Space Race (2005) BBC

Race For The Moon 1964-1969 (6/6)

Both sides now plan to put a man on the Moon - the Americans pull ahead in the space race with Project Gemini, but then suffer a disaster with the Apollo 1 fire. Meanwhile, despite a few notable successes such as the first space walk by Alexei Leonov, the Soviet space programme struggles to keep up amid internal strife. Glushko and Korolev permanently fall out in an argument about fuel; Korolev turns to Nikolai Kuznetsov to develop engines instead. Kuznetsov delivers the NK-33, very efficient but much less powerful than the Americans' F-1. The Soviet program suffers further blows when Korolev dies during surgery, Gagarin dies in a jet crash, Soyuz 1 crashes and kills Vladimir Komarov, and the prototype booster for the moon shot, the N-1 rocket, fails to successfully launch. In America, von Braun has continuing difficulties with the Saturn V, especially combustion instability in the large F-1 engine, but these are ultimately overcome almost by brute force at great expense, and the rocket successfully launches the first manned lunar mission, Apollo 8, and the first manned lunar landing, Apollo 11. The final episode finishes with brief textual summaries of the remaining careers of the various people involved.

Space Race is a BBC docudrama series first shown in Britain on BBC2 between September and October 2005, chronicling the major events and characters in the American/Soviet space race up to the first landing of a man on the moon. It focusses on Sergei Korolev, the Soviet chief rocket designer, and Wernher von Braun, his American counterpart. The series was a joint effort between British, German, American and Russian production teams.



This is the shocking but true story behind one of the most exciting and exhilarating times in history. It begins in the bloody throes of the Second World War and spans through to the moon landings, revealing the ruthless, brilliant scientists who played their crucial part in the space race and the desperate levels of human endurance required to lead the field.



The race to create the most powerful rocket; to land astronauts on the moon; the pioneering experiments and catastrophic risks which cost untold riches and ended scores of lives can be traced back to the rivalry between two recklessly daring scientific leaders: the charismatic ex-Nazi Wernher von Braun in the American team, and the enigmatic Soviet project leader, known mysteriously as 'The Chief Designer'. A gripping story of betrayal and soaring ambition is chronicled as this dramatic 20-year story unfolds.

Episodes

Episode one: Race For Rockets (1944–1949)

Episode two: Race For Satellites (1953–1958)

Episode three: Race For Survival (1959–1961)

Episode four: Race For The Moon (1964–1969)