A cram packed week – so much going on and the weather for the first half of this week is particularly cooperative for visitors to Manchester and observing the night sky. The weather can’t possibly last. I chose to miss out a couple of the evening events and do some observing. I was not able [...]
From Dying Stars to the Birth of Life – Book Review
February 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Title: From Dying Stars to the Birth of Life: The New Science of Astrobiology and the Search for Life in the Universe Publisher : Nottingham University Press Author: Jerry L Cranford ISBN : 978-1-907284-79-3 Price: £24.99 [237 pages hardcover] Subtitled as “The new science of astrobiology and the search for life in the universe”, this [...]
Falling to Earth – Book Review
February 9, 2012 By 1 Comment
“Falling to Earth”‘ is Al Worden’s autobiography, written with the British but USA based space historian Francis French. To mark the 40th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 15, Worden has published the story of his mission as Apollo 15’s command module pilot (CMP) and its immediate aftermath of what came to be known as the “covers incident”, as the centre piece. With a foreword by Dick Gordon, an epilogue by Tom Stafford and further praise on the back cover from Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin and John Glen, Worden has finally received the personal redemption from those that he considers matter most – fellow astronauts.
Episode 35: 22nd July 2010: Dr Edgar Mitchell – Apollo 14
July 26, 2010 By 4 Comments
A man playing golf on the moon is one of the images permanently etched into the collective memory of humanity’s first exploration of the moon. The so called “golf player” was Alan Shepard the guy with him was Dr Edgar Mitchell whilst Stuart Roosa orbited the moon in the command module. Today, Ed Mitchell, two [...]
Episode 29: Venus
August 16, 2009 By Leave a Comment
In size, mass and orbit Venus is the nearest Earth has to a twin in the Solar System. It is the brightest object in the sky after the sun and moon, hottest planet in the solar system, has a day longer than its year, is named after the Roman goddess of love and yet it [...]
Episode 28: Apollo 13
July 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment
On this day 40 years ago the crew of Apollo 11 fulfilled one of mankind’s longest held dreams and walked on the surface of the Moon. One of them Buzz Aldrin in episode 12 of ATUK, recalled a little of that experience. Today’s episode is a short recording with Fred Haise when he visited Pontefract [...]
Episode 26: Antikythera Mechanism
June 28, 2009 By 1 Comment
Everyone who comes across the Antikythera mechanism goes through a phase initially of disbelief and then the awe inspiring realisation that something almost from another world actually exists in ours. Imagine William Shakespeare writing Hamlet using a laptop. Surely a ridiculous proposition he was about 300 years too early for that. He didn’t but today’s [...]
Episode22:Interstellar Dust
July 13, 2008 By Leave a Comment
As episode 21 indicated, the power of science fiction to motivate the imagination is perhaps as strong as science itself. 1957 is known for the launch of Sputnik but it was also the year that the scientist Fred Hoyle published a science fiction novel called The Black Cloud. One of its readers in Italy would [...]
Episode21:Science, Science Fiction and Astrobiology
June 28, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Professor Mark Brake from the University of Glamorgan has an eclectic interest. An academic, broadcaster and author of science and popular science books, he is the organising chair for the the third conference of the Astrobiology Society of Britain: ASB3: The Living Universe, will take place in Cardiff between July 1-4, 2008. We spoke about [...]
Episode18:European Space Agency
June 1, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Since the days of Sputnik and Apollo, Space technology has matured to an extent that it is almost a routine commercial activity. China, India and Japan are well established players in addition to USA and Russia. Next year the Virgin Galactic will embark on space tourism. Since its establishment in 1975, the European Space Agency [...]
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