AstrotalkUK

Not for profit website/blog on astronomy, space and my writing

  • Home
    • FAQ
    • Contact
    • About
    • Privacy Policy
  • Content
    • Podcast
    • All episodes
    • Book Review
    • Cyber Security
  • Events

Episode 67: Technik Museum Speyer

By Gurbir Dated: February 3, 2014 Leave a Comment

IMG_3306This episode is a preview of some of the space related exhibits in Europe’s largest aerospace museum – Speyer Technik Museum, in Germany. If you ever go and the following may entice you to do so,  four space exhibits to look out for include the following:

Soyuz TM19 – The landing capsule Soyuz TM-19 was used by the German astronaut Ulf Merbold to return to Earth on 4th November 1994 following his launch in Soyuz TM-20 on 3rd October 1994.

Buran – The Soviet Space shuttle Buran was a the Soviet response to the American Space Shuttle. Two complete working vehicles were made.  The Buran was unmanned and, although reusable, was never actually reused. One made a single flight to space and was later destroyed when the hangar housing it collapsed. The other made 25 test flights also unmanned but only in Earth atmosphere.  Following an unexpected find in the Persian Gulf by German journalists, it was brought to Speyer in 2008.

Bor-5 – To assist the Soviets’ design of the Buran they built and flew BOR-5 – a  1:8 scale model of the Buran. Bor-5  made five unmanned sub-orbital test flights between 1984 and 1988.

Moon rock – One of the largest pieces of Moonrock I have seen on public display. It is from Apollo 15 mission but was unveiled at the Museum in June 2013 by Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan. 

If you do go, it is is a big place – one day is not enough!

Audio  

https://media.blubrry.com/astrotalkuk_podcast_feed/astrotalkuk.org/wp-content/uploads/episode67.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS | More

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook

A public event to commemorate Manchester’s first rocket pioneers

By Gurbir Dated: May 9, 2012 Leave a Comment

Manchester has a world renowned international airport, and if had a group of rocket engineers had had their way, could Manchester have had a spaceport to launch rockets, too?

A group of rocket engineers lead by Eric Burgess formed the Manchester Interplanetary Society in 1936. Working closely with the Sci Fi community, their headquarters were initially on Ashton New Road before moving to member  Harry Turner’s house near Plymouth Grove where the young Arthur C Clarke attended meetings.   Their ambitious choice in naming their society was reflected in the name of their bi-monthly publication – “The Astronaut” published a quarter of a century before Yuri Gagarin made the first flight in to space. It was probably the first time the word “Astronaut” and the idea of human spaceflight entered the Mancunian vernacular.

A brass plaque will be unveiled to a commemorate the Manchester Interplanetary Society on the original site they used to test launch rockets they designed and constructed seventy five years ago. If you would like to attend, download this ms word summary which includes a map.

When: 15:00 – 15:30 Monday 14th May 2012

Where: Clayton Vale, near the city of Manchester stadium.  Download leaflet. Postcode of the nearby Bay Horse Public House is M40 1GR.

Refreshments: will be available for small charge. Limited free parking.

Who is invited: Local astronomers, writers in science and sci fi, press, local politicians, members of the local community and members of Salford Astronomical Society & Manchester Astronomical Society and anyone with an interests in history of spaceflight.

Clayton Vale, a stone’s throw from the velodrome in East Manchester, is now a small picturesque park with the river Medlock running through its length.  In 1936 and 1937 it was undeveloped and used by the MIS members as launch site to test rockets they designed and built.  Their achievements were limited by the prevailing legislation which forced them to use inherently inefficient, solid rocket fuel. Their contemporary rocketry groups in Germany, the Soviet Union and the USA experienced huge success by using liquid fuels.

Clayton Vale March 1937 - The cine film was shown at local cinemas over the following weeks

On 14th May 1937, the key member of the MIS found themselves in court accused of making explosives. Explaining that they were testing propulsion techniques for rocket engines, the judge dismissed the case. About the same time, Philip Cleator, who had founded the British Interplanetary Society in Liverpool in 1933, lobbied the government to repeal the 1875 Explosives Act, without success.

