Kristen Stewart to star in 'Challenger' disaster drama

Kristen Stewart gears up to play NASA legend Sally Ride in the upcoming Prime Video limited series, The Challenger. 

The series, finally greenlit after nearly two years in development and will chronicle the historic 1978 astronaut class and the harrowing events surrounding the Challenger disaster.

Stewart, known as the star of The Twilight Saga, has long been building a diverse career with projects like the Personal Shopper and the underrated sci-fi thriller Underwater.

Now, she’s taking on the role of America’s first woman in orbit, diving deep into Sally Ride’s personal and professional journey.

The Challenger, created by showrunner Maggie Cohn and directed by James Hawes adapts Meredith E. Bagby’s 2023 book, The New Guys: The Historic Class of Astronauts That Broke Barriers and Changed the Face of Space Travel. 

For the unversed, Ride made history on June 18, 1983, as a flight engineer aboard the STS-7 Challenger mission, and returned to space on STS-41G in 1984, conducting eight days of Earth observations. 

Amazon MGM Studios’ Peter Friedlander said: “Sally Ride’s courage and brilliance changed history, and we couldn’t imagine a more powerful actor to bring her story to life than Kristen Stewart.”

The series also boasts a star-studded production team, including Kyra Sedgwick, Valerie Stadler, Stewart herself, Dylan Meyer, Maggie McLean, and Amblin Television’s Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey.

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