Welcome to the countdown to the launch of the BBC World Service Podcast, 13 minutes

to the moon.

I was the first female engineer to work in NASA's Mission Control Center in an operational

support role.

I was an astronaut in the Apollo program.

The greatest program in the history of spaceflight, the one that took humans to the moon for

the first time, that was 50 years ago.

My name is Poppy Northcott.

I'm Walt Cunningham.

Twenty seconds and counting.

I'll be helping to tell the story of how we got to the lunar surface in 13 minutes

to the moon.

13 seconds, guidance is internal.

13 minutes to the moon will tell the story of the climax of that first descent to the

moon.

That final 13 minutes and it will go back in time to tell the story of the work that

scientists, engineers, astronauts and so many others did to make it possible.

To get to the moon and back again safely, that was my particular job.

It was amazing to be part of that history.

I'm helping to count down to the podcast launch and I thought you might like to know some

of the others that you'll be hearing from.

There's Michael Collins, one of the astronauts on the first moon landing mission.

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