At the Chingford home of R.A.Smith (then HQ of the British Interplanetary Society) on Sunday 17 July 1938 L to R: J.H. Edwards, Eric Burgess, Harry Turner, Guest of Honour Midshipman Robert C. Truax, USN, holding an experimental liquid-fuel rocket motor, R.A. Smith, Maurice Hanson & Arthur C. Clarke. Source: http://www.htspweb.co.uk/fandf/romart/het/footnotes/fanpix/bis1938.jpg

Eric Burgess wrote many books including one of the earliest dedicated to rocket propulsion. In one, Satellites and Spaceflight published in early 1957, he  published images taken with the 8” telescope currently used by the members of the Manchester Astronomical Society, which he had joined in 1936. He also published images of the Moon taken by the 18” telescope now in the observatory at Salford Astronomical Society but at the time located at Jodrell Bank.

Today Astronomical Societies in Manchester, Salford, Didsbury, Altrincham, Bolton, Heaton Park, Altrincham and others continue to inspire the northwest to look up and dream. Arthur C Clarke achieved international success for his science fiction and non-fiction. He wrote both in equal measure. In the 1950s, he permanently moved to Ceylon – today Sri Lanka.   About the same time Eric Burgess emigrated to America and worked for NASA and the space industry.

The inscription on the plaque reads

Ambitions of Spaceflight


Manchester Interplanetary Society

tested their early rockets here in Clayton Vale from 1936

Their legacy is alive today

14 May 2012

British Interplanetary Society

Manchester Astronomical Society

Salford Astronomical Society

The outbreak of World War two brought dramatic developments in rocket technology around the world and to the fortunes of the members of the MIS. In early 1945 as the war approached its end, Burgess, Clarke and others rapidly consolidated the disparate rocket societies around the UK in to a single unified organisation – The British Interplanetary Society – which continues to flourish to this day.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook

Falling to Earth – Book Review

By Gurbir Dated: February 9, 2012 1 Comment

Title: Falling to Earth: An Apollo 15 Astronaut’s Journey to Earth
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
Author: Al Worden & Francis French
ISBN: 13: 978-1588343093 & ISBN 10: 158834309X
Price: $29.95 [304 pages hardcover]

Back in 1966 there used to be an American western TV series called “Branded”. The central character, a West Point graduate and US army captain Jason McCord, is thrown out of the army falsely accused of cowardice. Each episode opens with a humiliating public scene. As his fellow soldiers watch, the captain’s hat is tossed aside, epaulets and buttons ripped off and his sword is ceremonially broken in two before he is cast out of the fort and the doors slammed behind him.

Following the successful return of Apollo 15, Al Worden was accused of unfairly profiting from illicit postal covers (envelopes carried aboard Apollo 15, stamped on day of launch and again on splashdown), in a deal prearranged with a German businessman. Virtually all astronauts had taken personal items on their flights and subsequently sold them for cash later. This was a tradition that NASA had sanctioned since the days of Mercury. But Worden became the fall guy. Abandoned by Deke Slayton (NASA’s Director of Flight Crew Operations), humiliated by Chris Craft (NASA flight director) and dumped by Dave Scott (his Apollo 15 commander), Worden was the only astronaut to be sacked by NASA for this infringement. He was “branded”.

“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 cover from Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin and John Glenn, Worden has finally received the personal redemption from those that he considers matter most – fellow astronauts.

In this three hundred page book Worden describes how Apollo 15 commander Dave Scott arranged a deal with a German businessman for the whole crew. They would fly 100 postal covers to the Moon and back for him to sell privately and discreetly after the space program was over or they left NASA. In return he would set up a trust account of 7000USD in a German Bank for each astronaut to be used for their children’s education.  Within months after the flight it all went wrong. The covers were on the open market with Deke Slayton receiving queries about their authenticity from potential buyers.

Relegated to a desk job following this revelation, Worden describes the humiliating and painful events that followed. He felt ostracised from NASA and in his darker moments was left wondering if life was “still worth living” (p258). He reassesses the idea of honour and discipline he learnt at West Point and the tradition of loyalty within NASA as “bullshit” (p262).   His crewmate Jim Irvin retired and stepped out of the picture, his commander Dave Scott, despite having initiated the business deal, avoided any public castigation. Throughout the book, Worden charts Scott’s culpability in the incident whilst repeatedly emphasising his exemplary command integral to the outstanding success of their challenging mission. Tom Stafford indicates in his book (‘We Have Capture ‘, published in 2004) that this incident cost Scott the command of the USA/USSR joint flight (Apollo Soyuz Test Project) that Stafford went on to command. None of the Apollo 15 crew flew again.

