The Ultimate Explorer
John Young is a middle-aged American you wouldn't look at twice - average height, average build, a face you'd forget an hour later. But he has been rocketed into space five times, visited the moon twice and was Commander of the first Space Shuttle. Now the Chief Astronaut at NASA, he is the only man both to walk on the moon and to fly the Shuttle.
But for all this John Young remains, by his own choice, unknown to most people both here and in the States. Now, this media-shy 'reluctant hero' has agreed to talk for the first time about himself and his work, which is illustrated with breathtaking film, much of it never seen before. After 20 years as an astronaut with achievements like his, Young might be expected at the age of 52 to move over for a younger man, but not him. Next year he is planning yet another ' first in space'.
Reporter Michael Dean
Film editor PHILIP ELLIOTT Producer TONY SALMON Series editors
ANTHONY ISAACS and PETER JONES