13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle - The Space Shuttle: 1. The spaceplane

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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 months before the launch of Apollo 11 – the first US mission to land humans on the moon. But meanwhile, hidden away from public view, Nasa is thinking the unthinkable.

Maverick engineer Dr Max Faget is already a legend within Nasa. He’s fascinated by what could be next for human spaceflight. In a backroom, of Building 36 at Johnson Space Center, he invites a handful of engineers to a meeting. One of them is Ivy Hooks, a mathematician and engineer. And one of the first female engineers at Nasa.

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:
Richard Nixon launches Nasa’s space shuttle programme, CBS News, 1972
Mission audio and oral histories, Nasa History Office

Published on Monday, 14th July 2025.

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