13 Minutes: Trouble with Hubble

A devastating discovery is turning the crown jewel of astronomy into an embarrassing failure. Hubble isn’t seeing the universe as it should. Why are the pictures blurry? Nasa’s revolutionary telescope is in orbit and the space agency should be celebrating. Instead, it launches an investigation.

Nasa’s Director of Astrophysics, Charlie Pellerin, has been on holiday in Japan. He returns to hear the devastating news. Meanwhile, it’s chief Nasa scientist, Ed Weiler’s job to face the press, and tell the world the truth.

What’s gone wrong? How are they going to fix it? Three hundred and eighty miles above Earth, Hubble floats alone in the darkness, with the problem hopelessly out of reach.

Theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg, and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music.

Archive: Mission audio and oral histories, Nasa History Office

Episode image: The Hubble Space Telescope's primary mirror being ground at the Perkin-Elmer Corporation's large optics fabrication facility in 1979, more than a decade before its very small but very significant flaw was discovered. Credit: Nasa

13 Minutes: Trouble with Hubble is a BBC Audio Science Unit production for the BBC World Service.

Presenter: Dame Dr Maggie Aderin

Series producer: Harrison Lewis

Sound design: Tony Churnside

Series editor: Ilan Goodman

Senior commissioning producer: Katy Davis

Commissioning editor: Jon Manel

High above the Earth, the crew of Space Shuttle Discovery race against the clock to lift the Hubble Space Telescope from its storage bay and give it a new home in orbit. They have just eight hours to release the telescope and deploy its solar panels, giving Hubble the power it needs to begin its mission.

If they fail, Hubble will be left drifting in space, a useless, $1.6 billion telescope, another devastating new setback for Nasa.

Featuring interviews with astronauts Kathy Sullivan and Steve Hawley.

Episode image: The Hubble Space Telescope being deployed on April 25, 1990. Credit: Nasa

Archive:

Theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg, and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music.

13 Minutes: Trouble with Hubble is a BBC Audio Science Unit production for the BBC World Service.

Presenter: Dame Dr Maggie Aderin

Series producer: Harrison Lewis

Sound design: Tony Churnside

Series editor: Ilan Goodman

Senior commissioning producer: Katy Davis

Commissioning editor: Jon Manel

Our view of the universe could be transformed by one of the most ambitious scientific instruments ever built but a terrible disaster strikes Nasa. After decades of meticulous planning, will the Hubble Space Telescope make it into space?

Nasa is in a state of emergency. The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986 means the space agency is under intense scrutiny. Its reputation is wounded, and public interest in spaceflight is beginning to fade. It is betting on a feat of engineering genius: the successful launch and deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Nasa believes the telescope is capable of doing the impossible: peering deeper into the universe than ever before and unlocking some of its greatest secrets.

But Hubble is delicate and extraordinarily complex and it will be Astronaut Kathy Sullivan’s responsibility to help get it into space, no matter what.

Archive: Mission audio and oral histories, Nasa History Office

Episode image: The Hubble Space Telescope ready for transportation to the Kennedy Space Centre in 1989. Credit: Nasa

Theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg, and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music.

13 Minutes: Trouble with Hubble is a BBC Audio Science Unit production for the BBC World Service.

Presenter: Dame Dr Maggie Aderin

Series producer: Harrison Lewis

Sound design: Tony Churnside

Series editor: Ilan Goodman

Senior commissioning producer: Katy Davis

Commissioning editor: Jon Manel

Buckle up for the latest epic story from the BBC’s space podcast. The Hubble Space Telescope was revolutionary but a flaw almost ruined the dream. It was hoped it would answer the most fundamental questions ever asked: How did it all begin? Where are we going? Are we alone? Maggie Aderin tells the story of how the telescope that transformed our understanding of the universe, almost ended in disaster.

Launches on 5 October.

13 Minutes: Trouble with Hubble is a BBC Audio Science Unit production for the BBC World Service.

Hosted by space scientist Maggie Aderin.

Theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg, and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music.

Archive: Mission audio and oral histories, Nasa History Office

Some big news: We’ve been making a new season. It’s about Nasa’s Hubble Space Telescope. If you haven’t already, follow or subscribe, so you will get the full trailer automatically. That will be published next week.

Maggie Aderin will tell the story of how the telescope that transformed our understanding of the universe, almost ended in disaster.

13 Minutes: Trouble with Hubble launches on 5 October 2026.

In the meantime, please keep sending us your questions: [email protected]

We’ll be back to answer those in a few months – more details to follow.

You can read our privacy notice here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice

13 Minutes is the BBC World Service’s space podcast.

The team are back together. Astronaut Tim Peake and space scientist Maggie Aderin are joined by space journalist Kristin Fisher and Artemis II astronaut Jeremy Hansen, after his historic journey.

After 9 days, 1 hour, 32 minutes and 15 seconds and 1.1 million kilometres of travel, the Orion “Integrity” probe splashed down successfully on April 11th at 00:07:32 UTC (GMT).

Tim Peake, Maggie Aderin, Kristin Fisher, Rebecca Morelle and the 13 Minutes podcast touches down with this episode. We are also joined by Nasa legend and former shuttle astronaut, Dr Anna Fisher to reflect on the mission.

13 Minutes Presents: Artemis II will return...

But before then, watch Maggie and Tim in BBC Horizon ‘s “Artemis: To the Moon and Back", to see and learn more about the years leading up to this mission.

Season 4 theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music.

13 Minutes Presents: Artemis II is a BBC Audio Science production for the BBC World Service.

Presenters: Tim Peake and Maggie Aderin

The Artemis II mission hurtles towards re-entry and splashdown. The 13 Minutes crew run through the schedule that includes 28,864 mph, searing heat, 11 parachutes, and 3.9g forces.

Long-time Nasa scientist Dr Phil Metzger talks about the issue of AVCOAT – the ablative coating that will shield the capsule’s flat underside. And we also talk about his work at Nasa’s “Swamp Works” where much was studied about building structures on the moon for a moonbase.

Season 4 theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music.

You can get in touch with the 13 Minutes Presents: Artemis II team by emailing [email protected].

13 Minutes Presents: Artemis II is a BBC Audio Science production for the BBC World Service.

Presenters: Tim Peake and Maggie Aderin

The Artemis II crew are getting ever closer to home and preparing for re-entry.

Hosts astronaut Tim Peake and space scientist Maggie Aderin are joined by space journalist Kristin Fisher, who shares the latest updates from the mission. Plus, we answer more of your burning questions.

And Dr Kelsey Young, lead science officer and lunar science lead for Artemis II, shares her excitement about the crew’s lunar observations so far. She tells us what she’s been surprised by, what new science we’ve already learnt, and how they trained the astronauts to become geologists.

You can get in touch with the 13 Minutes Presents: Artemis II team by emailing [email protected].

Season 4 theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music.

13 Minutes Presents: Artemis II is a BBC Audio Science production for the BBC World Service.

Presenters: Tim Peake and Maggie Aderin

After all the excitement of the lunar fly-by, the Artemis II crew are taking a breather, and have a long-distance call with the astronauts on board the International Space Station.

Season 4 theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music.

13 Minutes Presents: Artemis II is a BBC Audio Science production for the BBC World Service.

Presenters: Tim Peake and Maggie Aderin