Nosy Grippians eavesdrop on Stocker and Diana.
The Control Voice: In Man's conquest of space, his own moon must be the first to surrender. From there he will step his way across the heavens to the edge of infinity. Each step will be as uncertain as the last, yet each will bring him closer to ultimate truth. Lunar Expedition One: Here a handful of brave scientists and technicians pave the way to the future. Their mission: to collect information that will eventually enable Man to inhabit the Moon; to use the Moon as a springboard to the stars. Once during each twenty-four-hour period, a force of three, commanded by General Lee Stocker and including Lieutenant Travers and Major Clint Anderson, makes its slow, uncharted way across the lunar surface, a surface whose depths and desires are, as yet, unprobed…
Plant-like aliens threaten to terrorize a lunar base unless they surrender the sphere containing refugees from their tyrannical government.
The Control Voice: The steps Man takes across the heavens of his universe are as uncertain as those steps he takes across the rooms of his own life. And yet if he walks with an open mind, those steps must lead him eventually to that most perfect of all destinations, truth.
"The mind earns by doing, the heart earns by troping":
- Bittersweet Ending: The good Grippians do a Heroic Suicide so their pursuers will go away and leave the surviving humans alone.
- My Greatest Failure: During his service in Korea, an entire village was destroyed on Stocker's watch. He can't stop blaming himself for it, and neither can Anderson — until the tragic encounter with the Grippians causes Anderson to realize that Stocker was equally helpless in both situations.
- One-Word Title
- Plant Aliens: The anenome-like Grippians.
- The Resenter: Anderson blames Stocker for the destruction of the Korean village.
- Returning War Vet: Part of the humans' Back Story is that Stocker and Anderson served together in The Korean War.
- Token Minority: Lt. Ernie Travers (Hari Rhodes), one of the very first African-American astronauts in television history. (Lt. Willowmore from "Nightmare" got there first.)
