NASA’s moon missions have been a constant source of debate. Did we? Didn’t we? I don’t care perhaps as much as I should as I like both stories equally. However, there’s a key word in the questions asked, and possibly the most potent. When concerning the lunar landings and the like, for once, the human race refers to itself as ‘we’. Nothing pulls us all together like our endeavours in space. So with the anniversary of the moon landing, the BBC has gone nuts, giving us a spate of shows full of ace spaceships and cool boiler suits. However, if the immense danger of these missions need to be underlined, then last night’s NASA: Triumph and Tragedy (BBC Two, Wednesday, 1 July, 9pm) absolutely nailed it.

Related: James May on the Moon

There’s been many great achievements concerning spaceflight, but of course, with such mass daring, comes the inevitable disaster and near-miss. We were shown the insanely close shave of Apollo 13′s mission (which gave us those immortal words, “Houston, we have a problem”) as well as the terrifying prospect of the fatal missions of the Challenger disaster and, nearly 20 years later, the disintegration of Columbia.

These bleak moments in NASA’s history provided dramatic television that not only marked the passing of some incredibly brave astronauts, but weirdly, served as a brilliant celebration of man’s curiosity. When astronauts blast off into the big black, they don’t just do it for science… they do it for every single one of us. At least, that’s what it feels like.

So when we’re shown these failures, it’s not a case of pointing and demanding justice for those neglected by The Man, but rather, jumping immediately to your feet and applauding those mad and ballsy enough to strap themselves to a burning rocket with the controls set for The Unknown.

This show should’ve been incredibly gloomy. The reminder of the deaths on Challenger brought back the initial numbness I felt when I picked up my dad’s newspaper that morning in the mid ’80s. Seeing the excited faces turn white with fear and sadness hit home, not to mention the horrible thought of what it must’ve been like to be inside the craft. Seeing Columbia burning up in the atmosphere felt like the reminder of a personal loss. However, it still felt celebratory.

Space exploration isn’t just a towering church to science and technology. It’s more than that. It’s a thing firmly rooted in our pop-culture. For every flight, another daydream erupts in a kid’s head. For every take-off, another hundred kids scurry off to make spaceships from Lego. It stops us from looking at the night sky as something to be frightened of, allowing us to look up and think of possibilities.

It’s because of this that America stops being merely a place or piece of land. It’s far more intangible than that. When looking at their endeavours in space exploration, ‘America’ feels like a whole feeling and ethos like ‘Britannia’ or the Renaissance. Looking at the tragedy of the Challenger, erupting into fatal white fingers over the American sky, you don’t so much feel like the loss of human beings, but rather, the loss of a rare breed… a group seldom seen in our well trodden planet. Those people are explorers. Like those that went through dangerous waters to seek new shores and intrepid mountaineers, America’s astronauts are the kids of the new wild frontier, setting out on a journey that’s not mere idle inquisitiveness, but an adventure for every single human on the planet. Except the Russians maybe.

Fact is, one of the main reasons that the entire world is so obsessed about America… and what America means and feels like… is that it shows no fear. A glorious naivety in the face of the ultimate peril. They figured that Planet Earth had pretty much been done and told everyone else “We’re going one better. We’re going beyond the sky.” What kind of lunatic thinks that up? A brilliant bunch of American lunatics, that’s who.

It’s a phenomenal achievement that has had us rapt, enchanted and slightly annoyed. You see, America is willing to go where no-one else dare. They throw money at the heavens and we all cheer them on. We have to. Those sci-fi dreams of living with The Jetsons are squarely on their shoulders. This programme didn’t just show the incredible bravery and innovation of NASA, but rather, their constant realising of all of our most unfathomable daydreams.

God bless ‘em. The mad, brillant fuckers.