Best movies like Challenger

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Challenger Starring Karen Allen, Barry Bostwick, Julie Fulton, Richard Jenkins, and more. If you liked Challenger then you may also like: The Wild Blue Yonder, Red Planet, RocketMan, Apollo 13, Battle for Terra and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

movie

A profile of the astronauts, crew, and civilians who were involved in the January 28, 1986 flight of the spaceship, Challenger, that resulted in its explosion upon takeoff. The center point of the film is the safety inspections and arguments surrounding the use of the o-rings that ultimately were blamed for the explosion.

selected filters: Sort: Default

You may filter the list of movies on this page for a more refined, personalized selection of movies.

Still not sure what to watch click the recommend buttun below to get a movie recommendation selected from all the movies on this list

Know any good movies to watch like Challenger 1990. With a similar plot or stoyline. Suggest it.

The Wild Blue Yonder

An alien narrates the story of his dying planet, his and his people's visitations to Earth and Earth's self-made demise, while human astronauts in space are attempting to find an alternate planet for surviving humans to live on.

Red Planet

Astronauts search for solutions to save a dying Earth by searching on Mars, only to have the mission go terribly awry.

RocketMan

Fred Z. Randall is geeky and obnoxious spacecraft designer, who gets the chance to make his dream come true and travel to Mars as a member of the first manned flight there.

Apollo 13

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.

Battle for Terra

A peaceful alien planet faces annihilation, as the homeless remainder of the human race sets its eyes on Terra. Mala, a rebellious Terrian teenager, will do everything she can to stop it.

The Challenger

When the space shuttle Challenger blew up in 1986, it was the most shocking event in the history of American spaceflight. The deaths of seven astronauts, including the first teacher in space Christa McAuliffe, were watched live on television by millions of viewers. But what was more shocking was that the cause of the disaster might never be uncovered. The Challenger is the story of how Richard Feynman, one of America's most famous scientists, helped to discover the cause of a tragedy that stunned America.

Countdown

Desperate to land a man on the moon before Russia does, NASA hastily preps a would-be spaceman for a mission that would leave him alone in a lunar shelter for a year.

Interstellar

The adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.

The Martian

During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.

First Man

A look at the life of the astronaut, Neil Armstrong, and the legendary space mission that led him to become the first man to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969.

Beneath

A crew of coal miners becomes trapped 600 feet below ground after a disastrous collapse. As the air grows more toxic and time runs out, they slowly descend into madness and begin to turn on one another. Inspired by true events.

The Midnight Sky

A lone scientist in the Arctic races to contact a crew of astronauts returning home to a mysterious global catastrophe.

Moonfall

A mysterious force knocks the moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it hurtling on a collision course with life as we know it.

Journey to the Far Side of the Sun

A planet is discovered in the same orbit as Earth's but is located on the exact opposite side of the sun, making it not visible from Earth. The European Space Exploration Council decide to send American astronaut Glenn Ross and British scientist John Kane via spaceship to explore the other planet.

Europa Report

A crew of international astronauts are sent on a private mission to Jupiter's fourth moon.

Fail Safe

Because of a technical defect an American bomber team mistakenly orders the destruction of Moscow. The President of the United States has but little time to prevent an atomic catastrophe from occurring.

Hangar 18

During a Space Shuttle mission a satellite rams a unidentified flying object. The UFO afterwards performs an emergency landing in the deserts of Arizona. However the White House denies its existence because of the near presidential elections. The UFO is brought to the secret Hangar 18 and the accident is blamed on the incompetence of the astronauts Bancroff and Price. But the two fight against this and try to hunt down the UFO.

The Sender

A psychic father and daughter band together with an "angel" in an attempt to save Earth from an extraterrestrial Armageddon. This suspenseful thriller ties together strange occurrences from 1965 in the Bermuda Triangle (where an American fighter pilot supposedly encountered a spaceship) and government hush-up conspiracies.

