Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

---

*Contains upsetting scene*

"There's the pattern and prospect for all you potential spacemen and spacewomen - sitting up there, eating algae, while your eyeballs vibrate."

Alan Whicker reports from the Bioastronautics Research Laboratories in Seattle, where they are hoping to build the first spacecraft to land on the moon.


Clip taken from Tonight, originally broadcast on BBC Television, 17 October, 1962.





You have now entered the BBC Archive, a time machine that will transport you back to the golden age of TV to educate, entertain and enlighten you with classic clips from the BBC vaults.

Make sure you subscribe so that you never miss a single stop on our amazing journey through the BBC Archive - youtube.com/c/BBCArchive?sub_confirmation=1

You can also dive into plenty more BBC Archive on our website - bbc.co.uk/archive