13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle

I was excited to get to Season 3 about the space shuttle because that’s where my own experience with space exploration started in the 80s as a child who saw Challenger explode on live TV. But there’s so much attempt to “build drama” with that breathy narration and fake sound effects. It really took away from the story. Also, am I crazy or was there no episode dedicated to Columbia’s final flight? Seemed like we were priming for one with the talk of the thermal tiles and all that. Did I sleep through it or something?? Weird. Not jazzed for the Artemis II season tbh.

The Apollo 11 series is fantastic. Apollo 13 is very good as well. The Space shuttle series is meh. I especially disliked the fake sound effects added on the shuttle series.

The contemporary coverage of Artemis II was very different from the historical seasons before, and not in a good way. This is much more self-involved; sounds like so many podcasts: bunch of fans sitting talking to each other. Y’all could benefit from thinking about what made previous seasons great.

Another great series on space exploration from BBC. Real world experts thoughtfully dig into the people, technology and achievements of Moon missions. Thank you!

I was looking for a good science based podcast discussing the Artemis mission and this one nailed it. Great hosts, excellent production quality and interesting guests. 5 stars.