Tom Corbett, Space Cadet TV episode about a moon tunnel

Question

Trying to identify an episode of Tom Corbett, Space Cadet (1950-1955) in which Tom, Roger, Astro, and Dr. Dale walk through a subterranean tunnel under a moon.

In a September 1952 issue of Popular Science magazine, director George Gould shows a cutaway model that simulates shafts and tunnels beneath the moon's surface, where the cadets and doctor can be seen on a black-draped set used to create a visual effect.

Given that Gould only directed seven episodes and actress Margaret Garland (Dr. Dale) only acted in eight (unlike Thomas, Markim, and Merlin, who made over 60), I watched some episodes from 1950 to 1952 in which Gould and Garland both participated, but in none of them the cadets and Dr. Dale wore white jumpsuits but their well-known darker grey cadet coveralls with yokes and gauntlets, or the padded long-sleeve jumpsuit with padded rings and a helmet worn when exploring the surface of inhospitable planets. By the way, if they're on the moon and have descended from the cabin on the surface, they should be wearing a jumpsuit and a helmet.

One of the episodes, related to the moon, that I couldn't find was 'The Moon Ray' (unknown date), in which Gould and Garland appeared. The Moon Ray synopsis as follows:

"The crew of the Polaris are ordered to investigate a deadly ray that is melting buildings and killing citizens on Earth. They trace the source to Luna, a uninhabitable planetoid and embark on a search of the moon's surface to locate the weapon. Astro and Roger Manning find nothing but rock, sand, more rock and more sand, but Captain Strong and Dr. Dale fail to return to the ship. Worse, Dr. Dale's communicator has ceased to function."

If our heroes can't find anything on the moon's surface, something must be beneath it, so 'The Moon Ray' could be the episode I'm looking for, but I can't find any legitimate photos or footage of it.

Also, I did search about the white jumpsuits and found them in an auction. They really look alike (notice the pockets).

Link to some Tom Corbett uniforms

Answer 1

Alan Morton's book The Golden Age of Telefantasy has a complete episode guide based on research from television listings of the time, some of the serialized stories have synopses but no known titles. I found one from a 9-episode serial starting November 26 1951 which has a synopsis that makes it a plausible candidate:

When she takes the cadets on an inspection tour of the moonbase, Dr. Dale becomes the first woman to be given a command of her own. On the moon they face death from freezing 1000 feet below the lunar surface when a meteor penetrates an airlock.

The director is listed as "unknown", so it could have been Gould--the guide only lists a known director for 18 of the 31 serialized stories, and all were directed by Gould, he might have been the only director before they switched to standalone half-hour episodes.

I don't think the images are from the 1950 serial "The Moon Ray" since I've found copies of 4 of the 8 episodes from that serial, and most of the episodes from the three serials that preceded it, and none featured that kind of special effects shots where the actors were superimposed on a miniature background, so I think the technique was developed later in the show's history. I've also seen a few episodes from the serial "Operation Starlight" that aired starting on October 15 1951, shortly before the untitled one with the quoted synopsis above, and it did feature these sorts of special effects shots, as well as white-looking jumpsuits that look like the ones in the magazine photo, worn while they were exploring the surface of a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri:

Incidentally, "Operation Starlight" is almost certainly the episode they refer to in the article when they discuss using this special effects technique to have the cast interact with dinosaurs, since it was a premise of that story that the planet in the Alpha Centauri system mirrored an earlier stage of Earth's history, and one episode I saw featured the crew walking around a big Brontosaurus that they had knocked unconscious with their paralo-ray guns. So it would make sense that the pictures of the crew in a tunnel under the moon's surface would be from another story that aired around the same time.