April 12 1981. STS-1. Space Shuttle Columbia now stands proud on pad 39A at Cape Canaveral. After more than a decade of development, planning and assembly, NASA approaches its moment of truth.

The most complex flying machine ever built, two and half million moving parts, hundreds of mission critical components with no back up, brought together in a two thousand tonne stack of propellant, boosters and rocket engines which - when lit - will unleash energy enough to carry its astronaut crew and their vessel into orbit around the Earth. The first all up test of a NASA space vehicle with a human crew aboard. But for its two astronauts, John Young and Bob Crippen, it is worth the risk. The future is here. And nothing now can stop it.

Ever wondered how the Space Shuttle came to be? Welcome to a new podcast series, 16 Sunsets. In this episode, Host Dr Kevin Fong guides us through the lead up to STS-1. Will everything go to plan? 

Featuring: Tom Moser, Stokes MacMillan, Bob Crippen, Robert Kelso, John Young, Jeff Hoffman, Gerry Griffin, Charlie Bolden, Bonnie Dunbar, Neil Hutchinson, Chuck Lewis, Jennifer Levasseur, Lowell Zoller, Tonya Witt, Marianne Dyson, Dottie Lee.

Credits:

Written and presented by Dr Kevin Fong

Producers: Rami Tzabar, Andrew Luck-Baker and Dave Giles.

Assistant Producer: Kate Arkless Gray

Sound Design and Mixing: Richard Courtice

Music: Christian Lundberg, part of Hans Zimmer’s Bleeding Fingers Composer Collective

With special thanks to Sandra Johnson at Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre Oral History Project

Thanks also to William Reeves and Herb Baker; Stephen Slater for additional archive and to Lunar Module 5.

Executive Producers: Stuart Coxe, Kevin Fong, Jago Lee and Rami Tzabar

16 Sunsets is an Antica and TellTale Production 2024

Check out our website at https://sixteensunsets.com 

Instagram: @sixteen_sunsets

Bluesky: @16sunsets.bsky.social

X: @16sunsets

Want more 16 Sunsets? Become a premium member of our community and unlock exclusive content, including early and ad-free episodes, by subscribing to 16 Sunsets on Supercast. Learn more at https://16sunsets.supercast.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.