13 Minutes to the Moon

<p>The BBC’s space podcast. Season 4: Artemis II. We told the story of Nasa’s mission to loop around the Moon. UPDATE: New season coming soon, about the Hubble Space Telescope. Season 5 launches on 5 October 2026.</p><p>Artemis and the return to the Moon. The BBC’s space podcast followed the Artemis II mission every day for two weeks. Nasa returned to the Moon for the first time in more than half a century. The mission sent four astronauts – on a spacecraft called Orion - to loop around the Moon. They went further from Earth than any human in history. The story of Artemis II is told by space scientist Maggie Aderin, British astronaut Tim Peake, and US space journalist Kristin Fisher. </p><p>The last crewed mission to The Moon was Apollo 17 in 1972. Orion’s crew was Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen. </p><p>13 Minutes is the BBC’s space podcast, telling epic space stories. It’s produced by the BBC Audio Science Unit for the BBC World Service. Theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music. </p><p>Previous seasons: </p><p>Season 1: 13 Minutes to the Moon. The first Moon landing. In the final dramatic 13-minute descent to the Moon, the Apollo 11 mission came close to going badly wrong. Communication was breaking down, technology was failing and fuel was running out. This is the story of how the first Moon landing was saved. Presented by Kevin Fong. </p><p>Season 2: Apollo 13. Apollo 13 should have been the third Moon landing, but after an explosion, it almost ended in tragedy. Told by the people who flew it and saved it. Presented and co-written by Kevin Fong. </p><p>Season 3: The Space Shuttle. A sci-fi dream that changed spaceflight forever. From the boldest test flight in history to one of Nasa’s darkest days – the Challenger disaster. Space scientist Maggie Aderin tells the awe-inspiring story of the programme that brought triumph and tragedy. Some scenes in this series use recreated sound effects. </p><p>Theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music.</p>