Liftoff Videos

Every mission, with the videos that tell it

NASA

NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is the United States government’s civil space agency. Established in 1958 during the Space Race, it took over from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics and is based in Washington, D.C., with ten field centres. It ran Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the Apollo program, Skylab, the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station, and now leads the Artemis program. Its robotic work includes the Mars rovers Curiosity and Perseverance and the Voyager, Cassini and New Horizons probes. It also runs the Deep Space Network.

Events

Videos on this topic

The videos, in date order

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  1. TIROS 1: The First Weather Satellite and Its Fuzzy First Images

    Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

  2. Crew-12 Pre-Departure Briefing: Spacewalks, Science and Going Home

    NASA

  3. Progress 96 Launch: Soyuz 2.1b Sends 2.8 Tons to the ISS

    NASA

  4. Progress 96 Docks to Poisk After a 3-Day, 49-Orbit Chase

    NASA

  5. Starliner 1 and 2: NASA and Boeing Detail Fixes and 2028 Crew Flight

    NASA

  6. Crew-13 Prelaunch Briefing: Dragon Valve Repair and a Fast ISS Trip

    NASA

  7. Crew-13 Postlaunch Briefing: Record Dragon Docking Pace to ISS

    NASA

  8. Crew-13 Launch Countdown: Dragon Grace Readies for the ISS

    NASA

  9. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 Arrival & Welcome Remarks

