Scenic Designer: Tom Jewett
Technical Director: Fidelis Blunk
Lighting by: Dick Schmidt
Video by: Al Sielski
Audio by: Neal Smith
Sound Effects by: Agnew Horine
Visual Effects by: NBC Special Effects

From Joe Sarno's Space Academy Newsletter #7 & 8 July - December 1979

A ROCKHILL PRODUCTION
Directed by Ralph Ward
Produced by Albert Aley
Assistant Producer: Muriel Maron
Sound Effects by: Agnew Horine

Major Bemus, the Space Academy Quartermaster, rejects the report that a defective feed line flutter valve for the oxygen tanks on Academy spacesuits is the cause of a series of accidents that could lead toward a fatal catastrophe. The Major's stubborness is leading toward a fatal catastrophe.

During a routine space run, T.J. Thistle and Astro are enthusiastically following by long-range televiewer, the attempt of Captain Cowan, famous Solar Guard rocketbuster, to establish a speed record for a run around Titan and back. Tom has a more objective opinion of Capt Cowan. The Cadets suddenly see Cowan's ship explode, but Cowan miraculously survives, and is rescued by the Polaris crew. Cowan decides to take another try at the Titan speed record and manages to appropriate the Polaris and crew in spite of the objections of Capt Strong. Strong recognixes Cowan for the glory seeker that he is. On his attempt to break the speed record Cowman's recklessness endangers the ship and Cowan bails out leaving the Cadets to the mercy of the space debris near the rings of Saturn.
Special Notes:This is a superior episode in the Kraft series, with excellent acting by the entire cast. It is one of the first to be made available from Mossman/Williams Productions in Video tape.

On a trip to Mercury, the cadets are assigned to Major Connel, the roughest, toughest, meanest officer in the entire Solar Guard. This is much to the chagrin of T.J., who starts off by putting his foot in his month and just keeps getting in deeper. But the humor of this situation quickly turns to disaster when a technical error by T.J. puts Tom and the Major in a deadly situation and on the verge of perishing in Mercury's 700 degree heat.

Special Notes:Major "Blastoff"Connel apparantly appeared regularly in many of the early Space Cadet episodes, including the followin episodes; ICE CAVES OF PLUTO 2/21/52 ; "DANGER IN DEEP SPACE" 5/6/52 . In the Kraft commercials Frankie Thomas as Tom explains how we may obtain our Space Cadet Membership Kit which consists of an Academy Ring with the Space Cadet rocket insignia, an official shoulder patch and a membership certificate with the Universal Space Pledge.

A former Solar guard Captain hijacks the Titan Mail Ship in revenge for his being dishonorably discharged from the Space Academy. Roy Cowan, the former "Ace of the Space Lanes" (see episode # K8) returns, and this time he starts off by hijacking the Titan Mail Ship, leaving Captain Strong in dire jeopardy as revenge for his having been discharged from Space Academy. He then teams up with a weapons specialist who was also discharged from the Academy. They go on a devastating rampage, destroying other ships that they come across at random. The Polaris Crew offer themselves as bait to trap Cowan. Cowan comes after the bait with a vengeance.

The Polaris Cadets are in trouble for an accumulation of minor infractions so for a period of 31 days they are assigned to what is supposed to be a tedious Cargo detail as punishment. But on their first run they find a part of their cargo to be alive. The Polaris crew is assigned to take a chimpanzee to a zoo at Venusport, and the chimp proceeds to make monkeys out of the Cadets. (The chimp is J. Fred Muggs, then a regular feature on the old "Today" television show.)

Special Notes: The Space Cadet Membership kit, which consists of a Space Cadet ring shoulder patch 1; membership certificate is again offered for 25¢ plus a Kraft tab or wrapper.

An accident on board the Polaris cuts Astro adrift from the ship, and he floats in a panic, through the blackness of space. Tom and T.J. must rescue him and calm his fears. Psychological damage from the experience is more devastating than the physical harm, and Astro learns that he may "never see space again". T.J. Thistle has his own ideas of providing Astro an instant cure. But a meteor striking the Polaris provides a better method for bringing Astro around.

A strange asteroid having an exceptionally strong magnectic field, along with the magnectic personality of one, T.J. Thistle, combine to wreak a hit of havoc in space. Tom warns T. J. Thistle that there must be cooperation between the crews of the Polaris and the Sirius if they are to track down the magnetic asteroid. But T. J. wants to carry on his feud with the rival ship.

The Polaris Cadets, Captain Strong, and a very obnoxious Cadet Monroe, are assigned to retrieve data from a robot rocket referred to as the "Deep Space Projectile", in the vicinity of the star Sirius. While docking with the Projectile a malfunction causes the Projectile to break away fro the Polaris and T. J. and Captain Strong find themselves spiraling in toward Sirus a white star 2.35 times as massive and 23 times as luminous as our Sun .

Tom, Astro, and T.J. make a stop at an outpost on Triton, the lar gest satellite of the planet Neptune. The first thing they discover at, the outpost is a corpse. The unfortunate victim appears to have died of radiation

Secretary Masters, the top Man in the Solar Guard, pays a visit to Space Academy and receives an unfavorable first impression of the Polaris Cadets. Later, as a part of an exercise, and to impress Secretary Masters who is aboard the Polaris and to atone for their previous embarassment, the Cadets must knock out a robot rocket in Mars orbit. They hit it as planned, but the robot rocket careens wildly out of control, posing a deadly threat to other ships. The Cadets voluntarily risk their necks to try to stop it .

Roy Cowan, a former solar guard Captain, escapes from the Asteroid Prison and sets out to ambush the Polaris. His aim: to destroy Tom Corbett and his crewmates who twice before foiled his bid for fame and glory. Two convicts, including the treacherous Roy Cowan, escape from the Prison Asteroid by hijacking a space freighter. Cowan and his accomplice lure the Polaris Cadets into an ambush using their hijacked freighter as bait, which they themselves have abandoned, but not before starting a wildcatting reaction in the freigher's reactors, which will cause the ship to explode as the Cadets approach.

Tom, Astro, and T.J. are assigned to fly an old ship to Venusport, where it is to be scrapped. But as the Cadets are descending toward Venus, the ship's reactors malfunction, sending it crashing into the Venusian jungle, as the Cadets bail out to survive. Then they must work to survive again in the midst of a Venusian jungle, while all the time an unseen volcano threatens to erupt and they must use the survival techniques learned at the Academy.

Tom Corbett, Astro and T. J. Thistle aboard the Polaris, accompany a scout ship manned by Commander Arkwright, and Professor Hinkel on a flight into outer space. Professor Hinkel is an eccentric professor, anxious to photograph a nova that he recently discovered, and that was named after him. The Professor and Commander Arkwright approach the exploding star for this purpose, but are stricken with temporary blindness from the nova's intense light and ultraviolet radiation when the Professor foolishly removes their ship's protective sun filter for a better look at his star.

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