12 to the Moon

(12 to the Moon)

A crew of 12 astronauts is selected to tempt humanity's first expedition to the Moon, in order to transform it into a new international territory that has to avoid conflicts between nations. While the general secretary of the International Space Order addresses the world, the historical takeoff is realized. Things unfold suitably and the physician of the crew, the Doctor Selim Hamid and his assistant, Sigrid Bromark, confirm the good health of the members.

However, tensions climb rapidly between an Israeli of Polish origin (David Ruskin) and a Russian (Doctor Feodor Orloff) whose country has contributed more to the mission. The crew has to face its first challenge when arrives during a meteorite storm. The brilliant and young mathematician Rod Murdock must calculate an escape manoeuver. Finally, the first international rocket, Lunar Eagle N°1, performs a flawless landing on the moon.

Leaving the engineer Etienne Martel onboard, the rest of the crew ventures out of the ship. After planting a flag in honor of the whole world, the team disperses and explores accordingly. Hamid and Bromark leave togather in search of anatmospheric traces or signs of life. Both find a cave in which their equipment indicate the presence of oxygen.

Orloff begins to gather minerals. Some are known like gold, while others are unknown. During further explorations, the crew explodes a stone wall using a small atomic bomb. But the explosion causes a strange fluid to flow from the newly opened crevice. Orloff is severely burnt when he puts his hands over it. Hideko Murata has to bring him back to the ship.

The others, who are running short of oxygen, worry for Hamid and Bromark, who have not returned. They follow their steps up to the cave, but a wall of ice prevents them from going further. During his return to the ship, the British Geophysician, Sir William Rochester, dies in a strange quicksand. Back on board, the leader of the crew John Anderson, tries to contact the Earth, but transmission is impossible.

Suddenly, a strange series of symbols appear on the screen of the spaceship computer. Hideko translates them, and the crew is surprised to learn that the moon is inhabited, and that its residents are carrying a warning message for earthlings...