13 Minutes: Trouble with Hubble

The countdown begins. The story of Apollo 11 – coming soon.

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 engineer in an operational support role in NASA's Mission Control.

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 podcast.

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.

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 War. But with superpower rival the Soviet Union leading the space race, after launching the first human spaceflight, the odds seem stacked against them. The Apollo programme, the USA’s daring answer to the race to the Moon, is an epic journey of innovation and exploration. Can Nasa change the course of space history?

Hosted by Kevin Fong.

Starring: Michael Collins Steve Bales Margaret Hamilton Jim Lovell Charlie Duke

Theme music by Hans Zimmer for Bleeding Fingers Music

#13MinutestotheMoon www.bbcworldservice.com/13minutes

This episode was updated on 14 May 2019.

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 when the spacecraft computer flashes error code 1202. It’s a major test for Nasa mission control - average age just 26. Flight controller Steve Bales must decide if the Moon landing can proceed. Can he and his team save this epic spaceflight in time? These engineers, scientists, controllers and programmers are the unsung heroes who worked behind the scenes to make one of history’s greatest space missions possible.

Hosted by Kevin Fong.

Starring: Steve Bales Charlie Duke John Aaron Glynn Lunney Gerry Griffin Jerry Bostick Gene Kranz courtesy of the Johnson Space Center History Office

Archive: Johnson Space Center History Office

Theme music by Hans Zimmer for Bleeding Fingers Music

#13MinutestotheMoon www.bbcworldservice.com/13minutes

The extraordinary story of the ‘Eagle’ spacecraft, which landed astronauts on the Moon. Built by Long Island engineers, it was a spacecraft like no other - one designed to land on another world. The result was the spidery lunar module, a spacecraft that was “difficult to fly and easy to crash”. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent hundreds of hours in the simulator to prepare for every possible manoeuvre required for the daring, final thirteen-minute descent to the lunar surface.

Hosted by Kevin Fong.

Starring: Charlie Duke Dick Dunne John Devaney Alan Contessa Neil Armstrong courtesy of the Johnson Space Center Oral History Project Tom Kelly courtesy of the MIT Museum Collections

Archive: Johnson Space Center Oral History Project Archive: MIT Museum Collections

Theme music by Hans Zimmer for Bleeding Fingers Music

#13MinutestotheMoon www.bbcworldservice.com/13minutes

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 it is one of the Apollo programme’s darkest moments. After making safety changes, Nasa turns tragedy into triumph. It sends a crew into space, tests the Apollo spacecraft, and paves the way for Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s legendary first steps on the lunar surface.

Hosted by Kevin Fong.

Starring: George Abbey Walt Cunningham Glynn Lunney Gerry Griffin John Aaron Jerry Bostick

Courtesy of the Johnson Space Center Oral History Project: Chris Kraft Gene Kranz Wally Schirra George Jeffs

Courtesy of CBS News: Gus Grissom Ed White Roger Chaffee

Theme music by Hans Zimmer for Bleeding Fingers Music #13MinutestotheMoon www.bbcworldservice.com/13minutes

How a briefcase-sized computer, less powerful than a smartphone, pioneered space tech for the first Moon landing. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin rely on the software to guide their spaceflight to the lunar surface. Developed by a pioneering team of programmers, including trailblazing scientist Margaret Hamilton, the Apollo Guidance Computer helps usher in the digital age.

Hosted by Kevin Fong.

Starring: Ramon Alonso Elaine Denniston Charlie Duke Don Eyles Eldon Hall Margaret Hamilton Dan Lickly

Theme music by Hans Zimmer for Bleeding Fingers Music

#13MinutestotheMoon www.bbcworldservice.com/13minutes

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 assassinations Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy. The crew of the historic spaceflight lift the nation’s spirits with a televised Christmas Eve broadcast from space.

Hosted by Kevin Fong.

Starring: John Aaron Bill Anders Frank Borman Jerry Bostick Michael Collins Jim Lovell Poppy Northcutt Katherine Johnson courtesy of WHRO Chris Kraft courtesy of the Johnson Space Center Oral History Project

Theme music by Hans Zimmer for Bleeding Fingers Music.

#13MinutestotheMoon www.bbcworldservice.com/13minutes

This episode was updated on 19 June 2019.

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 Aldrin landed on the Moon. During those final 13 minutes to the lunar surface, his presence in space allows Nasa mission control to communicate with the ‘Eagle’ when it all starts to go wrong.

Hosted by Kevin Fong.

Theme music by Hans Zimmer for Bleeding Fingers Music.

