Columbia reaches orbit. But astronaut Bob Crippen discovers that the shuttle has been damaged – can he and John Young make it home safely? Parts of the heatshield to protect the shuttle from searing temperatures on re-entry to Earth have fallen off during the journey into space. This new heatshield has never been tested before in orbit. Could more tiles be missing?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:
Nichelle Nichols NASA advertisement, Nasa Archives, 1977
STS-1 Columbia landing sequence, ABC News, CBS News, 1981
Mission audio and oral histories, Nasa History Office

Columbia reaches orbit. But astronaut Bob Crippen discovers that the shuttle has been damaged – can he and John Young make it home safely? Parts of the heatshield to protect the shuttle from searing temperatures on re-entry to Earth have fallen off during the journey into space. This new heatshield has never been tested before in orbit. Could more tiles be missing? 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: Nichelle Nichols NASA advertisement, Nasa Archives, 1977 STS-1 Columbia landing sequence, ABC News, CBS News, 1981 Mission audio and oral histories, Nasa History Office

The Space Shuttle: 3. Glass rocket

NEW: Artemis and the return to the Moon. The BBC’s space podcast will be following the Artemis II mission every day for two weeks. Nasa plans to return to the Moon for the first time in more than half a century and the next step is Artemis II. The mission aims to send four astronauts – on a spacecraft called Orion - to loop around the Moon. They plan to go further from Earth than any human in history. The story of Artemis II will be told by space scientist, Maggie Aderin-Pocock, and British astronaut, Tim Peake, and US space journalist Kristin Fisher. The last crewed mission to The Moon was Apollo 17 in 1972.Orion’s crew is scheduled to be Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen.13 Minutes is the BBC’s space podcast, telling epic space stories. It’s produced by the BBC Audio Science Unit for the BBC World Service. 
Theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music.Previous seasons: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.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 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.Theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music.

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NEW: Artemis and the return to the Moon. The BBC’s space podcast will be following the Artemis II mission every day for two weeks. Nasa plans to return to the Moon for the first time in more than half a century and the next step is Artemis II. The mission aims to send four astronauts – on a spacecraft called Orion - to loop around the Moon. They plan to go further from Earth than any human in history. The story of Artemis II will be told by space scientist, Maggie Aderin-Pocock, and British astronaut, Tim Peake, and US space journalist Kristin Fisher. The last crewed mission to The Moon was Apollo 17 in 1972. Orion’s crew is scheduled to be Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen. 13 Minutes is the BBC’s space podcast, telling epic space stories. It’s produced by the BBC Audio Science Unit for the BBC World Service. Theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music. Previous seasons: 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. 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 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. Theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music.

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