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13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle

Epic space stories. From Nasa’s first Moon landing to Apollo 13 and the Space Shuttle. Told by the people who made them happen. NEW SEASON: 13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle.

World Service,38 episodes

Episodes

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The Space Shuttle
Introducing: The Space Shuttle
To launch like a rocket and land like a plane. The space shuttle: A dream became reality
25 Jun 2025,3 mins
The Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle: 1. The spaceplane
Can Nasa build the most complex flying machine in space history?
14 Jul 2025,44 mins
The Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle: 2. The greatest test flight
The astronauts count down to flying a brand-new spacecraft for the very first time
14 Jul 2025,43 mins,
The Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle: 3. Glass rocket
Columbia reaches orbit but the shuttle has been damaged – can they make it home safely?
14 Jul 2025,46 mins
The Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle: 4. The 35 new guys
Nasa recruits women and ethnic minorities as astronauts for the first time
14 Jul 2025,43 mins
The Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle: 5. Space truck
President Reagan declares the shuttle open for business. Then a satellite goes missing
14 Jul 2025,44 mins
The Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle: 6. Satellite for sale
Can the crew rescue the million-dollar space satellite lost in orbit?
14 Jul 2025,45 mins
The Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle: 7. Teacher in space
Nasa needs to kick-start new interest in the shuttle. How about a classroom recruit?
14 Jul 2025,44 mins,
The Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle: 8. A major malfunction
The Challenger tragedy shocks a nation. But could it have been prevented?
14 Jul 2025,51 mins,
The Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle: 9. What is it all for?
Is human spaceflight worth the risk? After the disaster come tough questions.
14 Jul 2025,39 mins
The Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle: 10. Return to flight
The space shuttle is back – and they’re ready for lift off
14 Jul 2025,33 mins
Apollo 13
Apollo 13: Trailer, The Countdown
Jump on-board a doomed mission to the Moon. Apollo 13: the extraordinary story
19 Feb 2020,3 mins
Apollo 13
Apollo 13: 1. Time bomb
Nasa’s third mission to land astronauts on the Moon almost ends in tragedy
11 Mar 2020,43 mins
Apollo 13
Apollo 13: 2. Death of the Odyssey
Mission control scrambles to diagnose disaster. The astronauts face desperate action
18 Mar 2020,45 mins
Apollo 13
Apollo 13: 3. Lifeboat
The Apollo astronauts escape to the lunar module. Can Nasa help the space crew survive?
25 Mar 2020,44 mins
Apollo 13
Apollo 13: 4. Power brokers
The astronauts freeze in darkness. Can Nasa find a way to bring them to Earth safely?
01 Apr 2020,45 mins
Apollo 13
Apollo 13: 5. Life support
Nasa help Apollo 13’s cold, exhausted crew survive deadly CO2 levels in the spacecraft
08 Apr 2020,34 mins
Apollo 13
Apollo 13: Bonus 1. Jim Lovell
Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell talks to Kevin Fong about the doomed Nasa mission
14 Apr 2020,41 mins
Apollo 13
Apollo 13: 6. Earth in view
Apollo 13 goes off course. With no computer, the astronauts rely on their flying skills
15 Apr 2020,31 mins
Apollo 13
Apollo 13: Bonus 2. John Aaron
Nasa flight controller John Aaron talks to Kevin Fong about the ill-fated Apollo mission
16 Apr 2020,39 mins
Apollo 13
Apollo 13: 7. Resurrection
Can the Apollo 13 astronauts survive the dangers of re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere?
08 Jun 2020,60 mins
13 Minutes to the Moon
13 Minutes to the Moon: Trailer, T-minus 4
The countdown begins
12 Apr 2019,1 min
13 Minutes to the Moon
13 Minutes to the Moon: Trailer, T-minus 3
Introducing 13 Minutes to the Moon, with an Apollo astronaut and former NASA engineer
22 Apr 2019,2 mins
13 Minutes to the Moon
13 Minutes to the Moon: Trailer, T-minus 2
Hans Zimmer has composed the 13 Minutes to the Moon theme music. It’s his first podcast
26 Apr 2019,1 min
13 Minutes to the Moon
13 Minutes to the Moon: Trailer, T-minus 1
The final part of our audio countdown. Lift off is on 13 May 2019
29 Apr 2019,4 mins
13 Minutes to the Moon
13 Minutes to the Moon: 1. ‘We choose to go’, Apollo 11
How Cold War rivalry fuelled Nasa’s race to land the first astronaut on the Moon
15 May 2019,44 mins
13 Minutes to the Moon
13 Minutes to the Moon: 2. Kids in control
The Moon landing is threatened when an alarm goes off. Can Nasa save the spaceflight?
22 May 2019,47 mins
13 Minutes to the Moon
13 Minutes to the Moon: 3. Long Island Eagle
The extraordinary story of the Eagle spacecraft that landed astronauts on the Moon
29 May 2019,42 mins
13 Minutes to the Moon
13 Minutes to the Moon: 4. Fire to the Phoenix
Nasa’s ambitions of a Moon landing are threatened by a deadly launchpad inferno
05 Jun 2019,45 mins
13 Minutes to the Moon
13 Minutes to the Moon: 5. The fourth astronaut
How a briefcase-sized computer pioneered space tech for the first Moon landing
12 Jun 2019,47 mins