16 Sunsets

A space shuttle stands on the pad, seething in the darkness, ready to go. Its mission is high speed espionage. Launching into the night sky, it heads north toward the pole, lining up over the Soviet Union. This is no science mission, but part of a highly classified military plan, which sees the Shuttle become an instrument of the Cold War. That requirement shaped both the design of the shuttle and the future of NASA’s human space exploration programme for the next thirty years. So why did that secret mission never fly?

Ever wondered how the Space Shuttle came to be? Welcome to a new podcast series, 16 Sunsets. Host Kevin Fong takes you back to a pivotal moment in history, revealing the high-stakes drama behind this iconic orbiter, as told by those who were there. 

Featuring: Bob Crippen, Guy Faget, Max Faget, Matthew Hersch, Jeff Hoffman, Chris Kraft, Jennifer Lavasseur, Ken Mattingly, Tom Moser, Bob Stewart, Ken Young.

Credits:

Written and presented by Dr Kevin Fong

Producers: Rami Tzabar and Andrew Luck-Baker with additional production by Dave Giles

Assistant Producer: Kate Arkless Gray

Sound Design and Mixing: Richard Courtice

Music: Christian Lundberg, part of Hans Zimmer’s Bleeding Fingers Composer Collective

With special thanks to Sandra Johnson and Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre Oral History Project 

Executive Producers: Stuart Coxe, Kevin Fong, Jago Lee and Rami Tzabar

16 Sunsets is an Antica and TellTale Production 2024

 It’s 1968 and humanity reaches the Moon, but back on Earth, NASA is fighting for its life. As Apollo 8 makes history, the space agency faces a crisis. With the Vietnam War raging, political assassinations and social unrest gripping America, public interest in space exploration is dwindling, even before Neil Armstrong takes that one giant leap for mankind. To survive, NASA gambles on a radical new program: the Space Shuttle - a reusable spacecraft promising a new era of spaceflight, but it comes at a cost – a Faustian bargain with the US military, that will reshape its dreams and NASA's destiny.

Ever wondered how the Space Shuttle came to be? Welcome to a new podcast series, 16 Sunsets. Host Kevin Fong takes you back to a pivotal moment in history, revealing the high-stakes drama behind the iconic program, as told by those who were there. Discover how NASA, facing oblivion, forged an unlikely alliance and changed the course of space exploration forever.

Featuring: John Aaron, Guy Faget, Max Faget, Gerry Griffin, Matthew Hersch, Jeff Hoffman, Chris Kraft, Jennifer Lavasseur, David Mindell, Tom Moser, Teasel Muir-Harmony. 

Credits: 

Written and presented by Dr Kevin Fong

Producers: Rami Tzabar and Andrew Luck-Baker with additional production by Dave Giles

Sound Design and Mixing: Richard Courtice

Music: Christian Lundberg, part of Hans Zimmer’s Bleeding Fingers Composer Collective

Additional Research by Kate Arkless-Gray

With special thanks to Sandra Johnson and Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre Oral History Project 

Executive Producers: Stuart Coxe, Kevin Fong, Rami Tzabar and Jago Lee

16 Sunsets is an Antica and TellTale Production 2024

Links: