As we get nearer to STS-1 and that first all-up test of Space Shuttle Columbia, we wanted to take a look at one of the technical challenges that caused that first launch to slip back from 1979 to 1981: the thermal protection system that kept the extreme temperatures of launch, life in orbit, and re-entry from damaging the spacecraft and putting the crew at risk.

So today, we’re sharing an interview that Kevin Fong and Andrew Luck Baker did with a former Orbiter Mechanic at Kennedy Space Center, Terry White. Terry worked on the shuttle from its arrival at the space center in 1979 until its retirement in 2011.

In this fascinating interview we’ll hear what it was like to prepare a space shuttle for flight, and the enormous challenges that the team had to overcome to get it ready for the STS-1, the shuttle fleet’s first mission.

Credits:

Written and presented by Dr Kevin Fong

Producers: Andrew Luck-Baker and Rami Tzabar with additional production by Dave Giles.

Assistant Producer: Kate Arkless Gray

Sound Design and Mixing: Richard Courtice

Music: Christian Lundberg, part of Hans Zimmer’s Bleeding Fingers Composer Collective

With special thanks to Sandra Johnson and Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre Oral History Project

Executive Producers: Stuart Coxe, Kevin Fong, Jago Lee and Rami Tzabar

16 Sunsets is an Antica and TellTale Production 2024

Check out our website at https://sixteensunsets.com

Instagram: @sixteen_sunsets

X: @16sunsets

Want more 16 Sunsets? Become a premium member of our community and unlock exclusive content, including early and ad-free episodes, by subscribing to 16 Sunsets on Supercast. Learn more at https://16sunsets.supercast.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tech in 2026 – AI winners, losers and what happens next

The Times Tech Podcast

Can AI enable scientific breakthroughs?

The AI-powered Podcast Player