FOR ALL MANKIND (1990) Stream on Criterion Channel or Kanopy; rent on Amazon, iTunes or Vudu. “For All Mankind” is a must-see documentary for anyone remotely interested in space exploration. NASA gave the first-time director Al Reinert access to footage shot by astronauts during the nine Apollo missions carried out from 1968 through 1972. With that wondrous material, Reinert crafted a composite trip, putting dazzling visuals front and center. The Oscar-nominated film is accompanied by a fitting, ambient score by Brian Eno, as well as narration from the NASA tapes and Reinert’s own interviews. Writing in The Times, Caryn James said the movie “re-creates the sense of immensity involved in space travel: the grandeur of its ambition, the complexity of its physical details, the sheer infinity of space.”

THE MARS GENERATION (2017) Stream on Netflix. While the titles above retrace history, this documentary looks to the future: It follows a group of teenagers at NASA’s space camp who dream of one day traveling to Mars. While the youngsters share their ambitions, scientists and astronauts — including Neil deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye — argue that for aspiring explorers to achieve their version of the moon landing, they need all the support they can get.