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00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:08,000
[electronic beeping]

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00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:10,920
[static fizzling]

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00:00:13,120 --> 00:00:15,160
[female narrator] It's August of 1991,

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and cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev is stranded
aboard the space station, Mir...

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[speaking Russian]

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...because 250 miles below him,
the Soviet Union is collapsing.

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[crowd shouting in Russian]

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00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:35,480
He has nowhere to land,

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00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:40,120
so he stays in orbit, unsure how,
if ever, he will get home.

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Just one of many victims in this story
of humanity's journey to space.

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00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:52,240
Since the dawn of space flight,

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more than 550 humans 
have made it off planet.

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Most of them men.

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Those astronauts came 
from 40 different nations.

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Thirty lives have been lost 
in space flight or space training.

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Today, there are
15 international space agencies

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with independent launch capability.

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And the cost is astronomical.

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Every year, the global price tag

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is a whopping $62 billion.

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So, if space is dangerous and expensive,
why bother sending people there at all?

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The race to space is born out of fear

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in the face of a new catastrophic threat.

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An atomic one.

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[man] This is the gallant crew that rode
the big Superfort,

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which carried the first atomic bomb
to Japan.

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[narrator] 
Out of the nuclear ashes of World War II,

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rise two opposing superpowers
with two opposing systems:

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capitalist America
and communist Soviet Union.

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Each is sure that the other
is out to conquer the world,

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and rising tensions soon draw
the two nations into a cold war.

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Paranoia mounts as Russia shuts its doors
on its former allies.

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From Stettin in the Baltic...

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to Trieste in the Adriatic, 

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an iron curtain has descended
across the continent.

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[narrator] 
On both sides of that iron curtain,

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the rivals start testing
and stockpiling nuclear weapons,

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flexing their atomic muscles
for the world to see.

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But to be an effective threat,

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the superpowers need a way to deliver
their nukes quickly and without warning.

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It's a long-distance rivalry.

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Moscow and Washington are thousands
of miles apart.

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And as of the late '40s,

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rockets can only reach targets
up to a few hundred miles away.

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The best way to cover the shortfall
is by launching rockets through space.

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[alarm blaring]

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The Americans and the Soviets
both start developing ballistic missiles

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that can carry their weapons
above the atmosphere

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and then down onto their enemy,

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which leads to a new idea:

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What if rockets could spy on the enemy?

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[man] At White Sands Proving Grounds, 
New Mexico,

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a captured German V-2 rocket
was recently fitted up as a camera carrier

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for a scientific experiment.

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The idea was to see if rockets could be 
used for photographic reconnaissance...

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[narrator] 
Soon, the ballistic missile race

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turns into a race to get 
the first satellite into orbit.

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On October 4th, 1957,

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America wakes up to terrifying news:
the Soviets have beaten them to it.

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Sputnik 1 is basically
the size of a beach ball

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with four antennae sticking out.

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It takes just one watt
to run its radio transmitter.

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Your cell phone takes
six watts to power up.

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Sputnik ends up orbiting the Earth
two months,

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traveling further than the distance
between the Earth and Mars

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before falling out of the sky.

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Its ominous beeps send shock waves
around the world.

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[beeping]

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[man] The reaction was one 
of astonishment and concern,

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for it was now known that a potential
enemy was at least temporarily ahead

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in developing means for space travel.

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[narrator] Americans are terrified.

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For the first time ever, an enemy object
is flying over their homeland.

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What if Soviet nukes start raining down 
on their heads?

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[man] We all know the atomic bomb
is very dangerous.

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We must get ready for it,

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just as we are ready for many other
dangers that are around us all the time.

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[narrator] The race for space is on,

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and it's USSR one, USA zero.

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America needs to up its game
to reassure its citizens.

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[man] President Eisenhower responded
by establishing a new agency,

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the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration.

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With the establishment of NASA,
America stood on the threshold of space.

