Edward McCauley

Edward McCauley is a fictional astronaut featured in the 1959-1960 science fiction television series Men Into Space. He was played by actor William Lundigan and was the central protagonist of the series. Edward McCauley is the only main credited cast member on the show and appeared in all thirty-eight episodes.

Biography
Edward McCauley was an astronaut and a member of the United States Air Force holding the rank of Colonel. He was active in the alternate near-future of the 1970s and was involved with many important space exploration missions for NASA. Edward McCauley was one of the first men to land on the moon and was involved with every major lunar expedition since. Following a number of successful moon-based missions, McCauley was later selected to be part of NASA's first mission to Mars in a space race against the Soviets. This mission failed however as his crew was forced to render emergency aid to their Russian rivals shortly after breaking Earth's orbit, thus scrubbing the mission.