AstrotalkUK

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

Explorers of the Cosmos – 6 Week Course starting 20 May 2020 online via Zoom

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By popular demand – its back! Organised by the Workers Educational Association, 2 hours every Thursday between 5pm-7pm over 6 weeks starting on 20/05/2021. The course will examine the lives and contributions of six individuals who have made significant contribution to our understanding of the cosmos. In sequence they are

Henrietta Swan Leavitt 1868-1921
Albert Einstein 1879-1955
Edwin Hubble 1889-1953
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar 1910-1995
Stephen Hawking 1942-2018
Jocelyn Bell-Burnell 1943-

There are no prerequisites and no end of course eassessment. As before the course will be run as a Zoom meeting – so lots of interaction in addition to the Q&A at the end. Cost is £38.40 or free – check and signup here

Mars, Gagarin, SETI and British Space Programme

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As part of the WEA’s Festival of Ideas, I will be presenting a series of four two-hour online Zoom meetings (not webinars) with Q&A. The cost for each is £10.00 but depending on personal circumstances – free.

Exploring Mars: 09:45 – 11:45 22 Feb 2021
It’s getting busy on Mars. Currently, Mars has two spacecraft on the surface and another five in orbit from the USA, Europe and India. In February three more will arrive from the United Arab Emirates, USA and China. NASA will attempt to land its most advanced Martian rover called Perseverance on Thursday 18th February, and China will attempt to land its rover in May.

What have we learnt about the red planet’s surface, atmosphere and chemistry? Did Mars have life in the past? Is there life there now? What does the evidence show so far? The dream for humans going to Mars has been written about for centuries are we about to see it happening?

The Day the Cosmonaut came to Manchester 09:45 – 11:45 1 Mar 2021
Three months after the world’s first human in spaceflight, that human, USSR cosmonaut Major Yuri Gagarin, spent five days in Britain. Mostly in London but on 12 July 1961 he came to Manchester for the day. At the time, he was the only human to have orbited the Earth. Why did he come to London and Manchester? Where did he go and who did he meet and what was the impact of his visit between the East and West in the midst of the Cold War?

Based on my 2011 book – Yuri Gagarin in London and Manchester

The search for life beyond the Earth 09:45 – 11:45 8 Mar 2021
The search for life beyond the Earth has been a constant quest in human history. Developments in the 20th century in radio astronomy and space technology have sped up the search for life in the solar system and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). How is that search going? What is the latest progress and current status?

The rise, fall and rise again of the British Space Programme 09:45-11:45 15 Mar 2021
Did you know that Britain is the only country to have developed rockets, launched a satellite and then … pulled the plug on its space programme? That was in 1971 but now the space industry in Britain is thriving once more. This presentation is a look back at early space developments in Britain and why it is thriving again today.

Episode 88 – India’s Private Space Sector

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Narayan Prasad

No country has exploited space for social and economic benefits more than India. It has always been a government-run operation, until now.

As in other nations, the private space sector is emerging in India. One name that pops up when discussing private and commercial space in India is Narayanan Prasad. He has been instrumental in forging platforms where all stakeholders from the New Space Community can support each other and share views, opinions and news. The platforms include Whatsapp, Blog, Telegram and a New Space India Podcast.

In this episode, he recalls his journey so far and his part in his own start-up Satsearch.co as its COO. Here are some of the key takeaways from this interview

  • Most private sector players build products designed by ISRO under licence from ISRO. Private Space Sector in India is subject to excessive government bureaucracy preventing engagement from private investigators.
  • An independent regulator is needed. Independent regulator in telecommunication opened up the market for private telephone lines. An independent regulator for the private space sector is essential for this market to flourish.
  • NASA has created the Commercial Lunar Payload Service (CLPS) to engage the private space sector companies. India does not have anything equivalent.
  • This year ISRO established the New Space India Limited (NSIL). It was established to limit the potential impact of the Antrix/Devas case.
  • Policies exist in India for Communication and Remote Sensing but no overall policy for Space – yet. Although a draft Space bill was published in 2017 for comment. That bill drew a distinction between companies that work with ISRO and those outside ISRO.
  • Two of many space startups in India include 
    • Bellatrix Aerospace produces Ion engines for in-orbit spacecraft propulsion. Ion propulsion and reduce the spacecraft weight and extend the operational lifetime by about 60%
    • NoPo technologies are the only producer of Carbon Nanotubes in India. Like Graphene, Carbon Nanotube is an allotrope of Carbon. The unique properties include high tensile strength, electric and thermal conductivities.
  • Satsearch.co – now 3.5 years old based in the Netherlands and managed by a distributed team based in Germany, Netherlands, Italy and England.  Had it been based in India – it may have been subject to restrictions e.g queries coming in from Suparco in Pakistan.
  • As with any new emerging industry – most of the current space startups will cease to exist within 5-7 years from now.

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BIS Northern Meeting York 19th May 2012

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A British Interplanetary Society  meeting with a difference. The venue is in the North of England – the historic city of York. You don’t have to be a BIS member – all with an interest in spaceflight are welcome. A day long event with five speakers on subjects that include Lunar dust, Soviet & German spaceflight, origins of the BIS and technical details behind the phenomenal success of the Apollo progam.

A summary below. Full details in the pdf indicated at the bottom of the page.

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Date: Saturday 19th May 2011
Venue: Denham Room : Priory Street Centre, York , Y01 6ET
Cost: £5.00 – Full day event – Seating capacity limited to 50
Tickets – Book online here

Confirmed speakers

Deadly Lunar dust (Dr John Cain  – UK Space Biomedicine Association). The first extraterrestrial material transported by man from an alien world to Earth was the almost 400kg of lunar rocks and dust. It is mysterious, fascinating but dangerous too. What were the hazards to the Apollo astronauts who brought it here and what has been learned by the scientist in the 40 years of laboratory experiments?

Origins of the BIS in the Northwest (Gurbir Singh – https://astrotalkuk.org). The BIS was founded in the northwest of England in 1933. The key players were Philip Cleater in Liverpool and from 1936 until the end of the war, Eric Burgess in Manchester. How did they realise their ambitious vision of establishing an Interplanetary Society a quarter century before a satellite was actually put into orbit?

How Apollo flew to the Moon (David Woods – How Apollo flew to the Moon). The Apollo program that took two dozen men to the Moon between 1968 and 1972 succeeded because of ingenious technological solutions developed rapidly midst the haste of the cold war. The author of the book, “How Apollo flew to the Moon ” explains the details of one of mankind’s most remarkable technological achievements.

China’s Long March to the Cosmos  (Mike Hall – www. aelitauk.com) China was the third country to independently launch humans in to space. That was almost a decade ago. Further success has been swift, including a space walk and a woman in space. Current active programs include lunar orbiter, lunar lander, mission to Mars and a Space station. As we approach the 40th anniversary of the last men on the Moon, why is it that most experts believe that the next one will be Chinese?

German Rocket Development (Martin Dawson – York Astronomical Society). ‘Modern rocketry and spaceflight owe a lot to German rocket development of the 1920’s, ’30’s and ’40’s. Although born as a military weapon, scientists and engineers have turned this sword into a plough share. German rocketry is a story that should not be forgotten, it has highs and it has lows, but is always fascinating.

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Download this pdf for all the details. This document is version 02. I will keep it updated from time to time with a final (version 1.0) by end of April.