I meet a lot of astronauts through work and they are inspirational people doing an extraordinary job. Personalities vary. They can be formidable, fun, friendly, serious, lighthearted, warm or coolly professional. Human in other words. But...

... there are equally interesting people working behind the scenes within the space industry. This is why one of my more recent radio docs concentrated on seamstresses for the stars from Apollo onwards. Of course, I called it Hey Sisters, Sew Sisters https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct03nx

Joanne Thompson and Jeanne Wilson were part of the team who made the Apollo spacesuits at @ILCDover I felt so honoured to meet them at their former place of work to discuss their work.

I also got to go into the astronaut NASA suit up room at Cape Canaveral with seamstresses Brenda Blackmon and Jean Wright (both wonderful women). They sewed thermal blankets and crucial fabric fillers between the tiles on the Space Shuttle.

Plus I got to talk to @_HerbBaker - who's also been in this slot (hi Herb) - about his mother Aylene. This is Aylene in the middle of sewing a replacement sunshield for Skylab and helping to save the mission.

Sewing is often still required for space missions - such as @BepiColombo which is currently on its way to Mercury. That's what I love about making radio docs & podcasts. There's time to tell a longer story and a chance to explore history, the quirky and a great narrative.