Born of a Cold War fear, NASA moves boldly from disastrous rocket tests to the glorious conclusion of the Gemini Program. Examining the massive challenges to get the first man in space, this episode show how, despite many setbacks and six epic flights later the astronauts proved the most important component of any NASA mission would be a human being.

Encoded with permission for digital streaming by Infobase on November 26, 2014. Learn360 is distributed by Infobase for Films for the Humanities & Sciences, Cambridge Educational, Meridian Education, and Shopware.

Introduction: The Space Age(1:02) -- Episode 1: From the Ground Up (2:16) -- Initiation of Project Mercury (2:23) -- Early Rocket Failures and Medical Doubts (2:41) -- Soviet Union Puts the First Man in Space (2:11) -- Alan Shepard: First American in Suborbital Space (5:35) -- John Glenn: First American in Orbital Space (4:35) -- Warning of a Detached Heat Shield (4:48) -- Gemini Project (2:19) -- Gemini 3: Changing Orbits (3:41) -- Gemini IV: Space Walk (5:20) -- Gemini VI-A and VII: Space Rendezvous (5:24) -- Gemini VII: 15 Days in Space (2:03) -- Gemini VIII: First Docking and Emergency Landing (2:59) -- Gemini XII: Extra-Vehicular Activity (3:13) -- Credits: From the Ground Up: Space Age-NASA's Story (0:40).