Teleplay by Tony Barwick Directed by Peter Anderson Edited by Len Cleal Original UK Airdate: October 6th, 1968 (ATV Midlands)

"One tiny error of judgement and that capsule will be ripped to pieces!"

Joe 90 becomes an ace astronaut when two men in a space station are in danger.

*   *   *

Two astronauts manning a space station are in danger because the supply rocket from Earth goes out of control and has to be destroyed. It means that the two men have only three days' air supply left, and it is vital that they should be saved. For, as Shane Weston of WIN explains to Professor McClaine and Joe 90, the space station is, in fact, a construction commissioned by WIN to form the hub of a new orbital radar system.

Another rocket is prepared and Joe is given the brain pattern of an ace astronaut who has been injured in the supply rocket crash and is the only man with the sufficient knowledge to go through the tricky operation.

Now with this knowledge given to him through the brain pattern transfer, Joe sets off on his dangerous flight. But by now, the two men in the space station have only two hours' air supply left and are on the point of collapse.

Joe therefore has to land without their help and, in doing so, damages the capsule's aerial and navigation apparatus. He succeeds in providing the two astronauts with their fresh supply of oxygen, thus saving their lives, but now faces a perilous return journey to Earth with the very real danger that the capsule will burn up on re-entry to the atmosphere.

His damaged navigation apparatus, throws him off course, and all contact is lost with the Earth control room. It needs super-human skill on Joe's part .......

* Uncredited

Notes:
This episode is unique in that the customary time-elapse zoom forward after the main titles is replaced with a fade up from black.

As in Operation McClaine, the full-size newspaper featured in this episode has an appropriate headline - "ROCKET DISASTER" - but the first paragraph of text refers to the events in Splashdown ("CAPTAIN WILLIAM BARRY AND CO PILOT FRANK CASPER, WHO TOGETHER PLAYED A MAJOR PART IN FOILING A SINISTER PLOT TO DESTROY THE FREE WORLD, WERE AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE THIS MORNING FOR THE ROYAL INVESTITURE"). The same prop (with another different headline) was later used in The Secret Service episode To Catch A Spy.

Last modified 31 October 2005