Coming Home from Space: The Challenge of Re-Entry(2003)
The complex engineering challenges that make re-entry into the earth's atmosphere so dangerous. Scientists have labored for years to bring a crew safely home in what is essentially a meteorite, wrapped in a cocoon of fire, hurtling towards earth six times faster than the fastest bullet. Scientific experts from NASA explain the significance of Columbia's events as they unfolded, offer insights into what may have caused them and how those key events contributed to the shuttle’s ultimate destruction.

Movie: Coming Home from Space: The Challenge of Re-Entry
Similar Movies
7.4Apollo 13(en)
The true story of technical troubles that scuttle the Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970, risking the lives of astronaut Jim Lovell and his crew, with the failed journey turning into a thrilling saga of heroism. Drifting more than 200,000 miles from Earth, the astronauts work furiously with the ground crew to avert tragedy.
0.0Apollo 17: Final Footprints On The Moon(en)
The Apollo 17 mission was the final opportunity to collect first hand information about the history and origin of the Moon. This film looks at this historic mission through the eyes of those who participated in it. Including Commander Eugene Cernan, Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, and Command Module Pilot Ron Evans.
6.0Shuttle Discovery's Last Mission(en)
With more than 27 years of service, the space shuttle Discovery has clocked more time in space than any other shuttle. She has flown more than 148 million miles, and has become one of the most storied spacecraft in American history. Join us as we celebrate her remarkable past and follow her final flight: to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. It's an emotionally charged mission full of logistical challenges. Discovery is a robust, but very fragile aircraft, and getting her to D.C. in one piece will require some innovative engineering.
7.2Destiny in Space(en)
Travel alongside the astronauts as they deploy and repair the Hubble Space Telescope, soar above Venus and Mars, and find proof of new planets and the possibility of other life forming around distant stars.
6.5Mission to Mir(en)
This film shows how far we have come since the cold-war days of the 50s and 60s. Back then the Russians were our "enemies". And to them the Americans were their "enemies" who couldn't be trusted. Somewhere in all this a young girl in Oklahoma named Shannon set her sights on becoming one of those space explorers, even though she was told "girls can't do that." But she did.
5.9Blue Planet(en)
From the unique vantage point of 200 miles above Earth's surface, we see how natural forces - volcanoes, earthquakes and hurricanes - affect our world, and how a powerful new force - humankind - has begun to alter the face of the planet. From Amazon rain forests to Serengeti grasslands, Blue Planet inspires a new appreciation of life on Earth, our only home.
10.0Destination: Pluto Beyond the Flyby(en)
The New Horizons team examines the latest findings and imagery from Pluto and the fringes of our solar system revealing a world unlike any other we've seen before.
0.0When We Were Shuttle(en)
Explores the Shuttle Program through the eyes of some of the exceptional men and women who worked behind-the-scenes to make it fly. A unique and intimate portrait of the Shuttle Years, their recollections and personal archives reveal their fondest memories and darkest hours: from the launching and repair of the Hubble Space Telescope and the construction of the International Space Station, to the loss of Shuttles Challenger and Columbia in accidents that were ultimately seen as avoidable, and in many ways served as the impetus for the fleet’s early retirement.
6.4When We Left Earth(en)
Commemorating the space agency's 50th anniversary, follow John Glenn's Mercury mission to orbit the earth, Neil Armstrong's first historic steps on the moon, unprecedented spacewalks to repair the Hubble stories, and more!
7.5Kingdom of Saturn: Cassini's Epic Quest(en)
Before the joint NASA/ESA Cassini-Huygens mission, humanity only knew what had been learned, decades earlier, with the previous limited, rapid "fly-by" Pioneer and Voyager missions. Cassini-Huygens spent more than 13 years in wildly varied orbits around Saturn, allowing the spacecraft to pass near many of its moons, as well as execute a soft-landing of its Huygens lander on the moon Titan. By mission end, it accumulated a mountain of imagery and scientific data that will continue to be studied for years to come. This film is a testament to the amazing efforts of the scientists who planned and executed the mission. It combines breathtaking images, movies, and a variety of animations to take the viewer into Saturn's complex system of rings and moons, as well as stepping viewers through some of the more exciting scientific discoveries made over the course of the elaborately complex mission.
6.7Mars: One Day on the Red Planet(en)
An epic journey around Mars — built from real satellite and rover data — revealing the red planet as you’ve never seen it before.
7.2Apollo 13: Survival(en)
Using original footage and interviews, this documentary tells the nail-biting story of Apollo 13 and the struggle to bring its astronauts safely home.
7.0Touching the Asteroid(en)
Spacecraft OSIRIS-REx attempts to grab a piece of an asteroid to bring back to Earth so scientists can study it to learn about the planet's origins.
4.0The Voyagers(en)
In the summer of 1977, NASA sent Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 on an epic journey into interstellar space. Together and alone, they will travel until the end of the universe. Each spacecraft carries a golden record album, a massive compilation of images and sounds embodying the best of Planet Earth. According to Carl Sagan, “[t]he spacecraft will be encountered and the record played only if there are advanced space-faring civilizations in interstellar space. But the launching of this bottle into the cosmic ocean says something very hopeful about life on this planet.” While working on the golden record, Sagan met and fell madly in love with his future wife Annie Druyan. The record became their love letter to humankind and to each other. In the summer of 2010, I began my own hopeful voyage into the unknown. This film is a love letter to my fellow traveler. - Penny Lane
0.0AzTechSat-1(es)
NASA film documenting the launch and commissioning of AzTechSat-1, a pioneering one-to-one communications satellite in space.
7.5Secrets of Egypt's Lost Queen(en)
Move over, King Tut: There's a new pharaoh on the scene. A team of top archaeologists and forensics experts revisits the story of Hatshepsut, the woman who snatched the throne dressed as a man and declared herself ruler. Despite her long and prosperous reign, her record was all but eradicated from Egyptian history in a mystery that has long puzzled scholars. But with the latest research effort captured in this program, history is about to change.
7.9Apollo 17: The Untold Story of the Last Men on the Moon(en)
The remarkable story of the determination and courage of a generation. A tribute to three brave astronauts and the thousands of men and women behind them during the final days of NASA's Apollo program.
7.0The Wonderful: Stories from the Space Station(en)
In unusual circumstances, scientists from different countries work together to achieve a common scientific goal. Locked in their spinning space lab, they are isolated from the world — family and friends - and can only watch from the outside as life on Earth continues without them. The space station is a monument not only to the weaknesses of humanity, but also to its ability to do the impossible for the sake of life in space.



