United in space: How we built the ISS

Personal tales of bravery, tragedy, daring and triumph, United in Space unveils the remarkable story of one of humanity’s greatest ever feats – building a home among the stars – the International Space Station.

Celebrating 25 unbroken years of humans living in space, former international director of the UK Space Agency, Dr Alice Bunn charts how nations put aside differences to create the ultimate symbol of human ingenuity and collaboration – a space station orbiting our planet that has been home to over 300 people from 24 different nations.

Using mission control audio, news archive and personal stories, Alice illuminates acts of epic survival, humour and selflessness that made the station a reality. She investigates why a near fatal disaster on the Russian Mir space station spurred nations to commit to the ISS. She reveals how a Moscow basement and Hollywood royalty sparked bonding between Russians and Americans. She discovers how quick thinking and plastic tape saved the station, allowing it to grow to the size of a football pitch and how one astronaut came within seconds of drowning in space.

Looking into the future, Alice explores how the legacy of the ISS will be carried on by a new generation of private space stations, which have the power to push back the boundaries of science for the good of all humanity. The reduced gravity offers enormous possibilities from creating materials impossible to create on Earth - these range from ultrafast semiconductors for use in computing, to life-saving vaccines, and most remarkably of all entire human organs for life-saving transplants.

A timely reminder of the extraordinary feats humanity can achieve when we unite and strive for a common goal.