultan and Dr. Zarkov are missing their comrades Flash and Dale when they receive a spacephone call from one of Captain Kahn’s Lieutenant’s reporting that Flash, Dale and Captain Kahn have been captured by Queen Azura’s Blue Magic Men. King Vultan dispatches Dr. Zarkov as head of a relief expedition.

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Journey into Space

In our last episode the crew of the Luna now stranded on Earth of as much as 20 thousand years ago are preparing to launch the Spaceship Luna when they took one last scan around the ship with their Televiewer and they saw what must be the “creatures of the forest” the Time Traveler has been going on about. Only now that they see them and realize that they are men, prehistoric men. Their ancestors!

This episode opens with the crew of the Spaceship Luna are watching the “creatures of the forest” gathering about a hundred yards off from the ship. Using their Televiewer they scan the sky for the alien ships who will be needed to assist them on their departure from the earth.

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Cast of Buck Rogers In The 25th Century

In the last episode Buck and Wilma were back onboard the pursuit rocketship and were again picking up Black Barney’s rocket trail, where they had left it when they were diverted to Dr. Huer’s laboratory. The trail is strong and as they arrive in the vicinity of the ruined city of Philadelphia the rocket trail makes a sudden turn then suddenly the trail disappears.

We pickup this episode still aboard the pursuit rocketship puzzling over where Killer Kane and Ardala’s stolen rocketship has gone. While circling around the ruined city of Philadelphia they finally encounter another rocket trail. But the Gas Analyzer readings are indicating a different reading, one that would indicate a Rocket Dampener was in use. Their problem is that they understood the test rocketship that was stolen had been stripped down and all unnecessary equipment removed. Buck and Wilma are uncertain if the Rocket Dampener had been removed from the test ship so they decide to contact Dr. Huer to find out. Unfortunately, the Central Radio Bureau reports Dr. Huer is on his way to the City of Omaha to see Elmo the head of the city. The Central Radio Bureau operator suggests they wait a few minutes and try to contact Dr. Huer at Elmo’s office.

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Space Patrol Show Logo

Our story opens on the Planet Pluto in Pluto City where Commander Corey and Cadet Happy are waiting to meet with Professor Malcolm Walker, of the United Planets Research Foundation, whose rocketship has apparently gone missing. The Commander has ordered a search of Planet Pluto for the Professor. After several hours Buzz and Happy locate a downed rocketship and land nearby to investigate. A search of the rocket reveals that it is the Professors ship and that it is lightly damaged. The Professor himself is no where to be found. He did leave a note explaining that his Space-A-Phone was damaged by the crash. He explains that he saw a flash nearby and has decided to leave the ship to investigate the flash of light.

Corey and Happy return to the Terra V to follow after the Professor. Meanwhile two men, Hagle and Rorman, stumble on the Professor unconscious in the ice. Rorman brings the Professor to their cave headquarters where they revive him and introduce themselves as geologists.

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Space Patrol Show Logo

These missing episodes in the Space Patrol radio show series are another of the tragedies of lost radio episodes. Though we believe we know the title of these episodes the story lines are not known. It is one of the tragedies of collecting old time radio (OTR) that many of these old gems are lost forever and only occasionally does one of these lost shows turn up from a previously unknown source.

* The Old Time Radio Researchers Organization Database indicates that these episodes are lost and no longer available. Anyone who may discover a copy of this "Lost" episode and would like to get it into public circulation please contact Spaceman (Senior Rating) Ray.

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The Amazing Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordon

Last episode Flash and Barin win the tournament of death and Ming proclaims both Flash and Baron Kings. To Prince Barin and Ming’s daughter Aura he gave the Kingdom of the Forest. To Flash Gordon and the Earth girl Dale he gave the Kingdom of the Caves. Ming’s treachery is that neither kingdom has been conquered. Ming declares that these are brave men, let them try.

The story continues this episode Flash, Dale, Captain Kahn and a company of King Vultan’s Hawkmen they set out to conquer Kira the unconquered Kingdom of the Caves. Their first stop is to the Caves of Zoog, Chief of the Cavemen. After landing Zoog comes out of their underground dwellings and Captain Kahn orders Zoog to bow before King Flash the First there new King. But Zoog refuses and Flash takes him on in hand to hand fighting and wins. Zoog who lost to Flash concedes that Flash is the King of the Cave World.

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Cast of Buck Rogers In The 25th Century

In the last episode Buck reads the letter Willie delivered from Kane and it is a taunt to Buck to find them at their new headquarters, if they can find it. Buck quizes Willie to find out the general location of where he was near Philadelphia. With this information Buck and Wilma take their rocketship, now equipped with a Gyro Cosmic Relativator, and their Gas Analyzer to attempt to pick up Killer Kane’s rocket trail before it disapates.

This episode begins in Dr. Huer’s laboratory where he is tending to Willie’s injury’s. While waiting for an ambulance from the medical center to arrive Dr. Huer gets an idea to throw Killer Kane off in his planning. He calls the Central Radio Bureau and has them put out a phony message saying for all persons to be on the look out for Willie. It announced his Rocket Roadster was found crashed on the outskirts of the city of Niagra with a piece of Willie’s jacket but him missing.

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Tom Corbett Space Cadet Show Logo

TomCorbett2

Tom Corbett, Roger Manning and the Venusian Astro were on holiday on Venus when they discovered that Pirates equipped with giant robots, similar to the ones they encountered on their Giants of Mercury adventure, had been holding hostage the residents of the the mining settlement of Gold City, Venus while stealing the city’s gold. At the end of the first part of this story the Space Cadets have just rescued the entire population of Gold City, Venus.

Our story “Holiday of Terror” continues as they commandeer the space freighter that the Pirates left behind to go after the pirates before they can escape. Paroling space in the area of Venus the Space Cadets are unable to find the Pirates trail. Finally Tom concludes that the Pirates took off toward space as a ruse but actually doubled back to Venus where their hideout is.

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