FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON: CAN WE DO THIS? {PART 1 OF 12} (TV)

Summary

Part one of this twelve-part docudrama series about the development of the U.S. space program as the country prepares to send men to the moon. Part one, titled "Can We Do This?," chronicles the first two phases of the space program -- Mercury and Gemini -- in seven segments. In the first segment, "A Red Moon," U.S. administrators worry that the Soviets, who launched the first man in space, will beat them in space exploration. Jerome Weisner, science advisor to the president, and NASA administrator James Webb discuss the requirements for sending a man to the moon. In the next segment, "Does Anybody Want My Job?," astronaut Alan Shepard jets into space in the Freedom 7 capsule, the first mission of the Mercury program in 1961. Following Shepard's flight and successful re-entry, President John F. Kennedy dramatically announces plans to send an American to the moon by the end of the decade. Space program officials have doubts, considering the time frame, and flight director Chris Kraft reviews the necessary steps for a flight to the moon. The next segment, "The New Nine," covers the selection process of astronauts for the next daring step. But the U.S. space program suffers another setback when Soviet astronaut Alexei Leonov makes the first spacewalk. In the next segment, "Make Us All Look Good," astronauts James McDivitt and Ed White journey into space in 1965 on the Gemini 4 mission, and White remains outside the capsule twice as long as Leonov did. In the next segment, "We Have Serious Problems Here," the deaths of astronauts Elliott See and Charles Bassett from an airplane crash dampen enthusiasm for the Gemini project. But the Gemini 8 flight in 1966 is launched as scheduled despite the tragedy. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Dave Scott are performing the first space docking when the craft goes into a violent roll; they undock themselves without informing mission control as a communication blackout is underway. But the craft is still rolling, and the astronauts realize they are losing consciousness. The next segment, "Are We Going to Beat the Russians?," covers the selection process for men taking part in the Apollo missions. In the last phase of the Gemini project, astronauts Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin fly the Gemini 12 without the aid of the broken computer, and NASA realizes that spacecrafts can be flown manually. In the last segment, "The Men in This Room...," chief astronaut Deke Slayton informs a group of astronauts that some of them will fly in the Apollo spacecrafts and a few will walk on the moon. Continues with T:53237.

This selection from the Alan Gerry Cable Collection has been made available by the Gerry Foundation, Inc.

Details

• NETWORK: HBO
• DATE: April 5, 1998 Sunday 8:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 0:59:50
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: T:53236
• GENRE: Drama, historical
• SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, historical; Space exploration; Space flight to the moon; Astronauts; U S - Foreign relations - Soviet Union
• SERIES RUN: HBO - TV series, 1998
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Tom Hanks … Executive Producer, Director
• Tony To … Co-Executive Producer
• Graham Yost … Supervising Producer
• John Melfi … Supervising Producer
• Brian Grazer … Producer
• Ron Howard … Producer
• Michael Bostick … Producer
• Erik Bork … Co-Producer
• Bruce Richmond … Co-Producer
• Janace Tashjian … Co-Producer
• Terry Odem … Associate Producer
• Steven Katz … Writer
• Andrew Chaikin … Based in part on the book "A Man on the Moon" by
• Michael Kamen … Music by, Theme Music by
• David Andrews … Cast, Frank Borman
• Terry Odem … Cast, the Screaming Woman
• George Bartenieff … Cast, Hugh Dryden
• Robert Curtis Brown … Cast, Gavin O'Rourke
• Robert John Burke … Cast, Bill Anders
• Andrew Chaikin … Cast, the "Meet the Press" Host
• Kelly Collins … Cast, the Hotel Clerk
• David Cooper … Cast, the Businessman
• Bryan Cranston … Cast, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin
• Brett Cullen … Cast, Dave Scott
• Tim Daly … Cast, Jim Lovell
• James Detmar … Cast, Engineer #2
• Cullen Douglas … Cast, Booster
• Cary Elwes … Cast, Michael Collins
• Al Franken … Cast, Jerome Weisner
• Jack Gilpin … Cast, Ted Sorenson
• Tony Goldwyn … Cast, Neil Armstrong
• Steve Hofvendahl … Cast, Tom Stafford
• Mary Thompson Hunt … Cast, the Teacher
• Chris Isaak … Cast, Ed White
• Daniel Hugh Kelly … Cast, Gene Cernan
• Frederic Lane … Cast, Walt Cunningham
• Dan Lauria … Cast, James Webb
• Jim Leavy … Cast, C.C. Williams
• Ted Levine … Cast, Alan Shepard
• Lamont Lofton … Cast, Engineer #1
• John Carroll Lynch … Cast, Bob Gilruth
• Ben Marley … Cast, Roger Chaffee
• Deborah May … Cast, Miss Hedges
• John Mese … Cast, Donn Eisele
• Kieran Mulroney … Cast, Rusty Schweickart
• Greg Neff … Cast, the Chamber President
• Tom Nowicki … Cast, David Bell
• Conor O'Farrell … Cast, James McDivitt
• Jim Piddock … Cast, John Hodge
• Mike Pniewski … Cast, Surgeon
• John Posey … Cast, John Young
• David Preuss … Cast, Procedures
• Robert Quinn … Cast, Ecom
• Steven Raulerson … Cast, Recovery
• Mark Rolston … Cast, Gus Grissom
• Stephen Root … Cast, Chris Kraft
• Linwood Sasser … Cast, the Press Rep.
• Peter Scolari … Cast, Pete Conrad
• Nick Searcy … Cast, Deke Slayton
• Lane Smith … Cast, Emmett Seaborn
• Hank Stone … Cast, the Hotel Manager
• Bruce Taylor … Cast, the Staff Member
• Tom Verica … Cast, Dick Gordon
• John Wickersham … Cast, Fido
• Ralph Wilcox … Cast, VIP
• Rich Williams … Cast, the Shreveportian
• Steve Zahn … Cast, Elliott See