How a briefcase-sized computer, less powerful than a smartphone, pioneered space tech for the first Moon landing. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin rely on the software to guide their spaceflight to the lunar surface. Developed by a pioneering team of programmers, including trailblazing scientist Margaret Hamilton, the Apollo Guidance Computer helps usher in the digital age.

Hosted by Kevin Fong.

Starring:

Theme music by Hans Zimmer for Bleeding Fingers Music

#13MinutestotheMoon

Nasa’s ambitions for a historic Moon landing by the end of the 1960s are threatened by a deadly launchpad inferno. Three astronauts are killed, and it is one of the Apollo programme’s darkest moments. After making safety changes, Nasa turns tragedy into triumph. It sends a crew into space, tests the Apollo spacecraft, and paves the way for Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s legendary first steps on the lunar surface.

Hosted by Kevin Fong.

Starring:

Courtesy of the Johnson Space Center Oral History Project:

Courtesy of CBS News:

Theme music by Hans Zimmer for Bleeding Fingers Music

The extraordinary story of the ‘Eagle’ spacecraft, which landed astronauts on the Moon. Built by Long Island engineers, it was a spacecraft like no other - one designed to land on another world. The result was the spidery lunar module, a spacecraft that was “difficult to fly and easy to crash”. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent hundreds of hours in the simulator to prepare for every possible manoeuvre required for the daring, final thirteen-minute descent to the lunar surface.

Hosted by Kevin Fong.

Starring:

Archive:

Theme music by Hans Zimmer for Bleeding Fingers Music

#13MinutestotheMoon

Crisis strikes Apollo 11. The Moon landing is threatened when an alarm goes off. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are minutes from the lunar surface when the spacecraft computer flashes error code 1202. It’s a major test for Nasa mission control - average age just 26. Flight controller Steve Bales must decide if the Moon landing can proceed. Can he and his team save this epic spaceflight in time? These engineers, scientists, controllers and programmers are the unsung heroes who worked behind the scenes to make one of history’s greatest space missions possible.

Hosted by Kevin Fong.

Starring:

Archive: Johnson Space Center History Office

Theme music by Hans Zimmer for Bleeding Fingers Music

#13MinutestotheMoon

President John F. Kennedy boldly vows that America will land the first astronaut on the Moon by the end of the 1960s. It’s the height of the Cold War. But with superpower rival the Soviet Union leading the space race, after launching the first human spaceflight, the odds seem stacked against them. The Apollo programme, the USA’s daring answer to the race to the Moon, is an epic journey of innovation and exploration. Can Nasa change the course of space history?

Hosted by Kevin Fong.

Starring:

Theme music by Hans Zimmer for Bleeding Fingers Music

#13MinutestotheMoon

This episode was updated on 14 May 2019.

The final part of our audio countdown to the launch of 13 Minutes to the Moon, with Kevin Fong. Lift off is on 13 May 2019.

Hans Zimmer has composed the 13 Minutes to the Moon theme music. It is the first time the Grammy and Academy Award winner has created music for a podcast.

Introducing 13 Minutes to the Moon, with Apollo 7 astronaut Walt Cunningham and former Apollo engineer Poppy Northcutt - the first woman to work as an engineer in an operational support role in NASA's Mission Control.

The countdown begins. The story of Apollo 11 – coming soon.