The film concentrates on the safety inspections and arguments surrounding the O-rings that ultimately were blamed for the explosion of Challenger.

The film ends just as the shuttle takes off on January 28, 1986, following a symbolic scene of each of the seven crew members and passengers reciting in their thoughts John Gillespie Magee Jr.'s poem "High Flight".

U.S. President Ronald Reagan used part of "High Flight" in a speech written by Peggy Noonan on the night after the Challenger disaster[21] while eulogizing the fallen members of the crew.

The film also examines the personal lives of the other members[31] of the crew - Barry Bostwick[32] as Commander Dick Scobee, Brian Kerwin as Pilot Michael Smith,[33] Joe Morton as Dr. Ronald McNair, Keone Young[34] as Lt. Col. Ellison Onizuka, Richard Jenkins as Gregory B. Jarvis, Julie Fulton[35] as Dr. Judith Resnik - and their families[36] - Angela Bassett as Cheryl McNair, Elizabeth Kemp as Jane Smith, Jeanne Mori as Lorna Onizuka, Debbie Boily as Marcia Jarvis, Melinda Ann Austin as June Scobee, Melissa Chan as Janelle Onizuka, Gavin Luckett as Reggie McNair, Naoka Nakagawa as Darien Onizuka, Thomas Allen Jr. as Scott Smith - before they boarded Challenger.

At the 42nd Primetime Emmy Awards in September 1990, Challenger won Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries or a Special.