Whilst this is the first detailed account of NASA’s infamous covers incident, there is much more. Worden describes his childhood on a farm in Michigan, homesteaded by his illegal immigrant grandfather Fred from Canada. He describes candidly the harsh reality of his early days at West Point military academy, and throughout the book uses terse and colourful language that he probably picked up there.  He describes with remarkable detail his time with the air force as a test pilot, including an exchange period to Britain, his selection and training as a NASA astronaut and his flight to the Moon. Like all the Apollo missions, Apollo 15’s was a mission impossible. With the heaviest payload and longest duration on the surface of the Moon, it was arguably the most scientifically ambitious lunar mission. It had its share of drama but ended with outstanding success.

This book offers the reader a clearer understanding of the role of the CMP.  As the Apollo 15 CMP, Worden was responsible for the science experiments installed in the specially developed Science Instrument Module (SIM) within the service module. He operated the cameras and instruments during his six days in lunar orbit, for three of which he was alone. During the return journey, whilst still 200,000 miles from Earth, Worden made the deepest of deep space walks to manually recover the film from the cameras in the SIM bay.

Worden insists it was never his intention to become an astronaut until the mid sixties. This ambivalence seems hard to accept from a 21st century perspective. Things were so different then. He describes his genuine fear that his impending divorce might cause him to lose his place on Apollo 15. He smoked then and continues to smoke today saying “if I could have found a safe way to do it, I would have smoked all the way to the Moon and back” (p75).  He too briefly deals with one of the mission’s many unique objectives, the launch from the SIM bay of a sub satellite prior to leaving lunar orbit.

Like any good wine, Worden’s story benefits from the long interval offering a deeper insight into the human element of human spaceflight. Written in a slick punchy style it is entertaining and remarkably informative equally for those who remember the Apollo era and those unfortunate to have been born after it was over.

Two dozen Americans visited the Moon between 1968 and 1972.  As their numbers dwindle and they age the astonishing achievements and sheer magic of that adventure is fading from living memory. Books like this not only introduce a new generation to one of humanity’s greatest adventures, but make a critical contribution to the collective record of that exceptional era by those who made it happen.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook

Astronaut at TEDX Salford

By Gurbir Dated: January 27, 2012 Leave a Comment

Only one day to go for  http://www.tedxsalford.com/ tomorrow at  MediacityUK

If you are in to astronauts you may be interested in this. I received confirmation yesterday that Apollo 7 astronaut Walter Cunningham‘s visit to Pontefract, Yorkshire in March has had to be cancelled. Apollo 17’s Harrison Schmitt in October is still on.

My interviews with astronauts on this blog during their visits to the UK including  episode 12 Buzz Aldrin Apollo 11, Episode 43 Richard Gordon Apollo 12, episode 28 Fred Haise Apollo 13,  episode 35 Ed Mitchell Apollo 14 and episode 45 Al Worden Apollo 15.

Looking forward to the mystery astronaut at TEDXFalford tomorrow – even if it is one of the above.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
Next Page »

Find me online here

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Vimeo
  • YouTube

subscribe to mailing list and newsletter

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Browse by category

Twitter

My Tweets

Recent Comments

  • Episode 109 - The Antikythera Mechanism with Prof Xenophon Moussas - AstrotalkUK on Episode 26: Antikythera Mechanism
  • Missions To Be on the Lookout for During the 2020s – My Company on Episode 90 – An update on ISRO’s activities with S Somanath and R Umamaheshwaran
  • Apprendre les Radioamateurs - Radio club du BorinageRadio club du Borinage on Amateur Radio – Learning Under Lockdown
  • Gurbir on Categories
  • Desmond Welch on Categories

Archives

Select posts by topic

apollo Astrophotography BIS Book Review CCSK China Cloud Computing cnsa comet commercial Cosmology curiosity cyber Education ESA Gagarin History India Infosec ISRO jaxa Mars Media Moon NASA podcast Rakesh Sharma rocket Rockets Roscosmos saturn Science Science Fiction seti Solar System soviet space space spaceflight space race spacerace telescope titan USSR video Vostok

Copyright © 2008–2023 Gurbir Singh - AstrotalkUK Publications Log in

 

Loading Comments...