Space Men

In the 1950s and early '60s, a small band of high-altitude pioneers exposed themselves to the extreme forces of the space age long before NASA's acclaimed Mercury 7 would make headlines. Though largely forgotten today, balloonists were the first to venture into the frozen near-vacuum on the edge of our world, exploring the very limits of human physiology and human ingenuity in this lethal realm.

Top Cast

Michael Murphy

Narrator

Burkhard Bilger

Self

Scott Carpenter

Self (archive footage)

Francis French

Self

John Glenn

Self (archive footage)