Apollo 13: 1. Time bomb

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.