TheAmericansandRussianseachhaveatwo-personbaseontheMoonTheAmericanshavehadtokeepreplacingtheirastronautteamsbecausetheyquicklygocrazy;theyhavebeenusingonlymaleastronautsontheunspokenassumptionthatthiswouldavoidanypossibilityofimpropriety.TheRussians,asgodlessCommunists,areundernosuchconstraints,andtheirmale-femaleteamhasremainedwell-adjustedAtthestartofthefilm,amaleandfemaleAmericanastronautteamissentuptoreplacethesex-starvedall-maleteam.Thegovernmentinsistsonthembeingmarriedfirsttopreservemorality.Mostofthestoryrevolvesaroundtheeventualconsummationofthismarriageofconvenience,andaroundtheirrelationshipwiththeirRussianneighbors,whokeepcasuallydroppingby.