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WITH THEIR EYES ON THE STARS NASA MERCURY ASTRONAUTS & X-15 ROCKET PLANE 88774

2,675 views · Published 16 June 2016 · 21:54 · Indexed 6 November 2026

Channel: PeriscopeFilm · 2016 · Education

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Sponsored by North American Aviation, "With Their Eyes on the Stars" shows NASA's manned space program with a focus on Project Mercury and Gemini, and footage of the start of the Apollo Program. Filmed in beautiful Technicolor, this lavish studio-produced film starts with a long prologue about the birth of the United States and its history, including footage of Spanish forts and missions, a steam locomotive pounding across the frontier, a steam boat on the Mississippi, cowboys, and more iconic American images. 

The film also shows the X-15 rocket plane at 9:00, and John Glenn's historic flight starting at about 12 minutes.

The film is set to a song sung by the Ridgerunners, "Eyes on the Stars".  The Ridgerunners, who perform the music score for this film, later became "We Five" and recorded the hit single "You Were On My Mind." Two uncredited musicians who also participated in the score were John Phillips (later formed "The Mamas & The Papas") and his close friend and musical associate Scott McKenzie (best known for his hit "San Francisco").

Motion picture films don't last forever; many have already been lost or destroyed. We collect, scan and preserve 35mm, 16mm and 8mm movies -- including home movies, industrial films, and other non-fiction. If you have films you'd like to have scanned or donate to Periscope Film, we'd love to hear from you. Contact us via the link below.


This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com

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