    NASA

  10. Crew-12 Farewell: Jessica Meir Hands ISS Command to Dubrov

    NASA

  11. Crew-12 Leaves the ISS: Dragon Freedom Undocking and Departure

    NASA

  12. Crew-12 Leaves the ISS: Hatch Closure Aboard Dragon Freedom

    NASA

  13. Crew-12 Leaves the ISS: Dragon Freedom Undocking Step by Step

    European Space Agency, ESA

  14. Crew-12 Hatch Closure: Dragon Freedom Readies to Leave the ISS

    European Space Agency, ESA

  15. Starship Flight 14 Reaches Orbit and Three Falcons Fly in One Day

    Scott Manley

  16. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 Re-Entry & Splashdown

    NASA

  17. Crew-12 Return: Dragon Freedom Splashdown Off Los Angeles

    European Space Agency, ESA

  18. Five Space Artifacts Adam Savage Identifies at the Air

    Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

  19. Cygnus XL Departs the ISS: Release, Burn and Re-entry Plan

    NASA

  20. CRS-35: Falcon 9 Launches Dragon With Final Two ISS Solar Arrays

    NASA

  21. CRS-35: Falcon 9 Launches Cargo Dragon With Final IROSA Arrays

    NASASpaceflight

  22. Crew-12 Crew Look Back on 237 Days Aboard the ISS

    NASA

  23. SpaceX CRS-35 Dragon Docks at the ISS Harmony Zenith Port

    NASA

  24. Roman Space Telescope: Falcon Heavy Launch and Path to L2

    NASASpaceflight

  25. ISS iROSA Spacewalks 100 and 101: Final Solar Array Installs

    NASA

  26. NASA Moon Base Rovers: VIPER, Pegasus and the Crewed Lunar Vehicle

    NASA

  27. Artemis 3 Update: Rocket Progress, Landers and the 2028 Plan

    NASA

  28. Deep Space Updates: MMX to Phobos, Crew-12 Return, Neutron Delay

    Scott Manley

  29. US Spacewalk 100: Installing the Seventh ISS Roll-Out Solar Array

    NASA

  30. Artemis III: Orion Docks With Blue Moon and Starship in Orbit

    The Space Race

  31. Four Satellites That Came Back: LES-1, AO-7, IMAGE and BeeSat 1

    Scott Manley

  32. Starship’s 33 Raptor Engines: Four Reasons Behind Super Heavy

    Celebrity Files

  33. Apollo 13: The Oxygen Tank Failure and the Lunar Module Lifeboat

    Deep Orbit Stories

  34. Challenger STS-51-L: O-Ring Failure, Cold Launch and Return to Flight

    FilmRise Television

  35. Challenger STS-51-L: The Night Engineers Said Don’t Launch

    Margin of Loss

  36. Voyager 1 Nears One Light-Day: Thrusters, Power and the Big Bang

    Googol Space

  37. Artemis 3 Becomes an Earth-Orbit Rehearsal for Moon Landers

    Cosmic Enigma

  38. Why Starship’s Heat Shield Uses Hexagonal Tiles and Full Reuse

    Farzad

  39. Challenger: the O-Ring Chart and the Launch-Eve Teleconference

    Failure Point for You

  40. Challenger STS-51-L: The Seals, the Cold and 73 Seconds

    Horror Archive

  41. Apollo 13: The Dropped Tank and Switches Behind the Explosion

    Truth and Proof

  42. Voyager 1 Pale Blue Dot: Why the Cameras Looked Back in 1990

    Anaxa

  43. Challenger’s Wreckage: Why NASA Sealed It in Missile Silos

    Rocketyard

  44. Challenger: How Thiokol’s Engineers Were Overruled the Night Before

    Hubris Engine

  45. Curiosity at 14: Keeping a Mars Rover Running by Remote Control

    Modern Mechanisms

  46. Challenger STS-51-L: O-Ring Warnings, Cabin Evidence, Rogers Findings

    Hidden Timeline

  47. Columbia STS-107: Five Failures Behind the Foam Strike on the Wing

    Holes Aligned

  48. Challenger STS-51-L: O-Rings, Cold and the Overruled Warning

    Cindermap

  49. Voyager 1 Reaches One Light-Day: Power, Memory and the Golden Record

    NumberShock

  50. How the Sky Crane Landed Curiosity on Mars in Seven Minutes

    Future Systems Explained

  51. Apollo 13: How a Thermostat Error Led to the Oxygen Tank Blast

    The Last Link

  52. Apollo 13: How an Oxygen Tank Failure Nearly Stranded Three Men

    Gloamhall

  53. Apollo 13: How Aquarius and a Makeshift CO2 Adapter Saved the Crew

    nelii

  54. Six Mars Rovers Compared: Landings, Discoveries and Distances

    Cardsplained

  55. Voyager 1 and 2: Planetary Tour to One Light-Day From Earth

    Deep Orbit Stories

  56. Challenger STS-51-L: The Cold O-Ring and the Launch Call

    Matter & Empire

  57. Apollo 13: The Tank Flaw and Crew’s Lifeboat Return

    The Third Eye English

  58. Challenger STS-51-L: The O-Ring Warning and the 73-Second Flight

    CliphangerEntertainment

  59. Space Shuttle Story in a Card Box: Enterprise, Challenger, Columbia

    The Record Institute

  60. Voyager 1: How It Proved It Had Reached Interstellar Space

    Oruvi
Play video: Voyager 1: How It Proved It Had Reached Interstellar Space

Voyager 1: How It Proved It Had Reached Interstellar Space

Oruvi

Duration 7:46

Watch video

Dates are when each video was first published on YouTube.

All the videos

  1. Apollo 13: How the Lunar Module Became a Lifeboat After the Blast

    DocumentaryThe Vintage Space · 2:20:56

    Mission: Apollo 13 (1970)

  2. Apollo 13: How the Crew Got Home in a Lunar Module Lifeboat

    DocumentaryNaked Science · 46:48

    Mission: Apollo 13 (1970)

  3. Challenger 51-L: From Teacher in Space to the Loss of Seven Crew

    DocumentaryNational Geographic · 44:24

    Mission: Challenger STS-51-L (1986)

  4. Curiosity’s Mars Landing: Sky Crane, Touchdown and First Images

    Launch coverageNASA · 9:23

    Mission: Curiosity

  5. Perseverance: Inside JPL Before the Seven Minutes of Terror

    Mission explainerMark Rober · 15:58

    Mission: Perseverance

  6. Webb Telescope Launch and Deployment Sequence on Ariane 5

    Mission explainerNorthrop Grumman · 12:03

    Mission: James Webb Space Telescope (2021)

  7. Hubble Servicing Mission 1: Endeavour’s Repair of a Flawed Mirror

    Mission explainerNASA Goddard · 5:16

    Mission: Hubble Servicing Mission 1 (1993)

  8. Hubble Space Telescope: The Flawed Mirror and Costar Repair

    DocumentaryDCODE by Discovery · 18:33

    Mission: Hubble Space Telescope

  10. Challenger STS-51L: How Cold O-Rings Led to the 1986 Disaster

    DocumentaryMr. Beat · 6:57

    Mission: Challenger STS-51-L (1986)

  11. How the ISS Works: Air, Cooling, Power and Debris Defence

    DocumentaryNational Geographic · 44:25

  12. Columbia Disaster: How ABC News Reported the Shuttle’s Loss

    ABC News · 3:39

    Mission: Columbia STS-107 (2003)

  13. Apollo 1: How a Pure Oxygen Cabin Fire Killed Three Astronauts

    DocumentaryBBC Earth Science · 4:09

    Mission: Apollo 1 (1967)

  14. Cassini’s Grand Finale: Final Dive Into Saturn After 20 Years

    DocumentaryThe New York Times · 4:55

    Mission: Cassini

  15. Challenger 1986: O-Ring Failure and the Loss of Seven Astronauts

    DocumentaryNational Geographic UK · 2:08

    Mission: Challenger STS-51-L (1986)

  16. Perseverance: Seven Minutes From Mars Atmosphere to Touchdown

    Mission explainerNASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory · 3:11

    Mission: Perseverance

  17. Perseverance’s Mars Landing: Descent Callouts From 12 km Up

    Mission explainerBBC News · 3:26

    Mission: Perseverance

  18. New Horizons at Pluto: Heart, Mountains and 20 Haze Layers

    Mission explainerAstrum · 13:44

    Mission: New Horizons

  19. Columbia STS-107: Foam Impact Test Blows Hole in Wing Panel

    Press briefingAP Archive · 2:36

    Mission: Columbia STS-107 (2003)

  20. Cassini’s Grand Finale: 22 Dives Between Saturn and Its Rings

    Mission explainerNASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory · 3:40

    Mission: Cassini

  21. Apollo 11: From Sputnik to the First Landing in the Sea of Tranquility

    DocumentaryProgress – Science Documentaries · 1:24:22

    Mission: Apollo 11 (1969)

  22. Apollo 13: How NASA Used the Lunar Module as a Lifeboat

    DocumentarySpark · 1:43:59

    Mission: Apollo 13 (1970)

  23. Apollo 13: How a Wrecked Spacecraft Brought Its Crew Home

    DocumentaryRoberto Mastri · 40:06

    Mission: Apollo 13 (1970)

  24. Apollo 13: Oxygen Tank Rupture and the Lunar Module Lifeboat

    DocumentaryFree Documentary – History · 52:10

    Mission: Apollo 13 (1970)

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