16 Sunsets

"16 Sunsets" is a captivating 10-part podcast series that explores the dramatic history of NASA's Space Shuttle program, crafted by the award-winning team behind "13 Minutes to the Moon." Hosted by renowned space storyteller Kevin Fong and featuring music by Christian Lundberg from Hans Zimmer's Bleeding Fingers Composers' Collective, the series recounts the birth of the Shuttle era through the eyes of those who built and flew it. From the Shuttle's audacious first flight in 1981 with Commander John Young and rookie Bob Crippen to the intricate technical challenges it faced, the podcast delves into the political, engineering, and cultural forces that shaped its inception. With over 40 interviews from NASA veterans and personal insights from Fong—who witnessed the Shuttle era firsthand—"16 Sunsets" captures the spirit of innovation and the human stories behind the missions, revealing the profound impact of the Space Shuttle on our understanding of human spaceflight. <p style='color:g

16 Sunsets is a history podcast hosted by renowned space storyteller Kevin, with 16 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

renowned space storyteller Kevin hosts 16 Sunsets, a history show with 16 episodes published.

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  16 Sunsets

  Bonus Episode: Chris Hadfield ‘Tilting the Wheel’

  Jun 24, 202547 minS1

  <p>We’re thrilled to bring you our final episode with the legendary Chris Hadfield, and what a way to go out! We dive deep into the mind of someone who decided at age 10 to become an astronaut and actually pulled it off. Chris shares incredible stories that’ll blow your mind - like intercepting Soviet bombers on Christmas Eve during the Cold War, only to hear “Merry Christmas” crackle over the radio from the Russian pilots. We explore his fascinating philosophy on risk (spoiler: he’s not the adrenaline junkie you might expect), hear about the gut-wrenching reality of losing fri...

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  16 Sunsets

  Bonus Episode: Composing 16 Sunsets with Bleeding Fingers

  Apr 24, 202558 minS1

  <p>In this special bonus episode of 16 Sunsets, host Kevin Fong talks to composers Christian Lundberg and Russell Emmanuel, of Hans Zimmer's renowned Bleeding Fingers Composers Collective about the creation and evolution of the compelling suite of themes that underscore the 16 Sunsets series. They discuss how they approached the challenge of capturing the essence of the Space Shuttle program through music, and how they developed themes that evolved alongside the narrative. The composers also reveal the lengths they went to in order to incorporate authentic sounds of the Shuttle into their compositions, to help convey not only the awe and...

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  16 Sunsets

  Bonus Episode: Rob Kelso - Inside the Cathedral of Mission Control

  Apr 10, 202548 minS1

  <p>In this bonus episode of 16Sunsets, we present the interview performed Kevin Fong and Andrew Luck-Baker with former NASA flight director Rob Kelso—a man whose career spans the whole of the Space Shuttle era and whose stories offer a rare glimpse behind the consoles of Mission Control. From the first flight of Columbia to the secret world of classified missions, from the Challenger tragedy to building bonds through storytelling and chili cook-offs, Kelso's journey captures not only the technical brilliance of spaceflight, but also the human spirit that powered it.</p><br><p>With humour, candor, and deep insig...

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  Episode #8

  Columbia Returns

  Mar 27, 202558 minS1

  <p>April 12th 1981.  Bob Crippen and John Young are in orbit around the Earth.  Travelling at 17,500 miles an hour, with the world turning majestically beneath them, they witness 16 sunrises and sixteen sunsets every 24 hours.    They have survived the violence of launch but the mission has run into a potential life-threatening problem. Crippen has just beamed footage down to mission control of missing tiles on the Shuttle’s OMS pods. If tiles are missing there, what about the underside of the orbiter, where the heat of reentry could cause catastrophic damage? Whilst Gene Kranz tries to re-assure the world’s press that eve...

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  Episode #7

  Columbia Rising

  Mar 13, 202547 minS1

  <p>April 12 1981. STS-1. Space Shuttle Columbia now stands proud on pad 39A at Cape Canaveral. After more than a decade of development, planning and assembly, NASA approaches its moment of truth.</p><br><p>The most complex flying machine ever built, two and half million moving parts, hundreds of mission critical components with no back up, brought together in a two thousand tonne stack of propellant, boosters and rocket engines which - when lit - will unleash energy enough to carry its astronaut crew and their vessel into orbit around the Earth. The first all up test of a NASA...

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