‘The Challenger’: William Fichtner, ‘Widow’s Bay’s Kevin Carroll & More Join Kristen Stewart Limited Series

William Fichtner, Widow’s Bay‘s Kevin Carroll, The Gilded Age‘s Louisa Jacobson, and more will join Kristen Stewart and Will Arnett in Prime Video‘s The Challenger, a limited series chronicling the events leading up to the 1986 Challenger disaster and the subsequent investigation, as well as Sally Ride‘s journey to becoming the first American woman in space. Stewart plays Ride in her television debut.

The Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986. The Space Shuttle exploded moments after launch, killing all seven passengers on board, which included New Hampshire teacher Christa McAuliffe, Dick Scobee, Mike Smith, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, and Gregory Jarvis.

Stewart and Arnett were the first stars announced for the series, which adapts Meredith E. Bagby’s 2023 book The New Guys and is created by Maggie Cohn of The Staircase and American Crime Story. Arnett plays George Abbey, Director of Flight Crew Operations for NASA’s Space Shuttle. Abbey assigned Ride to the crew of 1983’s STS-7.

In addition to Stewart and Arnett, Danny Huston, Sofia Black D’Elia, Paul Sparks, Boris McGiver, and Shea Whigham are series regulars, per Deadline. Fichtner, Carroll, Eric Lange, Adelaide Clemens, Jacobson, and Hunter Burke are recurring stars.

Huston plays William Rogers, who spearheaded the Challenger explosion investigation; D’Elia plays Judy Resnik, the fourth woman to fly in space; Sparks plays Larry Mulloy, NASA SRB project manager; McGiver plays William “Bill” Lucas, the NASA official who was blamed for the explosion; and Whigham plays Roger Boisjoly, a mechanical engineer who strongly opposed the Challenger’s launch.

Fichtner plays Nobel physicist Richard Feynman, per Deadline, with Carroll as physicist Professor Arthur Walker. Lange plays General Donald Kutyna, who served on the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident; Clemens plays NASA astronaut Rhea Seddon, Jacobson plays Tam O’Shaughnessy, Ride’s life partner; and Burke plays astronaut Steve Hawley.

Cohn serves as writer, executive producer, and showrunner on The Challenger. James Hawes of One Life and Slow Horses directs and also executive produces, with executive producers Kyra Sedgwick and Valerie Stadler for Big Swing Productions; Cohn, Hawes, and Bagby; Stewart, Dylan Meyer (writer/producer, as well as Stewart’s spouse), and Maggie McLean for Nevermind Pictures; and Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey for Amblin Television.

The Challenger, TBA, Prime Video