#13MinutestotheMoon www.bbcworldservice.com/13minutes

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 contact with Nasa mission control. The epic moments that almost jeopardised the first Moon landing.

Hosted by Kevin Fong.

Starring: Charlie Duke Steve Bales Don Eyles

Courtesy of the Johnson Space Center Oral History Project: Neil Armstrong Gene Kranz Jay Greene Jack Garman Bob Carlton

Theme music by Hans Zimmer for Bleeding Fingers Music.

#13MinutestotheMoon www.bbcworldservice.com/13minutes

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 struggling with the rocky lunar surface. He’s flying Eagle like it’s never flown before as he searches for a safe place to land.

Hosted by Kevin Fong.

Starring: Steve Bales Charlie Duke Gerry Griffin

Courtesy of the Johnson Space Center Oral History Project: Neil Armstrong Gene Kranz Jack Garman Bob Carlton

Theme music by Hans Zimmer for Bleeding Fingers Music

#13MinutestotheMoon www.bbcworldservice.com/13minutes

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 mission. The men and women behind this pioneering space mission share their memories and reflections on Apollo 11.

Hosted by Kevin Fong.

We hear memories and reflections on Apollo 11 from:

Charlie Duke Poppy Northcutt John Aaron Jim Lovell Margaret Hamilton George Abbey Michael Collins Bill Carpentier

Theme music by Hans Zimmer for Bleeding Fingers Music.

#13MinutestotheMoon www.bbcworldservice.com/13minutes

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 moments as they make space history. The recording captures the intense pressure and technical challenges during the landing, including low fuel and communication dropouts.

This is Nasa’s archive recording of Capcom Charlie Duke’s communications loop from 20 July 1969.

#13MinutestotheMoon

Fifty years after the historic Apollo 11 Moon landing, we’re at Houston’s Rice University, where President John F. Kennedy delivered his iconic “We choose to go to the Moon” speech to reflect on one of humanity’s greatest achievements. In this season finale, a panel of leading space experts discuss the success of the Apollo programme, how it transformed science and technology and what it means for the future of lunar exploration.

Hosted by Kevin Fong.

Starring: John Aaron Gerry Griffin Walt Cunningham Peggy Whitson

Theme music by Hans Zimmer for Bleeding Fingers Music

#13MinutestotheMoon www.bbcworldservice.com/13minutes

This episode is being released 50 years after the first moon landing.

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 on the art of storytelling, his creative process, and the power of music to capture the wonder of space, sharing why this marks his first-ever score for a podcast.

Hosted by Kevin Fong.

Theme music by Hans Zimmer for Bleeding Fingers Music.

#13MinutestotheMoon www.bbcworldservice.com/13minutes

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. #13MinutestotheMoon Presenter: Kevin Fong Written by Kevin Fong and Andrew Luck-Baker Theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg for Bleeding Fingers Music

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 lunar surface. Even before launch, a last-minute crew change and superstitions about the number 13 cast a shadow over the spaceflight. When an explosion triggers a catastrophic cascade of events, the space crew’s lives hang in the balance.

Hosted by Kevin Fong.

Archive: Nasa and CBS Johnson Space Center Oral History Project

Starring: Jim Lovell Marilyn Lovell Fred Haise John Aaron Gerry Griffin Gene Kranz, courtesy of the Johnson Space Center Oral History Project Charlie Duke Jay Lovell Sy Liebergot Jack Lousma

Written by Kevin Fong and Andrew Luck-Baker

Theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg for Bleeding Fingers Music.

Produced by the BBC Radio Science Unit for the BBC World Service. This episode was updated on 16 March 2020.

Nasa mission control scrambles to diagnose the Apollo 13 disaster. Aboard the spacecraft, warning lights flash and oxygen leaks into space, plunging Commander Jim Lovell and his crew into chaos. In Houston, his wife Marilyn receives a call, unaware the astronauts are losing far more than the Moon landing. With power failing in the Odyssey spacecraft and time running out, the crew face desperate action to survive.

Hosted by Kevin Fong.

Archive: Nasa Johnson Space Center Oral History Project

Starring: Jim Lovell Jack Lousma Gene Kranz, courtesy of the Johnson Space Center Oral History Project Sy Liebergot Bob Heselmeyer, courtesy of the Johnson Space Center Oral History Project Fred Haise John Aaron Marilyn Lovell

Written by Kevin Fong and Andrew Luck-Baker

Theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg for Bleeding Fingers Music. Produced by the BBC Radio Science Unit for the BBC World Service.