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Out of This World unveils compelling personal tales of bravery, tragedy, ingenuity, political manoeuvring, and triumph, revealing the remarkable story of one of humanity’s greatest ever feats – the International Space Station.

Celebrating 25 unbroken years of humans living in space, engineer and former international director at the UK Space Agency, Alice Bunn charts the shifting geopolitics which led to the East and West putting aside their differences and creating the ultimate symbol of human ingenuity and collaboration – a space station orbiting our planet at 17500 mph, which has been home to over 300 people from 23 different nations.

Using mission audio, news archive and personal stories of those intimately involved in the station’s creation, Alice explores acts of epic survival, inventiveness, humour and selflessness that made the station a reality. She investigates the blueprint for the ISS – Apollo-Soyuz, a joint Soviet/US mission at the height of the Cold War - and why a near fatal disaster on a Russian space station spurred nations to commit to the ISS.

She reveals how a Moscow basement and Hollywood royalty sparked bonding between Russians and Americans and the bromance that fuelled the mission of the first crew to call the ISS home. Alice also discovers how quick thinking and plastic tape saved the station, allowing it to grow to the size of a football pitch and how one astronaut came within seconds of drowning in space.

And looking into the future, Alice questions what is next for the ISS amid such geopolitical turbulence and uncertainty.

This is a timely reminder of the extraordinary feats humanity can achieve when we unite and strive for a common goal.

Producer: Duncan Bulling
Presenter: Alice Bunn
A 2 Degrees West production for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 4