The three remaining spacemen explore a nearby mountain range. While they are inside a cave they find indications of a thin atmosphere in the depths. Meanwhile a meteor shower bombards the area, hitting their spacecraft and rendering it unusable. Their one-man space "lifeboat" is still operable and they draw lots to see who will man it back to Earth to bring a rescue mission. The remaining two men will stay in the caverns and use their equipment to condense enough oxygen to remain alive until help comes. McCauley makes it back to Earth, but it will be two months or longer before a rescue mission can be launched.; Col. Ed McCauley heads the three-man crew making the first manned flight into outer space. Due to a malfunction of the second stage they must make repairs in space. They return to Earth successfully, but because of the disruption caused by the repairs are forced to land on the north polar icecap. There they must wait for rescue before being overcome by sub-zero cold.; Col. McCauley heads the first manned landing on the moon. He and three crewman explore a crater, but a moonquake causes a boulder to fall and injure crewman Gilman. While McCauley and the others are using a rope to haul the injured man out of the crater, there is a dust explosion. Three men make it out, but the injured man cuts himself loose and is buried in the dust and dies.