Space Men

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.

• Amanda PollakDirector
• Amanda PollakWriter

• Michael MurphyNarrator
• Burkhard BilgerSelf
• Scott CarpenterSelf (archive footage)
• Francis FrenchSelf
• John GlennSelf (archive footage)
• Cooper GordonSelf
• Gus GrissomSelf (archive footage)
• Wally SchirraSelf (archive footage)
• Alan ShepardSelf (archive footage)
• John Paul StappSelf (archival footage)
• Dana KilanowskiSelf
• David SimonsSelf (archive footage)