10. Return to flight
The space shuttle is back. Nasa鈥檚 reusable aircraft rises again, after being grounded for more than two years. But the memory of the Challenger disaster won鈥檛 leave them.
The space shuttle is back. Discovery stands waiting on launchpad 39B at Kennedy Space Center. It has taken more than two years to get here. Nasa has listened and changed. After all these months of work, this should be one of the safest missions ever flown.
But as Discovery finally rises skyward, the Challenger disaster is on everyone鈥檚 mind. There are unspoken questions about the very future of spaceflight.
Some scenes in this series use recreated sound effects.
13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle is a 麻豆社 Audio Science Unit production for the 麻豆社 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:
Return to flight, Nasa Archives, 1988
Ronald Reagan speaks at STS-4 launch, Reagan Library, 1982
STS-26 coverage, CNN, CBS News, 麻豆社, 1988
Mission audio and oral histories, Nasa History Office
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Broadcasts
- Wed 24 Sep 2025 03:32GMT麻豆社 World Service
- Wed 24 Sep 2025 12:32GMT麻豆社 World Service except Australasia, East and Southern Africa, News Internet & West and Central Africa
- Wed 24 Sep 2025 17:32GMT麻豆社 World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Wed 24 Sep 2025 21:32GMT麻豆社 World Service except East and Southern Africa, Europe and the Middle East & West and Central Africa
- Sat 27 Sep 2025 21:32GMT麻豆社 World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
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