Winner of the Oscar for best special visual effects, this astute blend of science fact and fiction eerily anticipated the kind of lost-in-space crisis that would actually occur during the Apollo 13 mission just one year later. Gene Hackman, Richard Crenna and James Franciscus successfully combine public confidence with private misgivings as the stranded crew, while Gregory Peck heads the Nasa operation with typical reserve. Director John Sturges makes the most of his space hardware but never gets the domestic drama off the ground, with Lee Grant and the other wives being reduced to mere cardboard cut-outs.

After spending several months in an orbiting lab, three astronauts prepare to return to Earth only to find their de-orbit thrusters won't activate. After initially thinking they might have to abandon them in orbit, NASA decides to launch a daring rescue. Their plans are complicated by a hurricane headed towards the launch site—and a shrinking air supply in the astronauts' capsule.