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Space Cadet
Briefing:

Tom Corbett

	Space Academy USA--in the world beyond tomorrow! 2350 AD! Here Space Cadets train for duty on distant planets... in roaring rockets, they blast through the millions of miles from earth to far-flung stars, and brave the dangers of cosmic frontiers! Protecting the liberty of the planets, safeguarding the cause of Universal Peace, in the Age of the Conquest of Space!
	Here, Roger Manning (Jan Merlin), Tom Corbett (Frankie Thomas), and Astro (Al Markim), are clearly ready for anything. But, in this show, the heroes were teenagers just like the viewers, and they had to go to class regularly! The classes were tough, with Astro tending to make the lowest grades and threatening to flunk himself and his unit mates out of the Academy. (Each unit received a grade that was the average of the grades of the three cadets in the unit.)
	In this posed picture, sarcastic cadet Roger Manning seems to be trying to help the backward Astro (seated), but on the show he did everything he could to make life miserable for both Astro and Tom Corbett. The situation got so bad that Captain Strong (Edward Bryce) and Commander Arkwright (Carter Blake) got a special tutor for Astro, while Tom Corbett challenged Roger to a grudge boxing match and cleaned his clock!
	What the well-dressed space cadet wore in dress uniform. On the belt were a radio transceiver (black box with dial) and a small telescope (silver tube), plus pouches that held whatever the scriptwriter decided the cadets needed in a given situation. For trips on the rocket cruiser Polaris, the cadets shed their uniforms and donned space fatigues, coveralls almost identical to those worn by modern astronauts, but with a snazzy neck-scarf and a hank of rope at the belt.
	Professor Doctor Joan Dale (Margaret Garland) the great astrophysicist, about the only faculty member we ever saw at Space Academy, has taken the cadets on a field trip to an asteroid mine. Here Astro, Roger, Tom and Dr. Dale pose in special white versions of space fatigues, against a black backdrop. Their images will be electronically matted into a cutaway view of the asteroid mine, in a video technique devised especially for the program.
	The mine as seen on TV. The mine tunnel miniature appears to have been constructed of toilet paper tubes, but various props in the tunnels are actually on-set with the cadets and Dr. Dale, so they can pass behind them or interact with them.
	In the CBS-ABC run of the show, the control deck of the Polaris was very roomy, and could hold the three cadets, Dr. Dale, Captain Strong and a guest performer or two with no crowding. When the show moved to poverty-stricken DuMont, the control deck shrunk until it was crowded with even two men at the controls! Here Frankie Thomas pulls some levers, about the only controls the DuMont set had, while displaying his nifty space binoculars. Did you have your own pair?
	Click here for the Space Hero Files entry on Tom Corbett, Space Cadet. Click here for more Tom Corbett! Tom Corbett himself has the answers to your frequently-asked questions, cadets. Just click here! For more information about Margaret (Dr. Dale) Garland, click here. For more information on Frankie Thomas and Jan Merlin, click here. For an exclusive interview with Frankie Thomas on his early days in pioneering New York TV, 1948-50, click here. Kinescopes of the first 3 serials from 1950 can be viewed here. Click here for more on the Tom Corbett, Space Cadet comics, circa 1951-55.