Trouble with Hubble: 1. A window on the universe

Our view of the universe could be transformed by one of the most ambitious scientific instruments ever built but a terrible disaster strikes Nasa. After decades of meticulous planning, will the Hubble Space Telescope make it into space?

Nasa is in a state of emergency. The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986 means the space agency is under intense scrutiny. Its reputation is wounded, and public interest in spaceflight is beginning to fade. It is betting on a feat of engineering genius: the successful launch and deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Nasa believes the telescope is capable of doing the impossible: peering deeper into the universe than ever before and unlocking some of its greatest secrets.

But Hubble is delicate and extraordinarily complex and it will be Astronaut Kathy Sullivan’s responsibility to help get it into space, no matter what.

Archive: Mission audio and oral histories, Nasa History Office

Theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg, and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music.

13 Minutes: Trouble with Hubble is a BBC Audio Science Unit production for the BBC World Service.

Presenter: Dame Dr Maggie Aderin

Series producer: Harrison Lewis

Sound design: Tony Churnside

Series editor: Ilan Goodman

Senior commissioning producer: Katy Davis

Commissioning editor: Jon Manel