Main content

The Space Shuttle: 3. Glass rocket

Columbia reaches orbit but astronaut Bob Crippen discovers that the shuttle has been damaged – can they make it home safely?

Columbia reaches orbit. But astronaut Bob Crippen discovers that the shuttle has been damaged – can he and John Young make it home safely?

Parts of the heatshield to protect the shuttle from searing temperatures on re-entry to Earth have fallen off during the journey into space. This new heatshield has never been tested before in orbit. Could more tiles be missing?

Some scenes in this series use recreated sound effects.

13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle is a ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Audio Science Unit production for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ 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:
Nichelle Nichols NASA advertisement, Nasa Archives, 1977
STS-1 Columbia landing sequence, ABC News, CBS News, 1981
Mission audio and oral histories, Nasa History Office

Available now

47 minutes

On radio

Today 17:32GMT

Featured

  • .

Broadcasts

  • Today 03:32GMT
  • Today 10:32GMT
  • Today 17:32GMT
  • Today 21:32GMT
  • Saturday 21:32GMT

Featured in...

Season 3: The Space Shuttle

Season 3: The Space Shuttle

The space shuttle: A sci-fi dream that became reality and changed spaceflight forever

Season 2: The Apollo 13 story

Season 2: The Apollo 13 story

Jump on-board a doomed mission to the Moon. Apollo 13: the extraordinary story

Season 1: The Apollo 11 story

Season 1: The Apollo 11 story

How the first moon landing was saved. The story of the people who made Apollo 11 happen

Podcast