British Pathe

Reel 1. A documentary about the American and Russian space race. Produced with the co-operation of N.A.S.A. and Sovexportfilm. Produced by the Special Films Group - Associated British-Pathe Limited. Editor: Ron Glenister. Research: Mike Maddison. Dubbing mixer: Trevor Pyke. Technical advice: Peter Fairley....

Reel 1. A documentary about the American and Russian space race. Produced with the co-operation of N.A.S.A. and Sovexportfilm. Produced by the Special Films Group - Associated British-Pathe Limited. Editor: Ron Glenister. Research: Mike Maddison. Dubbing mixer: Trevor Pyke. Technical advice: Peter Fairley. Written and Produced by Richard Dunn.

01:21:35 Aerial view of the approach to the moon from the Apollo 11 spacecraft. Voiceover includes the Neil Armstrong's famous line: "The Eagle has landed." Retrospective look at the history of space travel. Shot of Russian pioneer Tuokovsky (sp?) in his study. C/Us of drawings of space ships and of a model space rocket. Montage of early attempts to launch rockets including the "German High Command" inspecting a rocket and the crash and explosion of Von Braun's (sp?) rocket shortly after take off. 1942 launch of a V-2 rocket. Blitz footage - firemen dealing with blazes.

01:22:58 1945 - some V-2 scientists go to Russia, others to America. Von Braun (?) seen talking to colleagues, he has a large plaster cast on one of his arms. C/U of him smoking a cigarette. C/U of a German V-2 rocket in New Mexico. L/S of night test. Spectacular crash of a rocket. Shot of a rocket soaring through the sky. C/Us of President Dwight D Eisenhower.

01:24:05 1957 - Sputnik in orbit around the earth. C/U of the dog Laika sitting in a special chamber with a glass dome being placed over its head. C/U of Khrushchev making a toast with a glass of wine. Press conference in United States of America. Von Braun with a model of the Jupiter C rocket. 1958 - launch of first American rocket. Various shots of the moon's surface.

01:25:03 Montage of shots showing astronaut's training including centrifugal force machines which spin the men around at great speed, and gravity tests. John Glenn in C/U speaking about the space programme.

01:26:04 Monkeys are used for space missions - various shots of chimpanzees emerging from test craft and being examined. Also shots of chimps operating controls.

01:26:16 1961 - Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin travels by coach to the launch pad. Shots of him inside the coach in his space suit. High angle shot of the coach arriving and Gagarin walking to his craft. Gagarin inside the spaceship. Man at control panel - Gagarin visible on a screen.

01:27:00 After his flight Gagarin is received by the President. He walks down a red carpet and steps up onto a podium. He salutes dignitaries. Khrushchev embraces him, kissing him then dabbing his tears with a handkerchief. C/U of Russian woman applauding.

01:27:17 President John F Kennedy at Congress announces the American entry into the space race. Various shots of him speaking and of the assembly.

01:27:53 L/S of rocket being launched - flight aborted, it explodes mid air. Several other rockets are launched - all explode at various stages.

01:28:35 John Glenn (?) makes a speech about the safety of the next space mission. Shots of Glenn as he is prepared for flight. He gets into his capsule. Rocket takes off.

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