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[narrator] 
And immediately, NASA raises the stakes,

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announcing they're planning to hurl
a human into space before the Soviets.

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It seems an impossible task.

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Can the human body even survive the rigors
of space travel?

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No one knows.

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The g-forces required to accelerate
an object through the atmosphere

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are far beyond
what humans normally can take.

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[alarm blaring]

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Space is also about as cold as it gets.

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But your blood will boil,
or at least start to vaporize,

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because there's no pressure
keeping it a liquid.

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Re-entry is another headache.

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Temperatures generated by friction
can reach 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

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That's half as hot as the sun.

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Before catapulting humans
into the unknown,

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the rival superpowers launch a medley
of bewildered animals into space.

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And though they don't all survive
the round-trip ticket,

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they do make it through the atmosphere
unharmed.

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And what animals can do,
hopefully, humans can do too.

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So, who to send?

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In 1959, NASA finds seven military pilots
with the right stuff.

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They're called the Mercury 7.

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Smart, brave, and wholesome,
they're all-American heroes.

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[surf rock music playing]

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[man] We had some pretty good tests,

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and it's rather difficult
to pick one because,

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if you figure how many openings
there are on the human body

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and how far you can
go in any one of them...

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[all laughing]

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[stammers] Now, you answer which one
would be the toughest for you, and...

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[laughing continues]

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[narrator] 
America instantly falls in love with them.

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The Soviets have picked
their own all-star squad,

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led by 26-year-old fighter pilot
Yuri Gagarin.

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With his boyish good looks,
modest farming roots,

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and winning smile, Gagarin
is the perfect poster boy for communism.

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The competitors are on their marks,

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but how will they even
get passed the starting line?

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In test after test, both space programs
suffer serious setbacks.

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Until...

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[man shouts in Russian]

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[man] "The Earth looked a delicate blue,
floating in a black sky."

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00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:09,000
So said the first man in space
after his fabulous journey of 108 minutes,

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00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:10,760
Major Yuri Gagarin.

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[narrator] The world is astonished
by Gagarin's flight to,

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and safe return from, Earth's orbit,

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and the Soviet triumph deals 
yet another blow to America's psyche.

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For those keeping track, 
it's USSR two, USA zero.

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Trajectory looks good. Roger.

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[narrator] Not to be outdone, 
three weeks later,

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NASA launches their own man into space.

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Alan Shepard.

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His is a far shorter flight
than Gagarin's

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and only just pierces the atmosphere.

138
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Still, America gets
a much-needed morale boost,

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and space fever grips the nation.

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[man] Commander Shepard and his wife

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00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:54,800
meet the president of the United States
and his wife, Jackie.

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Thank you very much, Mr. President.

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I thought that last Friday
was a thrilling day.

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As a matter of fact...

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00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:05,200
I got far less sleep last night
than I did the night before the flight.

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00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:06,480
[crowd laughs, applauds]

147
00:09:06,560 --> 00:09:09,560
[narrator] Meanwhile, 
away from the glamour of space,

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00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:13,280
tensions keep rising between
Soviet Russia and America.

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00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:19,360
The USSR builds a wall between
Eastern Europe and the capitalist West.

150
00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:24,600
[man] Here in Berlin, the West stands 
on guard, facing the next move by the East

151
00:09:24,680 --> 00:09:26,520
in the continuing Cold War.

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00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:29,400
[narrator] With a stalemate on the ground,

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the US makes a bold announcement
that shakes up the space race.

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Now it is time for this nation
to take a clearly leading role

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in space achievement,

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which, in many ways, may hold the key
to our future on Earth.

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I believe that this nation 
should commit itself

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00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:51,560
to achieving the goal,
before this decade is out,

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00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:55,800
of landing a man on the moon
and returning him safely to the Earth.

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[narrator] It will become 
the largest commitment of resources

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00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:01,640
ever made by any nation in peacetime.

