Robert Langer This is a brilliant pilot that foreshadowed much of the actual historic progress in the United States in their effort to get to the Moon. The science. Unlike most science fiction series of the late '50's, the science is sound. The visual effects reflect the contemporary designs for spacecraft and space stations. The characterization and acting are top notch. The plot itself also has a realism that is rarely seen in science fiction.It is a great shame that this series never made it off the ground.The are quite a few elements of this pilot that were reflected by historic events.<< SPOILERS AHEAD >>* Extensive checklists prior to launch. This is very similar to the process that NASA used. * 3 person lunar orbit craft. The Apollo space craft were crewed by 3 people. * Accident before the launch of the lunar orbit craft causes delays. This is similar to the Apollo 1 tragedy in that the actual accident caused a significant delay in the program. * Senate hearings to investigate the viability of the space program. After the Apollo 1 accident, there was a similar witch hunt. * Space station for staging. NASA did consider the use of a space station for staging lunar exploration. However, in favor of short term cost savings and shorter development time, the three stage Saturn V was used. * Nuclear powered space craft. Many of the unmanned space craft do rely on nuclear fission as a power source.There are a few elements that we haven't yet developed as well. The biggest example is wheel like space station for generating artificial gravity. Sure, we aren't currently using this type of technology in our own space exploration, but it is based on sound physics principles.This was a surprisingly intelligent show that I'm thrilled to have seen.

Gordon Wagner I'm a hard core 1950s science fiction fan, and this movie baffles me. It uses footage from Conquest of Space, specifically "The Wheel" and the spaceship. It's a black and white film, so it was weird to see that footage which I know to exist in color displayed in black and white. To be honest, I fast-forwarded through 3/4s of the movie, it's THAT bad. Way too much yakking and virtually no action. The climax involves one of the spacemen working to free a valve after crawling down a tube which reminded me a lot of the "Jeffries Tube" on the original Star Trek series. Another small bright spot is Ed Platt's role. He was "Chief" on "Get Smart" in the 1960s. Overall, even if you are a hard core collector, this is just a deadly boring movie.

keith-moyes As a pilot for an unmade TV series this decent, if dull, little effort shouldn't be judged too harshly. I am glad it has survived.The special effects are slightly above average for the period - as they should be, since they all seem to come from The Conquest of Space. The action scenes at the beginning and end are quite well staged and reasonably tense, but the middle section is just establishing characters and situations that would have been developed later in the series, so it is inevitable that it does not have the momentum of a stand-alone movie. The acting is 'so so'.This is just an oddity of mild historical interest only, but I feel it is worth acknowledging its existence, because it is actually the most convincing depiction of the dawning of the space age to appear at any time in the Fifties. It is certainly more convincing than the Pal movie it pillaged for its special effects.It is the first time that space travel was shown in a plausible political context. The first time it was ever suggested that space travel was not just a technological triumph and a great adventure: that cost and financial justification was part of the equation as well.These are small merits in what is, in truth, a fairly tedious fifty minutes, but I am glad to have seen it and have a slight regret that there was not at least one season of the show.Check it out if, like me, you have a particular fondness for Fifties' SF and a stamp collector's desire to see everything that was made in this era.Just don't expect an undiscovered minor classic.

mike1964 Destination Space appears to have been a pilot for a CBS TV series. You can tell it was a pilot as the end of the 'movie' leaves things unanswered. John Agar is wasted here and Agar Sci Fi fans will be disappointed. John shows emotion late in the film by breaking a pencil (Whoo Hoo!).Majority of the film is the main character trying to convince the powers that be to try another rocket launch (zzzz). When he finally convinces them, they try again and have to abort. Can you imagine a series where each week they try and fail to launch the rocket? Neither could CBS.