Epic space stories. From the first Moon landing, to Apollo 13, to the Space Shuttle. Told by the people who made them happen.
NEW: Season 3: The Space Shuttle. A sci-fi dream that changed spaceflight forever. From the boldest test flight in history to one of Nasa’s darkest days – the Challenger disaster. Space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock tells the awe-inspiring story of the programme that brought triumph and tragedy. Some scenes in this series use recreated sound effects.
Season 2: Apollo 13. Apollo 13 should have been the third Moon landing, but after an explosion, it almost ended in tragedy. Told by the people who flew it and saved it. Presented and co-written by Kevin Fong.
Season 1: 13 Minutes to the Moon. The first Moon landing. In the final dramatic 13-minute descent to the Moon, the Apollo 11 mission came close to going badly wrong. Communication was breaking down, technology was failing and fuel was running out. This is the story of how the first Moon landing was saved. Presented by Kevin Fong.
13 Minutes is produced by the BBC Audio Science Unit for the BBC World Service.
Season 3 theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music.
Epic space stories. From the first Moon landing, to Apollo 13, to the Space Shuttle. Told by the people who made them happen.
NEW: Season 3: The Space Shuttle. A sci-fi dream that changed spaceflight forever. From the boldest test flight in history to one of Nasa’s darkest days – the Challenger disaster. Space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock tells the awe-inspiring story of the programme that brought triumph and tragedy. Some scenes in this series use recreated sound effects.
Season 2: Apollo 13. Apollo 13 should have been the third Moon landing, but after an explosion, it almost ended in tragedy. Told by the people who flew it and saved it. Presented and co-written by Kevin Fong.
Season 1: 13 Minutes to the Moon. The first Moon landing. In the final dramatic 13-minute descent to the Moon, the Apollo 11 mission came close to going badly wrong. Communication was breaking down, technology was failing and fuel was running out. This is the story of how the first Moon landing was saved. Presented by Kevin Fong.
13 Minutes is produced by the BBC Audio Science Unit for the BBC World Service.
Season 3 theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music.
The astronauts count down to flying a brand-new spacecraft for the very first time. If they pull it off, they will earn a place in space history.
The rocket is built. The astronauts are trained. Mission control is ready. Space Shuttle Columbia is about to attempt the unheard of. A crewed test flight. It's 12 April 1981. The morning of launch for the very first space shuttle mission. The shuttle is sitting on the launchpad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. And strapped into their seats on the flight deck of orbiter Columbia are commander John Young and pilot Bob Crippen.
Everyone at Nasa has been waiting almost a decade for this day. It’s taken an army of designers, engineers, ground crew, flight controllers, and backroom staff to get to this point. To bring this vehicle to life. Will this new machine fly?
This episode contains scenes some listeners may find upsetting.
Some scenes in this series use recreated sound effects.
13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle is a BBC Audio Science Unit production for BBC World Service.
Hosted by space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock.
Theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg, and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music.
Archive: Launch of STS-1, BBC, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, 1981 Mission audio and oral histories, Nasa History Office