13 Minutes to the Moon (Podcast)

With no idea how to get there, the race to the moon begins – "we intend to win". To understand how the story ends, we need to start at the very beginning. With Kevin Fong. Starring: Michael Collins Steve Bales Margaret Hamilton Jim Lovell Charlie Duke Theme music by Hans Zimmer

The unsung heroes who saved the day. "Here’s some 26-year-old kid, who could stop the lunar mission." An alarm appears on the on-board computer, but what does it mean? With 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

Ugly, angry, with four legs and wrapped in gold: it was a spacecraft like nothing on Earth. The story of Grumman’s lunar module, with 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

"You heard ‘fire’. Then you heard a scream." The Apollo 1 tragedy and what happened 21 months later – Apollo’s first successful manned mission into Earth’s orbit. With 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

The computer that got us to the moon. The size of a briefcase, there had never been anything like it. Apollo 11 was “the first time software ran on the moon”. This is the story of the world’s first digital portable general purpose computer. The work of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, helped give rise to the digital age. With Kevin Fong. Starring: Ramon Alonso Elaine Denniston Charlie Duke Don Eyles Eldon Hall Margaret Hamilton Dan Lickly

War, riots, assassinations: “the year that shattered America”. And then NASA took the biggest risk in its history. There was the Vietnam War and the murders of Martin Luther King and Robert F Kennedy but with Apollo 8, astronauts went further from Earth than anyone had gone before and changed the way we look at our home forever. With 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

Without the astronaut who didn’t step on the moon, Apollo 11 wouldn’t have succeeded. As Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made their historic landing, Michael Collins was in lunar orbit, playing a crucial role on the mothership. This is his story, with Kevin Fong. Starring: Michael Collins

The 13 minutes begin. Eagle is going too fast. There are communications problems. We have met the people and heard about the Apollo 11 technology, now the descent is underway. This is the full story and it is a leap into the unknown. With 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

We are five and a half minutes to the moon. Tension goes “through the roof”. Neil Armstrong takes control and the fuel starts to run out. In Mission Control, flight controllers count down to 60 seconds of fuel remaining – and then 30 seconds… With 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

History as it happened, explained. Kevin Fong guides us through the descent to the Moon from start to finish, using Capcom Charlie Duke’s communications loop, from NASA’s archive. And 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

History as it happened, uninterrupted: every word, every crackle, the tension and triumph. Hear how Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to reach the Moon. This is NASA’s archive recording of Capcom Charlie Duke’s communications loop from 20 July 1969.

“We choose to go.” The season finale comes from where President John F Kennedy made his famous Moon speech to rally the US behind the Apollo programme. The venue is Rice University in Houston, where we reflect on one of the greatest achievements in human history. And we consider a future return to the moon. With Kevin Fong. Starring: John Aaron Gerry Griffin Walt Cunningham Peggy Whitson