Liftoff Videos
Every mission, with the videos that tell it
Every mission we cover, by year.
Mission: 1986Published: 4 Nov 2025
STS-51-L, the 25th Space Shuttle mission, lifted off on January 28, 1986 in record cold, and Challenger was destroyed 73 seconds later, killing all seven crew members.
Mission: 1986Published: 27 Sep 2025
Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after launch on January 28, 1986, and all seven astronauts died.
Mission: 2003Published: 8 Aug 2025
A documentary on the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia on 1 February 2003, which killed all seven crew members on re-entry.
Published: 12 Jul 2025
A long-form history of the International Space Station, from early station proposals and Space Station Freedom through the Shuttle-era assembly, Expeditions, the Columbia pause, commercial cargo and…
Published: 23 May 2025
A design-focused look at the Mir space station, covering its modules, their origins in Salyut, TKS and Buran hardware, and Galina Balashova's interior design.
Mission: 1986Published: 3 Apr 2025
A short National Geographic UK segment recounts the Challenger accident of January 28th, 1986.
Published: 26 Mar 2025
The B1M explains how the International Space Station was built from Zarya in 1998 onward and why it is planned to be brought down in 2030 by a specially modified SpaceX Dragon, ending in the ocean…
Mission: 1986Published: 25 Jan 2025
A National Geographic special built from archival news reports and NASA footage follows Christa McAuliffe's selection as the first Teacher in Space, the crew's training, and the launch of Challenger…
Published: 17 Nov 2024
A look at the history of solid rocket motors and the Aerojet AJ260, a 260-inch motor built in the 1960s as a possible backup to the F-1 engine on the Saturn V.
Published: 14 Oct 2024
A history of the Mir space station from its 1986 core module launch on a Proton rocket to its 2001 deorbit.
Mission: 1998Published: 7 May 2024
A DW documentary on the International Space Station, whose first module, Zarya, was launched on a Proton rocket on 20 November 1998.
Published: 11 Feb 2024
A National Geographic Superstructures episode that takes the International Space Station apart system by system.
Mission: 2003Published: 1 Feb 2024
ABC News' Feb. 1, 2003 broadcast reported that Space Shuttle Columbia broke up on re-entry, killing all seven astronauts, about 16 minutes from home.
Published: 22 Nov 2023
An animated explainer on how the International Space Station was assembled in its early stages using the Space Shuttle and the Canadarm robotic arm.
Mission: 1986Published: 30 Sep 2023
Challenger lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on January 28, 1986 and broke apart 73 seconds into flight.
Mission: 1986Published: 24 Jul 2023
A minute-by-minute account of Challenger mission STS-51-L, which launched on January 28, 1986 and broke apart 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven crew.
Mission: 1986Published: 17 Apr 2022
The video recounts the Challenger launch, in which a flame from a solid rocket booster appeared 73 seconds after liftoff and the vehicle came apart.
Mission: 1986Published: 1 Nov 2021
A history of the Mir space station, whose core module launched on a Proton-K from Baikonur on 19 February 1986.
Mission: 1993Published: 31 Oct 2021
A documentary on the first Hubble servicing mission, flown on Space Shuttle Endeavour, which set out to correct the telescope's flawed mirror and replace failing hardware.
Mission: 2003Published: 22 Oct 2021
A retrospective on the loss of space shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003, during reentry after a roughly two-week science mission, which killed all seven crew members.
Published: 23 Jun 2021
A documentary-style account of the Mir space station, from its 1986 core module launch to the troubled year 1997.
Published: 11 May 2021
Servicing Mission 4 was the fifth and final servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Published: 24 Apr 2021
Space Shuttle Discovery launched the Hubble telescope on 24 April 1990, but its 2.5 meter main mirror had a small flaw that made images blurry.
Published: 1 Mar 2021
NASA's Servicing Mission 3B, flown on space shuttle Columbia as STS-109, was the fourth visit to the Hubble Space Telescope and lasted 12 days with five spacewalks.
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