Early astronauts try to solve the mysteries of space travel by capturing a meteor.

Dr. Donald Stanton is director of a secret U.S. government project designed to put the first human into space. After an unmanned test rocket returns to Earth badly damaged by cosmic rays, members of Stanton's team, including scientist Dr. Jane Flynn, discuss ways to create a shield against the rays. Stanton decides to examine how meteors survive as they enter the Earth's atmosphere and requests the Pentagon to do a computer search to select twelve men with highly specialized talents to join the project. A Special Intelligence agent is then assigned to find the men, and he locates the first randomly selected candidate, Dr. Richard Stanton, Stanton's son, in his electronics laboratory and asks him to go to California for a week. The agent next finds Professor Jerry Lockwood conducting a seminar in a university classroom and also invites him. Jerry is somewhat reluctant to go as he is trying to persuade his girl friend, Susan Manners, a photographic model, to marry him. She cannot make up her mind and tells Jerry that she will mail him her answer. Eventually all twelve men are located and taken to a deserted base, the Snake Mountain Proving Ground, where Drs. Flynn, Drayden and Delmar welcome them. The men have been instructed not to discuss their particular specializations with one another and first take an aptitude test and sign waivers. A planted observer then reports to Stanton on each man's reactions and suitability and, almost immediately, three men are dropped. The next day, tests are performed to find the four men most qualified for the project. All must pass a very rigorous session in a centrifuge, which is run at a gravity force of twelve and 135 degrees Fahrenheit to simulate a landing from space. The four men who pass this test, Richard, Jerry, Walter Gordon and Kenneth Wells, then meet with Stanton, who shows them the rocket hull that was almost pounded into dust by cosmic radiation and tells them that they are going to attempt to capture a meteorite in space in order to examine what protects it from disintegration. Naturally, the men are concerned about surviving the mission and Stanton gives them a week to make their decision. Wells quits immediately while Jane gets to know Richard and convinces him to participate. Although Jerry has received news that Susan has rejected him, he decides to go along with Walter and Richard. As a swarm of meteorites will be passing Earth's orbit in two week's time, the team scurries to get ready and three rocketships are prepared with scoops built into their nose cones to catch the meteorites. After the meteors' route has been pinpointed by Palomar Observatory, the men board the rocketships and take off. Walter is the first to encounter a meteorite and, after manually adjusting his speed, opens the scoop to catch it, but it proves too large and destroys the ship. Jerry then panics and, imagining that he is back flying in the war, removes his helmet to bail out, accidentally activates the full power of the rocket and disappears into outer space. The mission fails as the meteor swarm passes, so Stanton and Jane prepare to bring Richard back to Earth. However, Richard spots a stray meteor and, disobeying his father's orders, decides to try to catch it, even though he will severely deplete the rocket's fuel. Richard succeeds in catching the meteor, then opens the rocket's gliding wings and hurtles out of control through space until, at four thousand feet, he regains control and lands safely in the desert. After Richard reunites with his father and Jane, who embraces him, they examine the meteor and find that it is covered by crystallized pure carbon. By utilizing this substance on rockets and space stations, they declare, America will continue to advance into space.