Although portions of "Man in Space" are quite dry, this is a pretty amazing installment of Disney's "Wonderful World of Color"...one that actually holds up very well today. And, it was just places on Disney+ today...and it's waiting to be discovered.
The film is not one that really would appeal to many kids...but is more for adults. You would NOT expect this for this show...but there it is. The Disney folks attempt to explain all the requirements needed for manned missions to space as well as what to expect when these would soon occur. What is shocking is how accurate this early look at space was...filled with lots of facts and presenting it in a semi-interesting way. To do this, they use some excellent animations, interviews (one with a war criminal, Wernher von Braun*) and more. Well worth seeing...particularly by students in a physics or astrophysics class.
*Von Braun was the head of the Nazi rocketry program. To build his base in northern Germany, 20,000 slave laborers were killed...either worked to death, starved or worked to death. But, because von Braun't work was so important, folks just casually forgave him for this! Yikes. And, because of this, the Disney film's biggest weakness is the way they gloss over Germany's V-program.