162
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Project Apollo.

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00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:06,960
Its goal? To put a man on the moon.

164
00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:10,680
NASA's budgets
are now doubling every year.

165
00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:14,560
And President Kennedy is behind them
every step of the way.

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00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:17,960
[man] On a whirlwind tour of Florida,
President Kennedy visits Cape Canaveral.

167
00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:21,480
The president's visit is regarded
as an effort to focus attention

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00:10:21,560 --> 00:10:25,200
on the nation's space program
and speed appropriation bills in Congress.

169
00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:30,640
[narrator] Just six days later, 
President Kennedy is assassinated.

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NASA loses its strongest ally.

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The public starts to lose interest
in this new moon race,

172
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questioning the rising costs.

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[man] Do you resent paying taxes
in order to put a man on the moon?

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Yes, I do.

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[man] What would you rather
have the money spent on?

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Well, schools and, um, hospitals
and things like that.

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00:10:56,160 --> 00:10:58,120
'Cause money should be used for,

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00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:02,200
uh, jobs and so on that need 
to be taken care of here on Earth.

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00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:05,640
[narrator] America 
also has other problems.

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00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:10,240
The US dispatches 184,000 troops
 to Vietnam...

181
00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:12,800
in the name of halting the spread
of communism.

182
00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:19,240
To make matters worse, the Soviets 
are racking up a string of space firsts.

183
00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:24,200
From the first object
to hit the moon...

184
00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:28,000
to the first woman in space...

185
00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:31,320
to the first space walk.

186
00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:40,200
It's USSR five, USA zero.

187
00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:44,200
America's moon mission 
is now their only hope

188
00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:46,320
for a big win in the space race.

189
00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:52,800
But as they gear up for
their first test launch in January 1967,

190
00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:55,680
a routine rocket test proves catastrophic.

191
00:11:57,000 --> 00:12:00,360
[man] Apollo astronauts Roger Chaffee,
Edward White, and Gus Grissom

192
00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:04,520
lose their lives in a tragic flash fire
aboard their grounded space capsule.

193
00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:07,960
In a few seconds, all three
were victims of the swift inferno,

194
00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:10,120
which left the capsule a blackened shell.

195
00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:13,880
[narrator] The country is in shock.

196
00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:16,760
Is space really worth dying for?

197
00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:21,200
But America has invested far too much
to quit now.

198
00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:24,360
With 400,000 people on the payroll,

199
00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:29,160
NASA is more determined than ever
to leave their footprints on the moon.

200
00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:32,800
And to get there, 
they turn to a former Nazi.

201
00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:37,440
Hitler's favorite rocket engineer,
Wernher von Braun,

202
00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:40,880
invented the world's first
ballistic missile, the V-2.

203
00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:44,400
It devastated London during World War II.

204
00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:48,800
Now, von Braun
has come up with a much bigger rocket.

205
00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:54,800
[man] Five, four, three, two, one, zero.

206
00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:55,760
Liftoff. We have liftoff.

207
00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:01,280
[narrator] Saturn V will be the muscle 
behind NASA's moon shot.

208
00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:07,880
It towers over 350 feet
and weighs 6.2 million pounds.

209
00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:11,880
That's 1,240 pickup trucks.

210
00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:18,880
It generates 34 million newtons of thrust,
the equivalent of 43 jumbo jets...

211
00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:23,160
enough power to carry 
over 95,000 pounds...

212
00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:24,240
[horn honks]

213
00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:26,480
...or four school buses to the moon.

214
00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:35,840
But rumors that the Soviets 
have their own colossal moon rocket

215
00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:38,960
on the launch pad send NASA into a panic.

216
00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:43,800
And von Braun is concerned 
the race is too close to call.

217
00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:49,240
I wouldn't be a bit surprised
if they also landed in '69,

218
00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:52,800
and who will there be first 
is anybody's guess, really.

