Capricorn One

Capricorn One is a 1977 government conspiracy thriller film about a Mars landing hoax. It was written and directed by Peter Hyams and produced by Lew Grades ITC Entertainment. It stars Elliott Gould with James Brolin, Sam Waterston and O. J. Simpson as the astronauts.

Minutes before launch, the bewildered crew of Air Force Colonel Charles Brubaker James Brolin, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Peter Willis Sam Waterston, and Navy Commander John Walker O. J. Simpson are removed from Capricorn One and flown to an abandoned United States Army Air Force desert base. The launch proceeds on schedule, but the public is unaware that the spacecraft is empty. At the base, the astronauts are informed they will help counterfeit the television footage during the flight to and from Mars, and that it is their patriotic duty to participate for the sake of national morale and prestige. Initially they refuse to go through with the hoax, but Kelloway, himself under extreme duress from whom, what, or where is never clearly specified, threatens their families if they do not cooperate, claiming a bomb will explode on a plane carrying the family members.The astronauts remain in captivity during the flight and are filmed landing on Mars within a studio located at the base. The conspiracy is known to only a few officials, until alert technician Elliot Whitter Robert Walden notices that ground control receives the crews television transmissions before the spacecraft telemetry arrives. Whitter mysteriously disappears before he can finish sharing his concerns with journalist friend Robert Caulfield Elliott Gould. Caulfield discovers that all evidence of his friends life has been erased and begins investigating the mission, surviving several attacks on himself and his reputation. ........

Source: Wikipedia