Artemis II: 12. Please return to your seats

About this episode

The episode discusses the Artemis II mission's re-entry and features insights from NASA scientist Dr. Phil Metzger.

The Artemis II mission hurtles towards re-entry and splashdown. The 13 Minutes crew run through the schedule that includes 28,864 mph, searing heat, 11 parachutes, and 3.9g forces. Long-time Nasa scientist Dr Phil Metzger talks about the issue of AVCOAT – the ablative coating that will shield the capsule’s flat underside. And we also talk about his work at Nasa’s “Swamp Works” where much was studied about building structures on the moon for a moonbase. Season 4 theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music. You can get in touch with the 13 Minutes Presents: Artemis II team by emailing 13minutes@bbc.co.uk. 13 Minutes Presents: Artemis II is a BBC Audio Science production for the BBC World Service. Presenters: Tim Peake and Maggie Aderin Producers: Alex Mansfield and Sophie Ormiston Series editor: Martin Smith

People in this episode

Hosts: Tim Peake, Maggie Aderin

Guest: Dr Phil Metzger

Topics covered

• space exploration
• Artemis II mission
• NASA
• moonbase construction
• re-entry and splashdown

Keywords

• Artemis II
• NASA
• re-entry
• splashdown
• moonbase
• AVCOAT
• Dr Phil Metzger

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Nasa, BBC World Service, Bleeding Fingers Music

Books & works: Season 4 theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg

More episodes of 13 Minutes Presents: Artemis II

• Artemis II: 14. The Learnings · May 4, 2026 · 42 min
• Artemis II: 13. Splashdown · April 11, 2026 · 36 min
• Artemis II: 11. Science surprises · April 9, 2026 · 43 min
• Artemis II: 10. How to train your astronaut · April 8, 2026 · 29 min
• Artemis II: 9. Bye bye, fly-by · April 7, 2026 · 45 min
• Artemis II: 8. Final approach · April 6, 2026 · 40 min