13 minutes to the moon

30 January 2022 – Written by Valentin Huber – in random


“13 minutes to the moon” might just be the best podcast ever made. Produced by the BBC, with a soundtrack by Hans Zimmer, it explores two of NASAs Apollo missions to the moon.

Season 1 is about the last 13 minutes of the Apollo 11 mission before touchdown on the moon. You get to know a lot of the people that held key positions in mission control. It contains a lot of interviews and original audio, including the real-time comms between mission control and the capsule during those 13 minutes, leading up to the penultimate episode, where you just get to listen to the uninterrupted recordings understanding the precise, cryptic and in parts hectic conversations.

Due to the success of Season 1, the BBC produced Season 2 about the accident of the Apollo 13 mission, which brought the astronauts on board to the edge of death and back thanks to the work of all ground control personell.