Television series
When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions
A masterful chronicle of NASA's greatest achievements, from Mercury through the early Space Shuttle era. Constructed almost entirely from onboard footage and firsthand accounts by the astronauts themselves, it transforms archival material into intimate, visceral storytelling. For anyone who's ever wondered what it actually felt like to leave Earth.
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Apollo 131995
Captures the nail-biting tension of a space mission gone wrong with technical precision and emotional depth. Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton embody the calm professionalism under impossible pressure that defined the era.
But It's a Hollywood dramatization, so some moments are invented for narrative effect. If you want pure documentary truth, this trades some of that for cinematic impact.
Hidden Figures2016
Shows the brilliant Black women mathematicians whose calculations made spaceflight possible, centering voices the history books overlooked. It's inspiring without being saccharine, and the space sequences are genuinely thrilling.
But Fictional composite characters and compressed timelines soften the edges of real institutional racism. Some viewers find the tone too uplifting for the subject matter.
For All Mankind2019
A beautifully crafted alternate-history series that imagines what spaceflight might have become if the competition never ended. Uses real archival footage mixed with recreation to explore the what-ifs with genuine intellectual curiosity.
But It's fiction, so if you want undiluted history, you'll be frustrated. The later seasons drift further from realistic spaceflight into wilder territory.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Moonrise Kingdom2012
Both use the Space Age not as backdrop but as embodiment of human aspiration and the romance of reaching beyond our limits. Where When We Left Earth documents the achievement, Moonrise Kingdom documents the yearning it inspired.
Wes Anderson's whimsical love letter to childhood wonder and the 1960s space-age aesthetic. It won't teach you about NASA, but it captures the feeling of awe and possibility that spaceflight represented to an entire generation.
But It's a fictional children's adventure, not space history. The connection is emotional and atmospheric rather than factual—some want substance, not sentiment.
More like this (7)
The Right Stuff1983
An epic, sprawling film about the test pilots who became the Mercury Seven. Captures the swagger, the danger, and the genuine camaraderie of men pushing aviation to its absolute limits.
But At nearly three hours, it can feel indulgent. Some sequences prioritize spectacle over historical accuracy, and the portrayal of women is dated even by 1983 standards.
First Man2018
An intimate, almost claustrophobic portrait of Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 mission. Damien Chazelle crafts sequences of genuine sensory intensity, making you feel the violence of spaceflight.
But It's deliberately unglamorous and introspective, focusing on Armstrong's grief and isolation rather than triumph. If you want celebration, this isn't it.
Cosmos1980
Neil deGrasse Tyson's reboot of Sagan's classic brings modern production values and cutting-edge visuals to big-picture cosmic questions. It contextualizes space exploration within the broader arc of human curiosity.
But It's mostly about the universe itself rather than human spaceflight. The balance between grandeur and intimate history may not scratch the specific itch you're after.
The Planets2019
A BBC series that combines real space probe footage with recreation and scientific explanation to show what we've actually discovered about our solar system. Stunning cinematography and genuine wonder throughout.
But It's about planetary science rather than human space programs, so there's less of the nail-biting human drama you might crave.
October Sky1999
A heartfelt story about a boy inspired by Sputnik to build rockets in rural West Virginia. It captures the genuine excitement and idealism that spaceflight inspired in ordinary people during the Space Age.
But It's a small, intimate coming-of-age story rather than a large-scale historical epic. If you want spectacle, you'll find sentiment instead.
The Martian2015
Both revere the men and women who solve impossible problems through skill, patience, and teamwork. Both suggest that spaceflight is fundamentally an act of faith in human competence.
A film that genuinely respects spaceflight as technical problem-solving. Its depiction of NASA culture, orbital mechanics, and real spacecraft is unusually accurate, and it celebrates the collaborative ingenuity that actually sent humans to space.
But It's a fictional survival story, not documentary. Matt Damon gets rescued; the real astronauts in When We Left Earth didn't have a script. The tone is very different—thriller versus chronicle.
In the Shadow of the Moon2007
Both center the actual astronauts as primary sources, but Where We Left Earth shows them in the moment of achievement, In the Shadow of the Moon shows them in the moment of memory. Together they bracket the full arc of what spaceflight meant.
A documentary featuring long, unstructured interviews with the Apollo astronauts in their own voices, reflecting on missions decades later. It's intimate and philosophical in ways that real-time mission footage cannot be—these are old men reckoning with what they did.
But No dramatic arc, no racing heartbeats. It's slow, contemplative, and sometimes melancholy. If you want action, you'll find introspection instead.
People
Cast
Gary SiniseNarrator
Recommended by
For All Mankind, Failure Is Not an Option, The Science of Interstellar, Moonwalk One, Apollo: Missions to the Moon