The Astronaut

The Astronaut (1972)

An elaborate deception emerges when an American astronaut is lost on a mission to Mars. Space agency officials fearful of losing public support and government funding decide to cover up the accident by employing an exact double for the lost astronaut. The ruse begins to unravel when the wife of the lost astronaut realizes she is living with a different man. Although angered by the deception, the woman has fallen in love with the replacement and plans to keep the secret. They both have a change of heart and decide to reveal the secret when they discover a new Mars mission is underway.

Date of release
1972-01-08
TMDB
5.9 / 10 (8)
Runtime
1h 13m
Genres
Drama, TV Movie, Science Fiction
Director
Robert Michael Lewis

Casting

Interesting facts

The Astronaut is a 1972 American made-for-television science fiction film directed by Robert Michael Lewis and starring Susan Clark, Jackie Cooper, and Monte Markham. It follows a man who has been hired to impersonate an astronaut who died during the first crewed mission to Mars. The movie was made for ABC for its movie of the week franchise. Real-life astronaut Wally Schirra appears in a cameo role as himself.

Production

Robert Michael Lewis was hired to direct The Astronaut. Harve Bennett was hired to produce the film. The Astronaut was written by Gerald Di Pego, Charles Kuenstle, and Robert Biheller.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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