219
00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:58,640
[narrator] Meanwhile, 1968 is 
a turbulent year for both superpowers.

220
00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:04,400
Assassinations and riots threaten
to tear America apart.

221
00:14:04,120 --> 00:14:08,400
Thousands of American soldiers
are returning from Vietnam in body bags.

222
00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:14,560
In the Soviet Union, space hero
Yuri Gagarin is killed in a plane crash.

223
00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:20,480
Czechoslovakia's revolt against 
Soviet control is brutally suppressed.

224
00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:25,840
Both sides need a victory in space
to boost morale at home

225
00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:28,440
and distract from more earthly problems.

226
00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:32,480
In August of 1968,

227
00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:36,120
NASA announced they will take
their first shot at the moon

228
00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:37,760
by the end of the year.

229
00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:40,600
Apollo 8's mission isn't to land.

230
00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:43,960
It's to see if they can orbit the moon
and get home safely.

231
00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:48,280
It's a gamble.
If they fail, it's unlikely Congress

232
00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:52,120
and the American people
will give NASA another chance.

233
00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:56,000
On December 21st, 1968,

234
00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:59,840
astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell,
and Bill Anders

235
00:14:59,920 --> 00:15:03,800
strap themselves in
atop the immense Saturn V rocket.

236
00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:06,400
[man 1] We have cleared the tower.

237
00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:07,920
[man 2] Apollo 8, this is Houston, roger.

238
00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:13,200
[narrator] After three days in space,
the men enter lunar orbit.

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00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:18,400
[Borman] The moon is a different thing
to each one of us.

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I know my own impression is that it's a...

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a vast, lonely, forbidding type...

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existence.

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Or expanse of nothing.

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[Lovell] It makes you realize 
just what you have back there on Earth.

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The Earth from here is a grand oasis 
in the big vastness of space.

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00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:45,320
[narrator] Apollo 8 is 
an unprecedented success.

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00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:49,280
Finally, America has 
a major victory in space:

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00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:52,360
the first humans to orbit the moon

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00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:55,240
and the first photo of Earth
from the moon.

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00:15:56,520 --> 00:15:59,120
[Anders] Oh, God, 
look at that picture over there.

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There's the Earth coming up. 
Wow, is that pretty.

252
00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:05,600
You got a color film, Jim?

253
00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:10,800
[narrator] The photo will become known
as Earthrise.

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00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:16,640
[Borman] The whole focus on the mission
turned to the Earth

255
00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:20,000
after we saw the Earth coming up
over the lunar surface.

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00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:24,400
And the Earth was the only thing
in the universe that had any color.

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00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:28,280
It was very lonely,
and the universe is pitch black.

258
00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:31,800
I think it gave us a sense of, uh,

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00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:35,400
"We better do our best to take care
of this little blue marble that we have."

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00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:39,840
[narrator] For a brief moment, 
a fractured world

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00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:41,800
is brought together in awe.

262
00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:44,240
["The Blue Danube" playing]

263
00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:46,200
And just seven months later,

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00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:51,440
Neil Armstrong takes that unforgettable
giant leap for mankind.

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00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:55,120
[man 1] They've got the flag up now,

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00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:57,520
and you can see the stars and stripes
on the lunar surface.

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00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:00,360
[man 2] ...and you can see the stars 
and stripes on the lunar surface. 

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00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:02,400
[man 3] Beautiful, just beautiful.

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00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:06,520
[narrator] In the race for the moon,
America has finally come in first.

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00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:13,920
[Nixon] Hello, Neil and Buzz.

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I just can't tell you how proud we all are
of what you've done.

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00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:21,480
For every American, this has to be 
the proudest day of our lives.

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00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:24,520
Because of what you have done, 
the heavens

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00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:27,520
have become a part of man's world.

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00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:38,800
[narrator] The spectacular feat is watched
by more than 500 million people,

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00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:40,320
one-fifth of the global population.

