Will Arnett Boards Amazon's Challenger Series as Real NASA Director

Arnett will play George Abbey, longtime Johnson Space Center director, opposite Kristen Stewart in Amazon Prime Video's limited series about Sally Ride and the 1986 shuttle disaster.

Will Arnett has been cast as NASA official George Abbey in Amazon Prime Video's limited series The Challenger.
Kristen Stewart stars as astronaut Sally Ride in the project, which covers the 1986 Challenger shuttle disaster.
The series is a limited-run production for Amazon Prime Video.
George Abbey served as director of NASA's Johnson Space Center and was a central figure in astronaut selection for decades.
No premiere date has been announced.

Will Arnett has joined Amazon Prime Video's limited series The Challenger, taking the role of George Abbey, the longtime NASA Johnson Space Center director who oversaw astronaut selection for more than two decades, according to a Variety report published in 2026.

Arnett will appear opposite Kristen Stewart, who is set to play astronaut Sally Ride. The series centers on Ride's career and the events surrounding the January 28, 1986 Challenger shuttle disaster, which killed all seven crew members 73 seconds after launch.

Abbey, now in his late eighties, ran Johnson Space Center from 1996 to 2001 and is widely credited with shaping the astronaut corps through the shuttle era. He is also, by most accounts, still alive.

No episode count, director, or premiere window has been confirmed. Amazon has not commented publicly on production timelines.

Hollywood's current slate includes at least three separate projects drawing on the Challenger disaster. Abbey's casting is the first announced for this one.