Sally Ride will be played by Kristen Stewart in "The Challenger" (Image credit: Getty Images (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin)) Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Get the Space.com Newsletter Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!
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An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletterThe space-based projects just keep on launching! Kristen Stewart will be buckling up for a simulated voyage into space for her upcoming Prime Video limited series playing Sally Ride, America’s first woman in orbit and a pivotal figure in the government's Challenger Disaster investigation.
The series was first revealed in 2024, but it's taken nearly two years for Amazon to officially greenlight the project. Created by series showrunner/executive producer Maggie Cohn ("The Staircase," "American Crime Story") and directed by James Hawes ("Slow Horses," "Black Mirror"), "The Challenger" is adapted from Meredith E. Bagby's "The New Guys: The Historic Class of Astronauts That Broke Barriers and Changed the Face of Space Travel."
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The 2023 book that this series is based on centered around NASA's barrier-busting 1978 class of astronauts, which included Sally Ride. "'The Challenger' tells the gripping story of one of the most defining moments in space history, both the unprecedented events leading up to the tragedy, and the shocking investigation that followed," states the official Prime Video description.
"As the members of the 1986 Rogers Commission interrogate the complex inner workings of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to find what, or who, was responsible for the Challenger's doomed fate, the show explores Commission member Sally Ride’s (Stewart) personal journey."
On June 18, 1983, Dr. Sally Ride made history as a flight engineer aboard the space shuttle Challenger during the STS-7 mission that deployed a pair of satellites. Her second flight occurred on Oct. 5, 1984, on the STS-41G, where she and the crew conducted Earth observations for eight days. Ride sadly passed away July 23, 2012, at the age of 61, following a battle with a terminal illness.
"Sally Ride's courage and brilliance changed history, and we couldn’t imagine a more powerful actor to bring her story to life than Kristen Stewart," said Peter Friedlander, head of global television for Amazon MGM Studios.
Get the Space.com NewsletterContact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsAnd it just wouldn’t be a 21st-century entertainment project without an entire platoon of additional executive producers.
"The Challenger's" creative roll call also includes Kyra Sedgwick and Valerie Stadler for Big Swing Productions, Kristen Stewart, Dylan Meyer, and Maggie McLean under their Nevermind shingle, and Amblin Television’s Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey.
There's no projected release date for this one yet, but we'll keep you posted.
Watch The Challenger when it launches on Amazon Prime Video:
Amazon Prime: $14.99/month or $139/year Amazon Prime Video: $8.99/month
Ad-free add-on: $2.99/month
Jeff SpryContributing WriterJeff Spry is an award-winning screenwriter and veteran freelance journalist covering TV, movies, video games, books, and comics. His work has appeared at SYFY Wire, Inverse, Collider, Bleeding Cool and elsewhere. Jeff lives in beautiful Bend, Oregon amid the ponderosa pines, classic muscle cars, a crypt of collector horror comics, and two loyal English Setters.
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