The National Geographic documentary The Space Race explores the stories of Black astronauts and the race to put the first black man into space.
Directed by Emmy Award winning producer & director Diego Hurtado de Mendoza and Academy Award(R) nominated and Emmy-winning producer & director Lisa Cortés, “The Space Race” world premiered at Tribeca Film Festival and will debut on National Geographic on February 12 before streaming on Disney+ and Hulu the following day.
The Space Race weaves together the stories of Black astronauts seeking to break the bonds of social injustice to reach for the stars, including Guion Bluford, Ed Dwight and Charles Bolden among many others.
In The Space Race, directors Lisa Cortés and Diego Hurtado de Mendoza profile the pioneering Black pilots, scientists, and engineers who joined NASA to serve their country in space, even as their country failed to achieve equality for them back on Earth. From 1963, when the assassination of JFK thwarted Captain Ed Dwight’s quest to reach the moon, to 2020, when the echoes of the civil unrest sparked by the killing of George Floyd reached the International Space Station, the story of African Americans at NASA is a tale of world events colliding with the aspirations of uncommon men. The bright dreams of Afrofuturism become reality in The Space Race, turning science fiction into science fact, and forever redefining what “the right stuff” looks like, giving us new heroes to celebrate, and a fresh history to explore.
Watch the official trailer for The Space Race