13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle
Episodes
The Space Shuttle: 10. Return to flight
15 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The space shuttle is back. Discovery stands waiting on launchpad 39B at Kennedy Space Center. It has taken more than two years to get here. Nasa has l...
The Space Shuttle: 9. What is it all for?
08 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Is human spaceflight worth the risk? It’s a time of soul searching for the whole shuttle crew. The space shuttle programme is put on hold for two ye...
The Space Shuttle: 8. A major malfunction
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Challenger tragedy shocks a nation, as millions watch on TV screens across the USA. Something has gone catastrophically wrong with the launch of ...
The Space Shuttle: 7. Teacher in space
25 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nasa needs to kick-start new interest in the space shuttle. After multiple missions, public attention is waning and funding could suffer. Nasa want to...
The Space Shuttle: 6. Satellite for sale
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Can the crew rescue the million-dollar space satellite lost in orbit? Two car-sized satellites, worth $75 million each, are stranded in space. Five as...
The Space Shuttle: 5. Space truck
11 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
President Ronald Reagan declares the space shuttle open for business. It’s Independence Day 1982. And we’re in the sweltering Mojave desert of Cal...
The Space Shuttle: 4. The 35 new guys
04 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nasa recruits women and ethnic minorities for the first time to its astronaut class. In the beginning of American spaceflight, all astronauts selected...
The Space Shuttle: 3. Glass rocket
28 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 Space Shuttle: 2. The greatest test flight
21 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The astronauts count down to flying a brand-new spacecraft for the very first time. If they pull it off, they will earn a place in space history.The r...
The Space Shuttle: 1. The spaceplane
14 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Can Nasa build the most complex flying machine in space history? The plan is to create a permanent human presence in space. It’s Spring 1969 - two m...
Introducing: The Space Shuttle
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
To launch like a rocket and land like a plane. The space shuttle: A sci-fi dream that became reality and changed spaceflight forever. Told by the Nasa...
Apollo 13: 7. Resurrection
07 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Can the Apollo 13 crew survive re-entering Earth’s atmosphere aboard the revived Odyssey spacecraft? After four days in a spacecraft with dwindling ...
Apollo 13: Bonus 2. John Aaron
16 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Nasa flight controller John Aaron talks to Kevin Fong about the ill-fated Apollo mission, from the moment of learning about the explosion to his fears...
Apollo 13: Bonus 1. Jim Lovell
14 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Apollo 13 Commander Jim Lovell talks to Kevin Fong about the doomed Nasa mission, from the shocking moment of the explosion to the enormous relief of ...
Apollo 13: 6. Earth in view
12 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Apollo 13 spacecraft goes off course. With no computer to guide them, the astronauts must rely on their flying skills to perform a high-stakes man...
Apollo 13: 5. Life support
05 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Nasa mission control helps Apollo 13’s cold, exhausted astronauts survive deadly carbon dioxide levels in the spacecraft. The constant troubleshooti...
Apollo 13: 4. Power brokers
29 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Apollo astronauts freeze in darkness, struggling to save power. If the battery dies, so do the space crew. And as the damaged spacecraft loses its nav...
Apollo 13: 3. Lifeboat
23 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Apollo 13 astronauts escape to the lunar module, but their problems are far from over. The crew must now survive in a spacecraft never meant for s...
Apollo 13: 2. Death of the Odyssey
16 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Nasa mission control scrambles to diagnose the Apollo 13 disaster. Aboard the spacecraft, warning lights flash and oxygen leaks into space, plunging C...
Apollo 13: 1. Time bomb
09 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Nasa’s third mission to land astronauts on the Moon almost ends in tragedy. Apollo 13 is doomed from the start - it will never touch down on the lun...
Apollo 13: Trailer, The Countdown
19 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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. #...
13 Minutes to the Moon: Bonus - The making of the music
23 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Oscar and Grammy-winning composer Hans Zimmer reveals how he crafted the iconic 13 Minutes to the Moon theme. In this special episode, Zimmer reflects...
13 Minutes to the Moon: 12. Live from Houston
19 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Fifty years after the historic Apollo 11 Moon landing, we’re at Houston’s Rice University, where President John F. Kennedy delivered his iconic “...
13 Minutes to the Moon: 11. The 13 minutes
14 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Nasa archive audio of the astronauts’ dramatic 13 minutes to the Moon, as heard by mission control. All of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s tense ...
13 Minutes to the Moon: 10. ‘For all mankind’
14 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The epic story of the final 13 minutes of the Apollo Moon landing, including Nasa archive tape of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s historic space m...
13 Minutes to the Moon: 9. Tranquility Base
07 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Apollo 11 mission is on the edge of failure, minutes away from the Moon landing. Fuel is low, the tech is stretched and astronaut Neil Armstrong is st...
13 Minutes to the Moon: 8. ‘We’re go for powered descent’
30 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The 13-minute descent to the Moon begins, and it’s all going wrong for Apollo 11. They’re going too fast, alarms are flashing and the crew loses c...
13 Minutes to the Moon: 7. Michael Collins: The third man
23 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The story of Michael Collins, Apollo 11’s third astronaut, in Nasa’s historic spaceflight. He played a crucial role as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Ald...
13 Minutes to the Moon: 6. Saving 1968
16 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Nasa astronauts circle the Moon for the first time, capturing an iconic photo of Earth. Back home, the country is rocked by war, riots and the assassi...
13 Minutes to the Moon: 5. The fourth astronaut
09 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How a briefcase-sized computer, less powerful than a smartphone, pioneered space tech for the first Moon landing. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz A...
13 Minutes to the Moon: 4. Fire to the Phoenix
02 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
13 Minutes to the Moon: 3. Long Island Eagle
26 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The extraordinary story of the ‘Eagle’ spacecraft, which landed astronauts on the Moon. Built by Long Island engineers, it was a spacecraft like n...
13 Minutes to the Moon: 2. Kids in control
19 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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 whe...
13 Minutes to the Moon: 1. ‘We choose to go’, Apollo 11
12 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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 Wa...
13 Minutes to the Moon: Trailer, T-minus 1
29 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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.
13 Minutes to the Moon: Trailer, T-minus 2
26 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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 podc...
13 Minutes to the Moon: Trailer, T-minus 3
22 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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...
13 Minutes to the Moon: Trailer, T-minus 4
12 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The countdown begins. The story of Apollo 11 – coming soon.