BBC Radio 7 to re-broadcast adaptation of Stephen Baxter’s 1996 novel Voyage

BBC Radio 7’s Seventh Dimension programme will re-broadcast a stellar 1999 radio adaptation of British hard science fiction author Stephen Baxter's award-winning alternate history novel Voyage (1996), in which President John F. Kennedy survives his assassination attempt and the first manned mission to Mars blasts off in the year 1985. Adapted by Dirk Maggs and starring William Roberts and Laurel Lefkow, Voyage will be broadcast in five 30-minute segments, from Monday, March 29, through Friday, April 3, 2010, at 6:00 pm and Midnight (GMT):

• 1969-71 Decision. The first manned Mars mission awaits in this alternative history of the US space programme.

• 1972-80 Trajectories. Geologist Natalie York battles for a seat on the first manned Mars mission.

• 1980 Apollo N. The first manned mission to Mars hangs on the NERVA nuclear booster test flight.

• 1981-85 Approaches. Natalie York's hopes of a seat on the first manned Mars mission look bleak.

• 1985-86 Project Ares. The first manned Mars mission blasts off on a perilous voyage of discovery.

Presumably, the broadcast will be archived and available on-demand for a very limited time through BBC7’s Listen Again feature. In other words, plan ahead!