Tubegazing: Space Race: The Untold Story

Space Race: The Untold Story (National Geographic Channel, June 4 & 5, 9 p.m. EDT/PDT) America went crazy over outer space back in the 1960s and '70s, as countless movies and TV series have shown us. But few have dug into the years - and personalities - preceding the creation of NASA and the space program. This two-part, four-hour miniseries uses newly available archival footage and research to tell a story that begins in the final days of World War II and ends with Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon. The most interesting details are the personal travails and triumphs of two men with dubious pasts: ex-Nazi Wernher von Braun, who was largely responsible for America's triumphs in space, and Soviet Sergei Korolev, who drove the Russian program. Grade: A