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| The crew of the Challenger. |
If you're still on the fence about whether we are lied to by our government or big business, this film will push you right off. "Challenger: The Final Flight" is a four-part documentary series on Netflix, each episode under an hour, about events leading up to the death of seven astronauts in 1986. Not to give too much away, but let's just say the tragedy could have been avoided.
Famous for having the first "regular person" on board -- 38-year-old elementary school teacher Christa McAuliffe -- the story of the Shuttle Challenger is engrossing even without the dramatic explosion 87 seconds after takeoff. The film opens back when the Shuttle was just an idea, and follows it to its retirement in 2011. Featuring current interviews with key figures from NASA and the Thiokol Corporation, the manufacturer of the failed O-rings on the spacecraft, it's interesting to see them "then and now' in original footage from the earliest days.
Also interesting, and very alarming, is the revelation that more than a few people in high places suspected the doomed flight would fail and yet said nothing in order to ''stay on schedule'' and procure continued government funding for the space program. Despite its sad tale the film is engrossing and fun to watch, showing the long road that astronauts must travel to qualify for space flight. I watched it twice and a third viewing is not out of the question.
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