13 Minutes to the Moon: 1. ‘We choose to go’, Apollo 11

President John F. Kennedy boldly vows that America will land the first astronaut on the Moon by the end of the 1960s. It’s the height of the Cold War. But with superpower rival the Soviet Union leading the space race, after launching the first human spaceflight, the odds seem stacked against them. The Apollo programme, the USA’s daring answer to the race to the Moon, is an epic journey of innovation and exploration. Can Nasa change the course of space history?

Hosted by Kevin Fong.

Starring: Michael Collins Steve Bales Margaret Hamilton Jim Lovell Charlie Duke

Theme music by Hans Zimmer for Bleeding Fingers Music

#13MinutestotheMoon www.bbcworldservice.com/13minutes

This episode was updated on 14 May 2019.