In the 1950s and early '60s, a small band of high-altitude pioneers exposed themselves to the extreme forces of the space age long before NASA's acclaimed Mercury 7 would make headlines. Though largely forgotten today, balloonists were the first to venture into the frozen near-vacuum on the edge of our world, exploring the very limits of human physiology and human ingenuity in this lethal realm.

Genres

Cast

Michael Murphy

Narrator

Scott Carpenter

Self (archive footage)

John Glenn

Self (archive footage)

Gus Grissom

Self (archive footage)