Paul Hildebrandt

In 1962, spurred by the Cold War, President John F. Kennedy famously made the bold proclamation that NASA would send astronauts to the moon by the end of the decade, not because it was easy, but because it was a challenge. The Space Race inspired a generation to pursue careers in science and technology, but as the balance of world power shifted, interest in space exploration declined. "Fight for Space" serves as an urgent call to re-awaken our sense of wonder and discovery.

When the world was in turmoil, three men went faster and farther than anyone thought possible. This is the story of the first people to leave the Earth and travel to the Moon — this is Apollo 8. Through restored archival films and audio, Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders tell you in their own words how their three different stories got them into the same tiny capsule pointed at the Moon — and what happened next.

Walter Gruber once belonged to a group of unscrupulous, money-grubbing poachers. Now released from prison, he is determined never to touch a gun again. He was imprisoned for poaching, but they couldn't prove he fired the shot that wounded forester Kuhnert. Upon his return home, Walter is horrified to discover that his former lover, Kuhnert's daughter Grete, has since married someone else. Grete still loves Walter, with whom she was pregnant. But her father would have made life a living hell for her and the child had she not married another man. This man, Robert Thiele, is still poaching and is extremely ruthless in his methods. Robert eventually blackmails Walter into rejoining the poachers. When the gang shoots the old forester Kuhnert, Robert shifts suspicion onto Walter.

Sabine Senden is desperate – she's hopelessly in love with Willi Ulbrich, her mother's lodger. The only problem is, her mother doesn't like the man at all. She even wants to sue him for defamation, since he allegedly called her a "hooded crow" after he and his friends partied all night and kept her awake. Without telling her mother anything, Sabine and Willi secretly marry before the lengthy legal proceedings are even over. Of course, Sabine can't possibly introduce her husband to her mother; so she simply presents Erich, her friend Ulla's fiancé, as her husband.