On the 28th January 1986, 7 crew died as the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after lift-off. On the 1st February 2003, The Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated on re-entry.

Using The Rogers Commission and Columbia Accident Investigation Board reports, this programme examines issues such as normalisation of deviance, conformity over safety, pressure to launch from several directions, managerial decisions taking precedence over engineering caution, the design of the O rings, procurement and design compromises, complex layers of management and poor communication, groupthink, optimism bias, programme pressure, maintenance and spend.