“Houston, we’ve had a problem.” To ignite catastrophe would take just the flick of a single switch. Why NASA’s third bid to land on the Moon was flawed from the start.

#13MinutestotheMoon

Jump on board a doomed mission to the Moon. Apollo 13: the extraordinary story, told by the people who flew it and saved it. Lift off is on 9 March.

Hans Zimmer in a special episode about creating the 13 Minutes to the Moon theme music. The Oscar and Grammy-winning composer talks music, space and the importance of knowing how to make a really good cup of coffee.

“We choose to go.” The season finale comes from where President John F Kennedy made his famous Moon speech to rally the US behind the Apollo programme. The venue is Rice University in Houston, where we reflect on one of the greatest achievements in human history. And we consider a future return to the moon.

History as it happened, uninterrupted: every word, every crackle, the tension and triumph. Hear how Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to reach the Moon. This is NASA’s archive recording of Capcom Charlie Duke’s communications loop from 20 July 1969.

History as it happened, explained. Kevin Fong guides us through the descent to the Moon from start to finish, using Capcom Charlie Duke’s communications loop, from NASA’s archive.

We are five and a half minutes to the moon. Tension goes “through the roof”. Neil Armstrong takes control and the fuel starts to run out. In Mission Control, flight controllers count down to 60 seconds of fuel remaining – and then 30 seconds… With Kevin Fong.

The 13 minutes begin. Eagle is going too fast. There are communications problems. We have met the people and heard about the Apollo 11 technology, now the descent is underway. This is the full story and it is a leap into the unknown. With Kevin Fong.

Without the astronaut who didn’t step on the moon, Apollo 11 wouldn’t have succeeded. As Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made their historic landing, Michael Collins was in lunar orbit, playing a crucial role on the mothership. This is his story, with Kevin Fong.

War, riots, assassinations: “the year that shattered America”. And then NASA took the biggest risk in its history. There was the Vietnam War and the murders of Martin Luther King and Robert F Kennedy but with Apollo 8, astronauts went further from Earth than anyone had gone before and changed the way we look at our home forever. With Kevin Fong.