Human Spaceflight: 14 Apr 1970. "Houston, we've had a problem." During their flight out to the moon, a simple housekeeping task on Apollo 13 leads to an oxygen tank explosion that cripples the spacecraft. The crew has to shut down the command module and use the lunar module as a lifeboat.

full of joy this sunday to meet up with space jason @jasonjtt.bsky.social and record an episode of the "robots in your eyes" classic cartoons podcast! better yet, we got to talk about "jem," which has a theme tune i've been obsessed with for 40 years. coming soon!

Human Spaceflight: 11 Apr 1970. Astronauts Jim Lovell (making his fourth spaceflight and second to the Moon), Fred Haise and Jack Swigert lift off on Apollo 13. The plan is to land in the lunar highlands of the Fra Mauro region. As I'm sure everyone knows, the mission didn't quite pan out that way.

Zoe returns and we meet the Princess of Power herself. What will the moral messages behind these episodes be? One of them definitely is a surprise....

Sir, try and remain calm. You’re experiencing a classic knee-jerk reaction to a terror situation. It’s essential at this time that we- IT’S THE WALL!!!

THURSDAY : @wretchedmorgan.bsky.social and @michaelmills.bsky.social join us to stop those white kids Cam and Dave firebombing Ghost Light - but do you think it’s guilty or not guilty of crimes against #DoctorWho? Send us your thoughts for Viewer Evidence! www.youtube.com/live/Orwyn6W...

Human Spaceflight: 24 Nov 1969. Apollo 12 splashes down in the Pacific, completing the second lunar landing. The film camera mounted in the window came off on impact with the sea and hit Alan bean in the head. He didn't have much luck with cameras on this flight!

Human Spaceflight: 20 Nov 1969. After completing the second EVA and having a sleep period, Conrad and Bean ignited Intrepid's ascent engine to lift off from the Moon and rendezvous with the CSM Yankee Clipper. From the window of the command module the approach and docking was captured on TV.

Human Spaceflight: 20 Nov 1969. On the second Apollo 12 lunar surface EVA, Conrad and Bean collected several rock and soil samples, as well as parts of the Surveyor 3 probe that had been sitting on the lunar surface for the past two-and-a-half years.

Good night, JV. 😢 metro.co.uk/2026/02/04/s...

If you're a Doctor Who fan and fancy a chance to tell your story of you and Doctor Who, let me know. I'm about to start recording my fourth series of Thr Library of Impossible Things.

Human Spaceflight: 19 Nov 1969. Apollo 12's lunar module Intrepid, carrying Pete Conrad and Alan Bean, makes the second lunar landing. When the time came for Conrad to step onto the lunar surface, the moment was broadcast in full colour to the world. His first words were... less historic!

Back among the unknown stars of the 31st century, and it seems Ulysses 31 is so named for another reason...

This month's story challenge for February: A story with a historical 'celebrity'! Quote this post with the Doctor Who story you've watched/listened/read for February!

Human Spaceflight: 14 Nov 1969. Astronauts Pete Conrad, Dick Gordon and Alan Bean lift off into a cloudy, rainy sky for the second lunar landing attempt on Apollo 12. And very nearly end up going nowhere! 36 seconds after launch the rocket was struck by lightning. Fortunately no damage resulted.

Human Spaceflight: 18 Oct 1969. Soyuz 8 returns to Earth. The seven cosmonauts of the triple mission were hailed as heroes, and the mission declared a complete success (by leaving out any mention of a planned docking!). Three flights in one go was no mean feat but there were issues to be solved.

Human Spaceflight: 17 Oct 1969. After Soyuz 6 landed the previous day, a few more attempts were made to get Soyuz 7 and 8 to rendezvous and dock. They were unsuccessful, and the plan was finally abandoned. Soyuz 7 returned to Earth successfully.

Human Spaceflight: 16 Oct 1969. Soyuz 6 returns to Earth after a few days in space. Although the triple rendezvous mission hadn't gone as planned, the other experiments were successfully completed, even if one of them, a test of a new welding system for use in space, nearly punctured the hull!

Watching some TNG and DS9 and the Klingons really come across now as 'alpha male' types. They go on about glory, combat,victory, but when we see most of them in actual combat they're rubbish! Looking at 'The Way of the Warrior', they storm DS9 in the final act and should win easily. However....

Tegan in miniskirt and t-shirt, you say?

Back to the magical realms today. A couple of episodes that make us wonder if these story pitches were a good idea...

Human Spaceflight: 13 Oct 1969. Vladimir Shatalov and Aleksei Yeliseyev lift off aboard Soyuz 8 to join Soyuz 6 and 7 in orbit. For the first time three spacecraft are orbiting together. Unfortunately the planned docking mission failed. Nonetheless, the triple flight was hailed as a success.

Human Spaceflight: 12 Oct 1969. Cosmonauts Anatoly Filipchenko, Vladimir Volkov and Viktor Gorbatko head into orbit on Soyuz 7, there to join Soyuz 6 and await the launch of Soyuz 8 for the planned triple mission. All was well at this point.

Human Spaceflight: 11 Oct 1969. Cosmonauts Valery Kubasov and Georgy Shonin lift off aboard Soyuz 6 in the first launch of an ambitious triple flight. Keen to do something spectacular, the plan was for two Soyuz craft to dock in space while a third televised it. Things did not go to plan...

