Astronauts and the future of space exploration
The Documentary Podcast

Astronauts and the future of space exploration

Jan 3, 2026
24:07
-(0)

About this episode

The first crew arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) 25 years ago. Since then, almost 300 people from some 20 nations have visited the orbiting laboratory. If you were born after November 2000, for your entire life, there has always been someone living in space. Astronauts Tim Peake and Nicole Stott share their experiences of living on the ISS. Nasa’s latest venture, Artemis II, is due for launch in the next few months. The ten-day mission will carry four astronauts further than any human has gone before, in a loop far beyond the Moon. It’s the latest stage of the US-led plan to eventually land humans on the lunar surface for the first time since 1972. We bring together astronaut Mike Massimino, who has flown to space twice and starred (as an astronaut) in The Big Bang Theory. We also hear from former Nasa researcher and AI expert, Kiri Wagstaff, and Les Johnson, former senior engineer at Nasa and now the CEO of Infinite Frontiers Consulting. This edition of The Documentary is from BBC OS Conversations, where we bring people together to share their experiences of major events and news stories.

Comments

Rate this episode

Episode Details

Author
BBC World Service
Show Type
full
Audio Format
audio/mpeg

We use analytics

We use Umami, a privacy-friendly analytics tool, to understand how visitors use this site. No personal data is collected and no data leaves our EU servers. You can accept or decline below. Privacy Policy