In the Shadow of the Moon

Archival material from the original NASA film footage – much of it seen for the first time – plus interviews with the surviving astronauts, including Jim Lovell, Dave Scott, John Young, Gene Cernan, Mike Collins, Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, Edgar Mitchell, Charlie Duke and Harrison Schmitt.

Invaders from Mars

In this remake of the classic 50s SF tale, a boy tries to stop an invasion of his town by aliens who take over the the minds of his parents, his least-liked schoolteacher and other townspeople. With the aid of the school nurse the boy enlists the aid of the U.S. Marines.

Moon Zero Two

On the Moon in the year 2021, a former-astronaut-turned-salvager helps a millionaire space industrialist capture a 6000-ton sapphire asteroid, while also assisting a woman in finding her missing miner/prospector brother

Scorcher

The only hope for humanity to survive a natural disaster is to detonate a nuclear bomb in Los Angeles.

Space Cowboys

Frank Corvin, ‘Hawk’ Hawkins, Jerry O'Neill and ‘Tank’ Sullivan were hotdog members of Project Daedalus, the Air Force's test program for space travel, but their hopes were dashed in 1958 with the formation of NASA and the use of trained chimps. They blackmail their way into orbit when Russia's mysterious ‘Ikon’ communications satellite's orbit begins to degrade and threatens to crash to Earth.

SpaceCamp

Andie Bergstrom, an astronaut eagerly awaiting her first trip to space, runs a summer camp for teenagers with her NASA-employed husband, Zach. One night during an engine test, Andie and four teenage campers are accidentally shot into space. Together, the group -- which includes Kathryn, a pilot-in-training, and Tish, a ditz with a perfect memory -- must work together to operate the spacecraft and return home.

Storm

A top secret government study involving the manipulation of the weather goes awry, leaving L.A. in the path of a destructive hurricane. A meteorologist sets out to save the city.

Stowaway

A three-person crew on a mission to Mars faces an impossible choice when an unplanned passenger jeopardizes the lives of everyone on board.

Absolute Zero

INTER SCI climatologist Dr. David Kotzman has evidence that a shift in the Earth's polarity triggered the last Ice Age...in a single day. Now, it's happening again, and there's no time to escape. As the temperature plummets, Miami is blasted with snow and ice. Evacuation routes are jammed. The only chance David, his old flame Bryn, and a few other hopeful survivors have is to hole themselves up in a special chamber at INTER SCI. A desperate race for survival is ignited as nature's fury rages and the temperature plunges toward -459.67° F...ABSOLUTE ZERO!

MegaFault

When miner Charley 'Boomer' Baxter sets off a series of massive mining detonations in West Virginia, a gigantic earthquake is soon rocking the North Atlantic, exposing a deep seismic fault that runs the length of the North American continent. Joining forces with government seismology expert Dr Amy Lane, Boomer must now race against time to stop the chasm that is threatening to tear America - and the entire world - in half.

Rough Air: Danger on Flight 534

Having taken the blame for an accident beyond his control, pilot Mike Hogan has been on administrative leave indefinitely; however when the airline is desperately short of staff, he is offered to be first officer and accepts, without enthusiasm, received with disdain by the well-connected commander. Surprisingly his come-back proves less then routine, as the captain gets knocked out and a collision as well as a murderer being transported by police require courageous action from Mike, his crew and several passengers, including soccer star Ty Conner.

The Rainbow Warrior

Peter Wilcox (Voight), as skipper of the 'Rainbow Warrior', a Greenpeace ship, docks in Auckland, July 1985, preparing for a protest against French nuclear testing in the south pacific. When a bomb rips open the vessel, killing a crew member, he must convince the police superintendent (Neill) that this is an act of terrorism. Determined not to allow outside forces to threaten their harbor, the police embark on a pursuit of the persons responsible. The events that follow nearly bring down an allied nation's government.

Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York

Illegal experimentation accidentally rips open a previously unknown hidden magma reserve directly under Manhattan!

