Recap:
In 1965 Sir William Morgan, rocket research scientist, launched a man carrying rocket from New Mexico. But the rocket crashed onto the town of Las Vegas and killed a number of people. As a result the Anglo-American Space Research Committee temporarily closed the proving grounds. Shortly after this news, Jet Morgan, son of Sir William and pilot of the Morgan super-stratoship, was visited in his London flat by an Australian who made him an astounding offer…

Facts:

• With this episode Sir William Morgan and Mackenzie make their exit. The actor who was playing Sir William, Wilfred Walter, had recently undergone an operation where his leg had to be amputated and it was clear that he wasn't going to recover. Charles Chilton had to write out his main character.

• Critical reaction to the new series was not good. In The Observer Paul Ferris wrote "If space travel is to be as tedious as this, I shall remain Earthbound."

• If it couldn't get any worse, after this episode was broadcast, Chilton was called into the office of Michael Standing, the head of light entertainment. He said that the show would have to come off the air, since his children had listened to it and didn't enjoy it. Chilton reminded him that the contract was for eight episodes. He was already thinking about changing the direction of the storyline.

• The introduction of the Australian experimental engineer Steven Mitchell, led to a shift of emphasis in the story and location to Wanga-Walla, Australia. Now the objective was not just the conquest of space, but conquest of the Moon. 'Operation Luna' was born.

• This episode also more or less marks the chronological start of events as depicted in the first novelisation 'Journey Into Space'.

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