2. The eye opens

Nasa is in a state of emergency. The eruption of Space Shuttle Challenger immediately after liftoff in 1986 has meant the space agency is under intense scrutiny. Its reputation is wounded, and public interest in spaceflight is beginning to fade. Nasa needs a home run. It is betting on a feat of engineering genius: the successful deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope.

High above the Earth, the crew of Space Shuttle Discovery prepare to lift Hubble from its storage bay and give it a new home in orbit. But they are racing against the clock. They have just eight hours to release the telescope and deploy its solar panels, giving Hubble the power it needs to begin its mission.

If they fail, Hubble will be left drifting in space, a useless, $1.6 billion telescope, another devastating new setback for Nasa.

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.

Hosted by space scientist Maggie Aderin.

Archive: Mission audio and oral histories, Nasa History Office