of an electronic musical instrument in a science fiction film. The theremin would later become strongly identified with the genre in the years to come. During the film's post-production, Grofé's score was conducted by film and TV composer/arranger Albert Glasser. Later on, the soundtrack would have its first release in 1977 on LP (runtime 37:16) from Starlog Records (SR-1000). The album contains a bonus track not used in the film. The CD version of the soundtrack was released in 2012 and was produced by Monstrous Movie Music (MMM-1965) in an edition limited to 1000 copies. The CD's 16-page illustrated booklet contains extensive information about the film score, which includes pages from Grofé's original hand-written score and photos related to the film production. 1: Main Title (1:21) 2: Good Luck (1:53) 3: Stand by to Turn (:50) 4: The Motors Conk Out (2:55) 5: Palomar Observatory (1:11) 6: Floyd Whispers (1:57) 7: Floyd and Lisa at Window (2:56) 8: We See Mars (2:06) 9: The Landing on Mars (3:17) 10: The Ruins (3:10) 11: I Saw the Martians (1:02) 12: The Atomic Age to Stone Age/The Chase (4:59) 13: The Tanks Are Empty (3:37) 14: The Crash (3:22) 15: End Title (:59) Bonus Track: 16: Noodling on the Theremin (1:35) Production Because production issues had delayed the release of George Pal's high-profile Destination Moon, Rocketship X-M was quickly shot in just 18 days on a $94,000 budget; it was then rushed into theaters 25 days before the Pal film, while taking full advantage of Destination Moons high-profile national publicity. Given the film's minimal special effects budget and limited shooting days, the surface of Mars was much easier to simulate using remote Southern California locations than creating the airless and cratered surface of the Moon. The location where the crew exits the spacecraft and begins to explore is Zabriskie Point in Death Valley National Park. The film's original 1950 theatrical release prints had all Mars scenes tinted a pinkish-sepia color. All other scenes are in black-and-white. The RX-M's design was taken from rocket illustrations that appeared in an article in the January 17, 1949 issue of Life magazine. The interior structure of the spaceship's larger second stage is shown as having a long ladder that the crew must climb; it runs "up" through the RX-M's fuel compartment, which has on all sides a series of narrow fuel tanks filled with various propulsion