In Challenger, screenwriter Nicole Perlman examines the role that Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman played in the investigation into the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. Motivated by his uneasy conscience due to his participation in the Manhattan Project, Feynman is determined to ensure that there will be no institutional cover-up of the negligence that led to the tragedy. Challenger uses the investigation as an opportunity to humanize the famously eccentric physicist.