Prison Break and The Gilded Age favourites confirmed for key roles in new NASA-focused TV drama The Challenger

A host of new cast members have been added to Prime Video's upcoming drama series The Challenger, which will be set in the 1980s and focused on the work of NASA.

The series, which is based on Meredith E Bagby’s 2023 book The New Guys, will chart the events leading up to the Challenger disaster - the 1986 explosion of NASA’s space shuttle shortly after launch, which left all seven crew members dead.

The series will also look at the investigation that followed the disaster, and astronaut and physicist Sally Ride’s groundbreaking journey as the first American woman in space.

As was first announced by Deadline, the new cast members who have been added to the series in recurring roles include William Fichtner (Prison Break) as Nobel physicist Richard Feynman, Kevin Carroll (Widow’s Bay), as fellow physicist, Professor Arthur Walker and Eric Lange (Lucky) as General Donald Kutyna of the Presidential commission on the space shuttle challenger accident.

Also joining the cast are Adelaide Clemens (RJ Decker) as NASA astronaut Rhea Seddon, Louisa Jacobson (The Gilded Age) as Sally Ride's partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy and Hunter Burke (Sweet Magnolias) as astronaut Steve Hawley.

They join previously announced cast members Kristen Stewart (Love Lies Bleeding) as Sally, Will Arnett (Is This Thing On?) as George Abbey, Danny Huston (The Naked Gun) as William Rogers and Sofia Black D’Elia (Remarkably Bright Creatures) as Judy Resnik.

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Paul Sparks (The Lowdown) will also be starring as Larry Mulloy, along with Boris McGiver (Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed) as William ‘Bill’ Lucas and Shea Whigham (Sugar) as Roger Boisjoly.

The series has been created by Maggie Cohn (American Crime Story) and will be directed by James Hawes (Slow Horses).

The Challenger will stream on Prime Video. You can sign up to Amazon Prime Video for a 30-day free trial.

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Authors

James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.