Meteor Storm

San Francisco becomes a target for waves of destructive meteors after a rogue comet orbits around the earth... For astronomer, Michelle Young, what was meant to be a once-in-a-lifetime celestial event, soon turns into her worst nightmare as thousands of meteors break the surface of the atmosphere and bombard the city of San Francisco.

Earthstorm

A massive asteroid impact on the moon begins causing storms on earth due to the sudden changes in ocean tides. But when further examination is conducted it's discovered that the moon's structure is now entirely unstable -- threatening all life on earth. With time running out, a team of scientists turn to one man, demolitions expert John Redding, in effort to find a solution and secure the moon.

Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land

Starflight One, a commercial aircraft that can whisk passengers around the globe in a matter of hours, embarks on its maiden voyage. The trip goes horribly awry, however, when the aircraft is forced out of the atmosphere and into outer space. As it is too dangerous to attempt reentry, Captain Cody Briggs, his passengers and his crew brave declining levels of oxygen while NASA scientists scramble to launch a rescue mission in a race against time.

Satellite in the Sky

A bomb dooms the first space satellite, manned by a selfless crew, a stowaway reporter (Lois Maxwell) and a mad scientist (Donald Wolfit).

Exploding Sun

The world watches in awe as the Roebling Clipper is launched into space. Using state-of-the-art scalar engines to fly around the Moon and back in just hours, the maiden voyage of the first-ever trans-lunar passenger ship is about to make history. Among those on board: First Lady Simone Mathany, space-exploration entrepreneur Steve Roebling, Dr. Denise Balaban, pilot Fiona Henslaw, and a very lucky lottery winner. But while en route, a massive solar flare sparks a cosmic-ray burst that accelerates Aurora’s engine and blows the ship away from Earth’s orbit. Now out of control, it’s hurtling straight for the sun.

The Apocalypse

A salvage pilot and a bartender go up against a crazed computer programmer and the head of a criminal gang who have equipped a spaceship with nuclear warheads and plan to crash it into Earth.

Apollo 13: The Inside Story

NASA mounts a rescue operation after an explosion tears through the hull of the Apollo 13 spacecraft while it is in flight to the moon.

Shuttle Discovery's Last Mission

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.

Freefall: Flight 174

True story of a brand-new Canadian airliner running out of fuel in-flight and forced to glide to the nearest airfield.

The Challenger Disaster

On the eve of the Challenger explosion in 1986 one engineer goes to the extreme to stop the launch. This hot-headed engineer makes a desperate race against the clock to call off the billion dollar multi-delayed Challenger launch, convinced the O-ring seals will fail and kill everyone on board. The Company, Marshall Space Flight and NASA made a business decision. He made a human decision.

One Under the Sun

Astronaut Kathryn Voss, sole survivor of a disastrous space shuttle mission, is a distraught mother desperate to reunite with her terminally ill daughter but becomes a wanted fugitive after discovering she possesses an extraordinary gift.

Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11

Man's landing on the moon was our greatest technological achievement. The Apollo 11 mission was truly the stuff of dreams. For the first time, our species walked on another celestial body. Even more remarkable was their ability to make it back. This is the story of the July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 moon landing. Drama with digitally remastered original footage.

Christmas Miracle in Caufield, U.S.A.

Based on the true story of coal miners who became trapped underground in a cave-in on Christmas Eve, 1951.

Houston, We've Got a Problem

NASA must devise a strategy to return Apollo 13 to Earth safely after the spacecraft undergoes massive internal damage putting the lives of the three astronauts on board in jeopardy.

The Farthest

The captivating tales of the people and events behind one of humanity's greatest achievements in exploration: NASA's Voyager mission.

Return to Space

The inspirational rise of SpaceX as well as Elon Musk's two-decade effort to resurrect America’s space travel ambitions.

Apollo: Missions to the Moon

National Geographic's riveting effort recounts all 12 crewed missions using only archival footage, photos and audio.

More related lists

Sort results by:

X close
Default
Clear filters
...