“Sarek, I know that he has caused you pain, but I also know that you love him.” “Tell him, Picard.” Mark Lenard was so bloody good as Sarek it’s always surprising how little he’s actually in Star Trek overall.

Republish - Transit Joe, @jameslark.bsky.social @jasonjtt.bsky.social @ianwinterton.bsky.social have a feisty discussion about trains, semen, companion could have beens, a drunk Doctor and some substantial worldbuilding. Consensus? No way! podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/h...

Leaf blowers. Just, why?! Use a rake, use a broom, put your back into it. If you're going to insist on using something that makes a noise that awakens latent murderous rage in everyone in earshot, make it a fucking vacuum that sucks them up rather than blowing them all over the place.

Republish - Join Joe, @jasonjtt.bsky.social @jameslark.bsky.social @ianwinterton.bsky.social as we read and critique the very first New Adventure - and it's a Target novel! Brilliant character insight, dynamic Dalek POVs and continuity heaven. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/h...

Human Spaceflight: 07 Aug 1969. Activities in the Soviet Union continued towards manned lunar flight. Another uncrewed test of a circumlunar flight was Zond 7. It carried various experiments and took several colour pictures. Politicians were unimpressed, however, and this programme was cancelled.

Human Spaceflight: 24 Jul 1969. Apollo 11 splashes down, completing the goal of landing on the moon and returning safely to the Earth by the end of the decade.

I'm really more and more convinced that Section 31 was the worst idea ever added to Star Trek, and has had far more traction than it ever deserved. It was a terrible concept, executed badly, and twisted the entire core of Trek in a far more cynical direction than it should.

Fuck me, the Starfleet Academy complaints about Jem'hadar hybrids and Cheronians and so on. The show is set about 800 years after DS9. Why does anyone expect thigs established for that time frame to remain unchanged for that long?!

Reposting for the evening crowd

Human Spaceflight: 21 Jul 1969. After almost a full (Earth) day on the lunar surface, Armstrong and Aldrin depart in the ascent stage of the LM Eagle to rendezvous with Mike Collins in the orbiting Columbia.

Steven Lawley is my guest today, talking about one of the first animated Star Was spin-offs.

Human Spaceflight: 20 Jul 1969. "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." NASA meets the goal of landing a man on the Moon before the end of the decade as the Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle touches down in the Sea of Tranquility. Some hours later, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin step out.

Human Spaceflight: 20 Jul 1969. "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." NASA meets the goal of landing a man on the Moon before the end of the decade as the Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle touches down in the Sea of Tranquility. Some hours later, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin step out.

Human Spaceflight: 16 Jul 1969. All eyes were on NASA as astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins launched on Apollo 11, the first attempt at landing a man (or two) on the Moon.

Human Spaceflight: 03 Jul 1969. With the race to the moon to all intents and purposes lost, the Soviet Union still hoped to get there with their N1 rocket. N1-5L was prepared for launch in the hopes the lessons learned from the previous failure would ensure success. It did not go well...

Human Spaceflight: 03 Jul 1969. With the race to the moon to all intents and purposes lost, the Soviet Union still hoped to get there with their N1 rocket. N1-5L was prepared for launch in the hopes the lessons learned from the previous failure would ensure success. It did not go well...

Listening to the soundtracks of Classic Who stories on my commute, and coming to the end of the Hartnell era, I’ve just listened to Ben and Polly in the hottest night club in town. The War Machines is a really strong start for these two.

Human Spaceflight: 26 May 1969. Apollo 10 splashes down, completing a very successful dress rehearsal mission for a lunar landing. With all objectives met, the next step was the big one: landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade....

Human Spaceflight: 22 May 1969. Having entered lunar orbit the previous day, astronauts Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan separated the Lunar Module 'Snoopy' from the Command Module 'Charlie Brown' and made a low pass to within 50,000 feet of the lunar surface. Live TV of the LM departing was sent back.

Current peeve: social media posts about TV shows or films that try to seem clever by asking 'why did this thing happen/not happen', entirely overlooking explanations very clearly given in dialogue or action.

Oh, so much this. Yes, there are documented cases where directors deliberately provoked a real reaction from actors (like dropping Alan Rickman early in Die hard) but for the most part it's something called 'acting' that these people have made it their job to learn to do well.

Reposting our excursion to the 31st century for the evening crowd.

OK, I'm late to the party but finally got around to listening to this today, and what a fun 90 minutes it is! If you haven't managed it yet, stick this in your lug'oles. Wonder what else is in the pipeline. Hoping for 'The Tripods' myself...

Once more wandering among unknown stars in the 31st century with @drewwagar.bsky.social

Human Spaceflight: 18 May 1969. building on the success of Apollo 9, the Apollo 10 mission lifted off on this day carrying astronauts Tom Stafford, John Young and Gene Cernan on a flight to test the lunar module in lunar orbit. This was the dress rehearsal to meat Kennedy's end of the decade target.

Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered I have fought my way to the cinema beyond the Nando’s restaurant. For my recliners are as comfy as yours, and my nachos as cheesy… Damn, I can never remember that film!