The BBC World Service will release daily episodes of its space podcast to follow NASA’s Artemis II mission in real time.
A new season of 13 Minutes will track the 10 day journey of NASA’s Artemis II mission, which will send astronauts around the Moon for the first time since 1972.
The series, 13 Minutes Presents: Artemis II, will begin around two days before launch and run every day during the mission.
If successful, the mission could see astronauts travel further from Earth than anyone in history, potentially surpassing the distance record set during Apollo 13.
Artemis II will not land on the Moon but will loop around the far side, testing the Orion spacecraft ahead of a planned lunar landing with Artemis III in 2027.
The podcast will be hosted by Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Tim Peake and Kristin Fisher. They will be joined by BBC News Science Editor Rebecca Morelle and Science Correspondent Pallab Ghosh.
Four astronauts, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, are due to take part in the mission, with the next potential launch window in early March.
Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock said: “The Artemis II mission is a defining moment in space exploration, and 13 Minutes Presents: Artemis II is about bringing people with us on that journey. To be able to tell that story as it unfolds, in real time, is incredibly exciting.”
Tim Peake added: “Artemis II marks the first time in over fifty years that humans will travel around the Moon, and through this podcast we’ll be discussing the risks, the rewards and the remarkable teamwork behind the mission as it happens.”
The series will also air on the BBC World Service within the Outside Source programme on weekdays at 5.30pm GMT, and at weekends during The Newsroom.
Tim Peake and Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock will also appear in Artemis: Horizon Special for BBC Two and iPlayer, filmed with access inside NASA.
