The first problem was down to our own ambition. James and Richard decided to build a space shuttle, which is the most complex kind of space craft imaginable, on account of it having to be re-usable. This meant they'd have to build fuel tanks that detached, and find a way of flying a driverless Robin Reliant.

On top of this they'd need some formidable rocket power to get the thing off the ground, so they reunited with our old friends from the British Rocketry Association, the men who'd sent the Mini down the ski jump in the Top Gear Winter Olympics.