Recap:
Jet Morgan is in Australia, preparing for his part in 'Operation Luna' man's first trip to the Moon. With the arrival of Doctor Matthews, space medicine expert, the crew was complete. But at the last moment Newcombe, the radio operator, was unable to go and his place was taken by Lemmy Barnet.

The monumentous day finally dawned and the four men, Jet, Lemmy, Mitchell, and the Doc, boarded the huge spaceship and prepared to take off - to the Moon.

Facts

• This death of Smith and illness of Newcombe are omitted from the novelisation. In that version Doc and Lemmy are selected as crew members for Luna, right from the start.

• The 1957 remake of this story entitled "Operation Luna" began here with the launch of Luna in the Australian Outback.

• Note the broadcast date October the 19th - this is the same date used in the story for rocketship Luna's take off, only 12 years into the future!

• After this episode went out the series began to receive critical acclaim. Jonna Barrington of the Daily Express, initially a scathing critic of the show, wrote "Hats off to Charles Chilton who has switched from Riders of the Range to Journey Into Space with masterly ease. I rate this space travel serial as the most exciting piece of radio material for years."

• Paul Ferris of The Observer said: "I take back everything I ever said about Journey Into Space. Every Monday has me waiting patiently for my ration."

• Word of mouth helped increase the number of listeners and it wouldn't be long before Chilton was asked to extend the story beyond twelve episodes. Not as difficult as it may sound, on this series, more than any other Journey Into Space series, Chilton was inventing the story as he went along.

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