‘It’s rocket science’ I said to myself on hearing about BBC World Service’s ’13 Minutes To The Moon’ podcast.
I needn’t have feared. The science in this 12-part podcast about the 1969’s moon landing is easy to digest. The series begins with President Kennedy’s ‘We choose to go to the moon’ speech. We hear about Apollo 1 tragedy, about how Apollo 8 went ‘where no one has gone before’ and about Apollo 11’s planning & execution (the computers that seem primitive by today’s standards ran software on the moon for the 1st time!). Episode 11 contains the actual exchange between mission control & the astronauts during the final 13 minutes of the landing.
There are many ‘Houston, we have a problem’ moments – alarms from on-board computers, the Eagle moving too fast, Armstrong taking control, choosing a clearer site to land & landing with a few seconds’ worth of fuel to spare. Besides the astronauts, we hear about & from, others in mission control (their average age - 26-27!).
I hadn’t seen the Earth Rise photo taken from Apollo 8. It’s hard not to fall in love with the blue marble rising across the moon. That’s Home! Jim Lovell said it best – God has given us a stage on which to perform, how the play turns out is up to us.
Do take a listen. Trust me - it’s not rocket science!
I needn’t have feared. The science in this 12-part podcast about the 1969’s moon landing is easy to digest. The series begins with President Kennedy’s ‘We choose to go to the moon’ speech. We hear about Apollo 1 tragedy, about how Apollo 8 went ‘where no one has gone before’ and about Apollo 11’s planning & execution (the computers that seem primitive by today’s standards ran software on the moon for the 1st time!). Episode 11 contains the actual exchange between mission control & the astronauts during the final 13 minutes of the landing.
There are many ‘Houston, we have a problem’ moments – alarms from on-board computers, the Eagle moving too fast, Armstrong taking control, choosing a clearer site to land & landing with a few seconds’ worth of fuel to spare. Besides the astronauts, we hear about & from, others in mission control (their average age - 26-27!).
I hadn’t seen the Earth Rise photo taken from Apollo 8. It’s hard not to fall in love with the blue marble rising across the moon. That’s Home! Jim Lovell said it best – God has given us a stage on which to perform, how the play turns out is up to us.
Do take a listen. Trust me - it’s not rocket science!
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