Orbiter X

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BBC Radio 4 Extra

Orbiter X: Episode 1: 1. The First Step to the Stars

BD Chapman - Orbiter X

Episode 1

Episode 1: 1. The First Step to the Stars

1. The First Step to the Stars

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Orbiter X, 1. The First Step to the Stars

A space station's construction is halted by UFOs.

1959 sci-fi adventure from the birth of space exploration. A space station's construction is halted by UFOs. Stars John Carson.

BD Chapman's futuristic sci-fi adventure - first broadcast in 1959.  

A bold plan to conquer space begins with prefabricated components of space station 'Orbiter X' being transported up from Earth.

But the task proves perilous.

Shaped like a giant wheel, 'Orbiter X' is designed to circle Earth, travelling in a rapid polar orbit - boasting synthetic gravity, produced by the rotation around the central hub. 

First of fourteen parts. 

Fact and fiction were curiously interwoven, as a fortnight before the first BBC broadcast, the Soviet Luna 2 space probe crash landed on the Moon. 

Captain Bob Britton …. John Carson
Captain Douglas McClelland …. Andrew Crawford
Flight Engineer Hicks …. Barrie Gosney
Colonel Kent …. Donald Bisset
Captain Jack Bradley …. John Witty 

Producer: Charles Maxwell.

First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme in September 1959.

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1959 sci-fi adventure from the birth of space exploration by BD Chapman.

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