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00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:45,000
And it inspires generations
of astronauts and engineers.

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00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:48,160
It's only the first stage of NASA's
moon domination.

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00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:53,440
In the three years that follow,
ten more Americans land on the moon.

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00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:58,400
As for the Soviets, they abandon
any ambitions of getting there,

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00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:01,360
instead focusing on
a different space dream,

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00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:06,240
launching an orbital space station
called Mir, or "Peace."

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00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:10,120
[man] It's the Soviets' intention to have 
a permanently manned complex

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00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:12,360
of research laboratories
and space factories,

285
00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:14,840
making drugs and electronic components.

286
00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:17,320
And they're well ahead of the Americans.

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00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:22,400
[narrator] Fast forward to 1991
and our unlucky cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev

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00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:26,680
floating inside Mir
as the Soviet Union collapses beneath him.

289
00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:30,480
He ends up staying in space
nearly a year

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00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:35,200
before getting permission to return
to the now Kazakhstani spaceport.

291
00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:41,240
The last participant in a space race that
has run its course and left him behind.

292
00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:46,400
With the Soviet Union's fall,
the Cold War is over,

293
00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:50,240
and competition in space gives way
to a new era of cooperation

294
00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:53,360
between the US
and a new, friendlier Russia.

295
00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:59,920
In 1998, a new chapter
in space exploration begins

296
00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:03,880
as construction starts
on the first International Space Station.

297
00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:10,360
It's the largest man-made object in space,
bigger than an NFL football field.

298
00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:17,200
It uses 90 kilowatts of power,
the equivalent of 90,000 Sputniks.

299
00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:20,840
And eight miles of wire connect
the circuitry on board.

300
00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:24,200
It's the third-biggest object 
seen in space

301
00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:26,760
and can be viewed from Earth
with the naked eye.

302
00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:30,640
It is also the most expensive object
ever built.

303
00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:34,920
Five different space agencies
collaborated on its assembly...

304
00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:40,320
and astronauts from 18 different nations 
have worked on board together.

305
00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:45,320
When its first crew settles in in 2000,

306
00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:48,920
on board is our old friend 
Sergei Krikalev.

307
00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:53,440
[Krikalev] We are a small part
of the large international team,

308
00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:58,800
which has in the year past established
this new outpost of the planet.

309
00:20:01,120 --> 00:20:04,360
[Shepherd] The exploration of space
is a powerful symbol

310
00:20:05,120 --> 00:20:09,160
of the promise of a new year and
of the possibilities of a new millennium.

311
00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:13,880
Let the real Space Odyssey 2001 proceed.

312
00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:17,680
[narrator] The ISS becomes 
a feel-good symbol

313
00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:19,600
of international collaboration.

314
00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:23,560
Fifty years after the moon landing,

315
00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:28,600
NASA announces plans to return as part
of their most ambitious mission yet.

316
00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:31,400
[man] The investments announced today

317
00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:34,200
will empower the people of NASA

318
00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:36,960
to improving our quality of life today

319
00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:40,880
and preparing to send American astronauts
to Mars in the 2030s.

320
00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:45,920
[narrator] But Mars is 
160 times further away than the moon.

321
00:20:46,360 --> 00:20:48,560
It will take eight months to get there.

322
00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:52,320
Why go to the expense
and risk of going all that way?

323
00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:57,280
Well, the race to space 
began through fear,

324
00:20:57,360 --> 00:20:59,600
as a reaction to the threat of an enemy.

325
00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:02,440
But while reaching for the moon,

326
00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:05,520
we gained a new perspective
on our home planet.

327
00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:11,960
Today, new threats are re-focusing
our gaze back on our little blue marble.

328
00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:13,840
In order to preserve it,

329
00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:16,640
the nations of the world will need
to work together.

330
00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:21,560
The next space race may not be
nation against nation,

331
00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:24,360
but humanity against the clock.

332
00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:29,920
[electronic music playing]