“We choose to go.” The season finale comes from where President John F Kennedy made his famous Moon speech to rally the US behind the Apollo programme. The venue is Rice University in Houston, where we reflect on one of the greatest achievements in human history. And we consider a future return to the moon. With Kevin Fong. Starring: John Aaron Gerry Griffin Walt Cunningham Peggy Whitson Theme music by Hans Zimmer for Bleeding Fingers Music #13MinutestotheMoon www.bbcworldservice.com/13minutes This episode is being released 50 years after the first moon landing.
Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to tell you about something else you might enjoy.
My name's Alison Hindl and I commission audio drama and fiction for the BBC.
It's a great privilege because I get to unearth stories people love.
You should see the books and scripts covering my floor from new talent and established writers as well as classics.
The BBC has such a rich history of making great audio drama, we're still the largest producer in the world, and the popularity of podcasts means we can share what we do with even more people.
So if you like to lose yourself in a gripping audio drama or book, find your next listen on BBC Sounds.
This is Rice University football stadium in Houston, the very place in 1962 that President John F.
Kennedy chose to make his famous speech rallying a nation to the great challenge of landing people on the surface of the moon before the end of the decade.
I can imagine the electric atmosphere here that day under the searing Texas sunshine with the stands towering above me, packed with 40,000 expectant Americans and the young president where I am standing now on the 50 yard line at his podium on this field.
And this generation does not intend to founder in the backwash of the coming age of space.
We mean to be a part of it.
We mean to lead it.
We set sail on this new scene.
That speech set the world on course for the greatest feat of exploration in the history of our species.
So for the last podcast in our series, we thought Rice University was the perfect place to bring together a panel of people who've all played their part in the boldest adventure of all time.
We choose to go to the moon.
We choose to go to the moon.
We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.
Because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills.
Because that challenge is one that we're willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win.