AstrotalkUK

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

Presentation Slides 18 July 2020

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The BIS-WM branch organised a live presentation today (18 July 2020) using Zoom. Thanks to all at BIS-WM for organising and all of you who joined. I said I would share the links and slides.

1. Astrotalkuk.org – Episode 68 from 2014. Archive material from March 2020.
2. Look inside the book.
3. Purchase book. Use  33% discount code = YYFEP4D during checkout only on this link. If in India then use Pothi.com
4. Indian Airmails.com – Piyush Khaitan. Other useful links.
5. British Interplanetary Society

Click for the presentation in pdf format

Download the slides used in the presentation in pdf format. The video of the recording will be made available soon. All those who registered will be notified by email when it is available online.

India’s Forgotten Rocket Pioneer – Fee Zoom Meeting 14:00 – 15:15 Saturday 18th July

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Early development of rockets took place in several countries during the 1930s and 1940s. In Austria it was Friedrich Schmiedl, Germany had Gerhardt Zucker and in India it was Stephen H Smith. Although was a contemporary of Hermann Oberth, Robert Goddard and Willy Ley, Smith’s contribution was not in the same league. 

Organised by the West Midlands branch of the British Interplanetary Society. Join us live. It is free but you need to register here.

Smith joined the BIS in late 1934 and details of his rocket experiments were published in the BIS bulletin in 1935. So this presentation will have a strong BIS component.

Want to look inside the book – click here or the image below.

Look inside the book

The main contact for Smith in India was BIS secretary Leslie Johnson. Most of the letters I found were from Smith to Johnson but one was from Johnson to Smith. I will speak about this during my presentation.

Letter from Leslie Johnson to Stephen Smith dated 31st Aug 1938

Episode 84: NASA after the Shuttle. SLS and The Gateway

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David Baker

David Baker has been involved with the USA since childhood. First attending a US school in England and then studying in the US under a scholarship program sponsored by Senator Clinton P Anderson. He returned to the USA and worked for NASA on various programs from Gemini to the SpaceShuttle. He was present in mission control in 1970 and witnessed the drama of Apollo 13 first hand.

He joined the British Interplanetary Society in 1965, published his first article in the society’s journal Spaceflight in 1969 and since 2011 has been the editor of that very journal -Spaceflight. To date, he has published a remarkable 110 books by the close of 2018 with a few more in the pipeline for 2019 to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Apollo 11.

(Note – following questions on the veracity of his Phd, David Baker resigned from the BIS as the editor of Spaceflight on 25th March 2021.)

In this episode, we talk about the current status of the space programme in the US and the changing role of NASA.

  • The USA has not been able to launch US astronauts from the USA since the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011. NASA found itself in a similar position between 1975 (Apollo Soyuz Test programme) and the first Space Shuttle in 1981.
  • Why NASA dropped the Ares programme and why its replacement, the Space Launch System (SLS) schedule remains unclear. The first SLS mission, uncrewed – Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) by 2020 and the second crewed mission, Exploration Mission-2 (EM-2) by 2023.
  • The successor to the ISS, the “Gateway” is an international project for a space station in lunar orbit. Only about a third of the size of the ISS and it will have fewer international partners.
  • The gateway is seen by Russia as an American lead programme. Will Russia participate with the gateway or consider a joint Russia/China human spaceflight programme?
  • China/USA cooperation in space has been prohibited ny US law. What prospects that this will change?

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Episode 54: 23 July 2012 – Manchester Interplanetary Society and Stanley Davis

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Stanley Davis

The August 2012 edition of Spaceflight, the monthly magazine from the British Interplanetary Society carried an article where I discuss the Northwest of England’s contribution in Rocketry during the 1930s. An extended version of that article is available for free download on Astrotalkuk.org – here.

So on to today’ episode.

In 1937, two teenagers Harry and Stanley with an outrageous ambition to design and build rockets for space travel joined a newly formed group with a name to match – the Manchester Interplanetary Society. Soon each met a girl, fell in love, exchanged wedding rings and got married. They went off on their separate ways but pledged to stay stay in touch. In addition to his interest in rockets he had a strong interest in science. In the late 1930’s he went by train to London to hear a talk from H.G. Wells. Had he not died prematurely, he like Harry would have immersed himself in the sci-fi fandom movement that blossoming in Britain from the early 1930s.

Wooden Statue of Abraham Lincoln. Carved by Stanley Davis

Members of the Manchester Interplanetary Society. Harry Turner is 1st on the left

Two years later began the ferocious and violent events of World War Two that would shatter  their dreams and lives along with millions of others around the world. Harry Turner spent much of the War in India and following his return enjoyed a successful career as an artist. Stanley Davies died in August 1941 from injuries he endured at Dunkirk.

Recently this shared story brought together Harry’s son Philip and Stanley’s daughter Ann.  In episode 50 Philip recalled the memories of his father and in this episode Ann Sutcliffe remembers her father Stanley Davies.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:11 — 6.6MB) | Embed

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