Race to Space

World War II. The Nazis' secret weapon,

the V-2 rocket... a flying bomb...

Is launched against the Allies.

London is the first city to be attacked from space.

May 1945.

American troops capture several V-2 rockets intact.

Destination: the USA.

Hitler's elite group of rocket scientists,

aware that Germany has lost the war,

surrenders to victorious Allied troops.

Now they will build rockets for freedom.

October 1957.

The Soviet Union shocks the world by launching Sputnik,

the first artificial satellite.

It circles the Earth every 96 minutes,

reminding the U.S.

of the Soviet technological triumph.

One month later, another shock.

Laika, a Russian dog, is the first living creature to travel in space.

America is now far behind.

White Sands, New Mexico.

The German scientists, now US citizens,

test their rockets that will push the boundaries of space.

But failure after failure prevents the Free World

from catching up to the Communists.

And now, at the newly formed National Space Agency, a new race has begun.

Who will be the first American in space?

We put our money on these brave test pilots,

shown here for the first time with their Mercury space capsule,

the Mercury Seven, America's heroes.

Off they go into the wild blue yonder.

Come on in.

Come on in.

Take that seat over there.

All right. Settle down.

I guess by now you've all noticed

that we have a new face in class.

His name is Wilhelm Frederick Von Hubber II.

The second what? Geek?

My name is Billy Von Huber.

Von Huber.

Your father's the German scientist with the space program.

I read about him.

He's going to help us beat the Communists into space.

Class, Billy has just moved here from New Mexico.

I know we're all going to make him feel real welcome.

Welcome, mein F hrer. Sieg heil.

Button it, Edward.

Get a load of this. The Kraut's never heard

a sonic boom before.

Astronauts, huh?

No respect... these cowboys.

T-minus 15 minutes to launch.

Redstone rocket personnel, clear the gantry.

All personnel, clear the gantry.

Check them again.

Wilhelm!

Ja?

This bird's gonna fly, right?

My Redstone rocket will do what is was designed to do, Mr. Stanton.

Well, that's good, because so far,

they've been designed to go boom.

And your boss, Mr. Vestal, he doesn't like boom.

The NASA unterdirektor's very well aware of the risks.

I want to show you something. I want to... Come here. You understand me?

You understand that, Rudolph?

I wanna show you something. Ja.

You see that? Ja.

You see that over there? You know what that is? That's a bus. Ja.

And you know what it's full of?

Senators.Good.

And you know what senators are?

I don't need a civics lesson, thank you, Mr. Stanton.

And if they don't like what they see here today,

there's no money.Mmm.

So no money equals no space program.

You understand? Now, even I understand those astrophysics.

My bird will fly, as promised.

If you'll excuse me, please. Dieter!

Ja, Wilhelm. Ja!

We take it up to 12. Now it should work.

Last month's performance specs on the Astro C, Mr. Thornhill.

Put them on my desk.

Propulsion main valve status is in standby mode. Everything is A-okay.

Thrust board. We are good to go. Series check.

Hold for pressurization. We should be okay for liftoff. Check.

He was up all night

making sure this was going to work for you, George.

Come on, come on, come on.

Gate 2 is transmitting. A-okay across the board.

Trajectory, gauges, gyros... A-okay... status is A-okay.

Wind direction is... Roger that. Azimuth clock is on.

Telemetry is go.Roger. Fuel pump is go.

Initiate auto-sequence.

In 10, 9,

8, 7, 6...

Tesla cord.Roger.

5, 4,

3, 2, 1.

Booster ignition.

Liftoff.

On course. It's a go.

Go, baby.

We have thrust 100%.

Thrust support, stand by.

Telemetry is increased. Trajectory deviation.

I'm getting the guidance voltage.

Support, we have a possible abort. Check for deviation.

7, 10 degrees... 12 percent.

Override guidance systems. Guidance will not accept my command, sir!

That's heading for population! Kill it!

I'm starving. I know.

You're eating in the no-Kraut zone.

Americans only, Wilhelm.

I am just as American as you are.

Really? Okay.

Who got traded for Hank Bauer of the Yankees this year?

Roger Maris.

And he's gonna get MVP, too, Edward.

Yeah, well, your dad's one of those Nazi rocket guys,

and that makes you a dirty, stinking Nazi, Wilhelm.

That one hurt.

Sauer-Von-Kraut.

One for the jerries.

Fight, fight, fight!

Fight! Fight! Fight!

Does anybody want to hazard a guess of what these are?

To the untrained eye,

they could be just chunks of scrap metal.

But, in fact, what they are

is the sum total of our race to space.

Now, please, tell me,

what the hell happened out there today?

In short, telemetry data indicates malfunction of the guidance system.

Hooey and horse pucky.

If I wanted textbook answers, I'd buy a textbook.

Our military intelligence tells us

that the Reds are ready

to put a man in space yesterday.

I'm getting pressure from Congress

to put one of our Mercury boys

into orbit in January.

January? This is too soon.

The capsule is not even man-rated yet.

The Astro C rocket might be ready in January.

- Don't be ridiculous. - The Astro C is.

The Astro C is months behind the Redstone! Boys... Boys...

Now, nobody is suggesting

that we light a faulty candle under a human being.

No. We're gonna send up a test subject first...

An air force chimpanzee.

We have a Dr. McGuinness,

who's a world-renowned veterinary scientist

who's gonna do the training.

Now, we've got nine weeks until launch time.

What I need to know from you, Wilhelm...

Can you do it?

If that is what you require of me,

then we will.

Good.

'Cause I'd hate to wake up one morning

and find the world looking like this.

Nor would I. Thank you, sir.

Wilhelm.

Billy's school is calling.

He has failing grades

in math, history, and science.

We're considering putting him back a grade.

That is unacceptable.

My son... Had similar problems

at his last school in New Mexico.

Billy has trouble making friends.

He's very withdrawn. Is there trouble at home?

What are you implying?

A lost pet?

I have no interest in pets.

A death in the family?

Wilhelm's mother died three years ago.

We are past that now.

I see.

Dr. Von Huber,

I understand the problems you foreigners can have

in our country.

I think if we hold him back, it will...

Hold it. Wilhelm needs his discipline.

Every day, after school, he will report

directly to my office at NASA.

I will personally see that his grades improve.

And now, if you will excuse me, I am very busy.

Dr. Von... Dr. Von Huber...

You do not eat.

I'm not hungry.

Well, maybe if we had some normal food.

You always liked my bratwurst.

I was pulled away from very important work today because of you.

Do you wish to talk about this?

The kids at school...

They call me a Nazi.

A dirty, stinking Nazi.

And because of this, you behave like a savage?