Sky at Night presenter and space scientist Dame Dr Maggie Aderin is to explore the story of the Hubble Space Telescope – one of the most ambitious scientific instruments ever built – in a new season of the BBC World Service’s 13 Minutes podcast.
Launching on October 5th, 13 Minutes: Trouble with Hubble follows the telescope from its final preparations for launch, through its deployment in orbit, the discovery of a devastating flaw in its primary mirror, and the ambitious plan to send astronauts into space to make repairs.
Featuring archive mission audio and oral histories from the NASA History Office, the podcast promises to bring listeners into the control rooms, workshops and spacecraft at the heart of the crisis.
Dr Aderin said: “For me, Hubble is a remarkable story of human ingenuity – and of how people respond when things go terribly wrong. It was meant to open a new window on the universe. Instead, NASA faced the enormous challenge of repairing it in space.
“What draws me to this story is the people behind the telescope: their hopes, their mistakes, and their determination to put things right. That human side makes Hubble’s story so powerful. It reminds us that even an extraordinary achievement can begin with failure.”
BBC World Service Podcast Commissioning Editor, Jon Manel, says: “I’m delighted that 13 Minutes – the BBC World Service’s space podcast – is back with its fifth season.
“Once again, we hear from some of the key astronauts, scientists and engineers, as Dame Dr Maggie Aderin guides us through a story of how an extraordinary plan became reality in the face of huge and unexpected challenges.”
Episode 1 will be available from 5 October on BBC Sounds and other outlets for BBC podcasts, with subsequent episodes released every Monday
Outside the UK, episodes will be available to subscribers on BBC.com (in the United States and Canada) and on BBC Podcasts Premium on Apple Podcasts.
The series will be broadcast on BBC World Service in weekly episodes starting Wednesday 23 December.
13 Minutes: Trouble with Hubble is a BBC Audio Science Unit production for the BBC World Service.