Plot Synopsis

Astronauts tell their own true stories of bravery and ingenuity and the life threatening problems they encountered in space during missions that have not been shared with the public -- until now. SECRET SPACE ESCAPES reveals terrifying accidents, fights for survival, and stories of close calls and near misses, as told by the astronauts who survived the incidents and the men and women in mission control who helped each team avert disaster. This is the first time that these near-disasters-turned-triumphs have been told solely from the point of view of the men and women who problem-solved each event -- there is no narration in the series -- and the stories unfold solely in the words of the people who were there. Featuring rare and never before seen footage, the astronauts and stories featured in SECRET SPACE ESCAPES include:

- Robert Curbeam and Thomas Jones trained for years to install a new American module on the International Space Station (ISS). During their long-anticipated spacewalk, a valve malfunctions and toxic ammonia flakes from the cooling system pour all over Curbeam. He struggles desperately to stop the leak before the vital cooling system fails. Covered like a snowman with ammonia flakes, Curbeam cannot risk re-entering the spacecraft, where the toxic ammonia could sicken or blind the crew. His only option is to stay outside, zooming at 17,000 miles per hour, 225 miles above the earth, and wait for the sun to melt away the contaminants.

- When a new solar panel on the ISS tears, Scott Parazynski ventures out on a 90-foot arm to make improvised repairs. The solar panels carry enough voltage to fry Dr. Parazynski in his oxygen-filled suit -- but if he fails in his task, the ISS is doomed.

- In 1997, Mike Foale is on an extended mission aboard the Russian Mir space station when it is struck by a resupply vessel. The station springs a leak, losing power rapidly and launching into an out of control spin. Under extreme pressure, Foale makes an ad hoc calculation using the position of the stars to determine the speed and direction of the spin. He and his Russian colleagues Vasily Tsibliyev and Aleksandr 'Sasha' Lazutkin are able to use the rockets inside the attached Soyuz capsule to stop the roll, save the ship -- and their lives.

- Hoot Gibson and Mike Mullane are on the second shuttle to launch after the Challenger disaster. It's 1986 and STS-27 is a classified mission to launch a spy satellite. During liftoff, a video of the launch reveals a fragment of the booster rocket's insulation breaking off and striking the underbelly of the space shuttle, Atlantis, damaging many of the protective heat shield tiles that leave parts of the shuttle exposed to 5,000 degree heat upon re-entry. Gibson thinks he's going to die and Mullane suspects they may be facing certain disaster. They have no alternatives -- there are no stations to dock to, there is no time to send another Shuttle to aid them and no way to conduct a spacewalk to fix the issue. Miraculously, even with vulnerable unshielded spots on her, Atlantis withstands the heat of reentry because a steel plate just happens to protect the aluminum hull where it is most exposed.

- In 1969, the Soyuz 5 capsule tumbles to earth in a fireball because a malfunction does not jettison an extra equipment module. It's like a car dragging a U-Haul trailer. When the capsule finally rights itself and the extra modules are jettisoned, its parachutes only partially deploy and the rockets that aid a soft landing barely function. Cosmonaut Boris Volynov lands way off target. Covered in blood from his broken teeth sustained in the crash landing, he manages to climb out of the wreckage and find his way to the door of a very surprised peasant.
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On Tuesday, January 12, 2016 at 10pm ET/PT, Science Channel premiered the season finale of SECRET SPACE ESCAPES. In the season ender, "Fatal Re-entry," an astronaut performs an emergency procedure on an electrified panel to save a new ISS solar array. The pressures of the Space Race push Soviets to launch Soyuz 1 despite warnings. The first Korean astronaut gets the ride of her life during reentry.