Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight

Columbia was the first Space Shuttle to launch and redefined space travel - it took off like a rocket, landed like a plane, and was reusable - making the dream of routine space flight a tangible reality. Across four episodes, the story of the ticking-clock of Columbia's final mission is told in dramatic detail, beginning months before the troubled launch, unfolding across the sixteen days in orbit, and concluding with the investigation into the tragic loss of the seven astronauts' lives. Weaving together intimate footage shot by the astronauts themselves inside the orbiter, exclusive first-hand testimony from family members of the Shuttle's crew, key players at NASA - some of whom have never spoken before - and journalists who covered the story on the ground, the series paints an intimate portrait of the women and men onboard and uncovers in forensic detail the trail of events and missed opportunities that ultimately led to disaster.