In 2003, seven astronauts are killed instantly when their space shuttle, Columbia, disintegrates on re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere. 

The NASA shuttle program is grounded with immediate effect.

On the International Space Station, three men - two astronauts and a cosmonaut - had not just lost seven colleagues, they'd also lost their ride home. 

With no other option, a daring mission is launched that involved a much smaller Russian built shuttle based on a design from the 1960s.

If the men aren’t brought home soon, not only will their lives be at risk but also the entire future of the International Space Station itself. 

A Sony Music Entertainment production.

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Summiting Everest takes years of preparation and a mindset that lets nothing get in the way.

In 2006, Myles Osborne is hoping to become one of the youngest British climbers to reach the top.

In just the week before his push for the summit, three climbers die. One, Lincoln Hall, is thought to have died only 12 hours before.

Nothing can prepare Myles for what he encounters in the terrifying 'death zone' of the Himalayas' greatest mountain, and the life-and-death decisions he and his team are forced to make.

A Sony Music Entertainment production.

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It’s 2008 and Columbian presidential hopeful Ingrid Betancourt and three US nationals have been held hostage by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) for over five years. They are considered “VIP hostages" by the militant organisation.

With numerous rescue attempts of other hostages ending in disaster, the Columbia and US governments are reluctant to make a move. But then one young intelligence analyst has a radical idea. What if they devised a plan that relied not on guns and bullets, but on audacious deception instead?

If they can pull it off, it will rank among the greatest hostage rescues in history. If they can't, no one will live to tell the tale.

A Sony Music Entertainment production.

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Sean Irion has dedicated his life to rescuing animals.  From caring for his pets to nursing injured birds back to health as a kid, today he volunteers for Big Dog Ranch Rescue - saving dogs from natural disaster zones.

Back in 2019 when a catastrophic category 5 hurricane pummeled the Bahamas for two days straight, he knew only two things:

One, that thousands of pets and strays would be left fighting for their lives as a result, and two, that he had to get there as soon as possible to rescue them.

A Sony Music Entertainment production.

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About sixty miles off the coast of Sitka, Alaska, four men continue to cling desperately for life. Together, they are tossed about in the churning icy waters as 100 ft high waves pummel into them. 

So far, due to the 100mph winds, giant ocean swells and a relentless roaring blizzard, two helicopter crews have already tried and failed to rescue the men. 

Sitka's US Coast Guard Station has only one helicopter left at its disposal. It is now, or never. 

A Sony Music Entertainment production.

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It's shaping up to be a quiet Friday night at the US Coast Guard's remote rescue station in Sitka, Alaska.

With a violent storm due to sweep across the region at any moment, chances are no one would be crazy enough to be out in that kind of weather.

But then a mayday call comes in. 

An unknown vessel is in distress, somewhere in the frigid waters of the Gulf of Alaska. 

Within an hour, windspeeds out there are hitting 150mph while waves are cresting at well over 100ft. 

What ensues has been described as the most harrowing and tragic search and rescue mission ever attempted in the state.

A Sony Music Entertainment production.

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The Esvagt Cantana is a safety-standby ship providing emergency support to oil-company workers based in the North Sea.

Its crew are trained to attend all manner of disasters, from rescuing people who’ve fallen into the sea to evacuating personnel from burning oil rigs.

Rarely do they expect the emergency to come from within…

A Sony Music Entertainment production.

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In 1941, the German army invades Eastern Poland and thousands of Jews are forced into ghettos as part of a plan to persecute, and then ultimately eradicate, all Jews in Europe.  

To evade capture, four Jewish brothers - Tuvia, Alexander, Asael and Aron Bielski - flee into the forest. But it is too late for most. 

When many of their family are murdered, the brothers vow never to be captured. But their survival is not enough. 

While hiding out in the forest, the brothers establish a secret partisan community and commit to saving as many Jewish fugitives as possible. 

Their group has grown to the hundreds when one day, the Nazi's launch a full-scale attack. Surrounding the forest, they begin their assault with only one objective in mind, to eradicate once and for all the Bielski Partisans...

Archive: 

Sonia Bielski and Lilka Bielski interviews: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection

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In February 2010, Hector Gomez is partying with family and friends on a small river island just outside of Constitucion in Chile, when a devastating earthquake occurs just off the coast.

Erupting with the force of 200 million atomic bombs, the quake triggers a tsunami that heads straight for Hector and his friends.

With only a small boat at his disposal, Hector risks his life to rescue as many of them as he can before it's too late. 

A Sony Music Entertainment production.

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It's December 1989.

By order of Panamanian dictator General Manuel Noriega, American Kurt Muse is locked up in the Carcel Modelo – a notorious prison nicknamed 'the Cemetery For The Living'.

But unknown to Kurt, help is on the way. A team of elite soldiers is being assembled to break him out.

Their mission – Operation Acid Gambit – marks the beginning of a bold US military assault that will not only impact Kurt’s life, but millions of Panamanians for years to come.

A Sony Music Entertainment production.

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After the chaos of the 2011 Arab Spring, eruptions of violence saw millions become refugees overnight.

Since then many have taken to the seas in a desperate bid to reach the relative safety of Europe. Thousands have died trying.

Since 2021, Nejma Banks has worked as a cultural mediator for Medecin Sans Frontier onboard their vessel Geo Barents, rescuing refugees who get into trouble in the Mediterranean Sea.

There is one rescue in particular that left a deep impression on her.

This is that rescue. 

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