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 52: 7th June 2012: Michael Wood Historian and Gagarin’s visit to Manchester

By Gurbir Dated: June 7, 2012 1 Comment

Historian Michael Wood

Historian Michael Wood‘s documentary, The Great British Story – A People’s History, is currently being screened in the UK. Michael is from Manchester and was visiting Liverpool last weekend where he made time for this recording.

In this short interview, Michael Wood talks about the Great British Story, the role of the working classes in the northwest of England and the value of their contribution to modern society.  Although he never met or saw Yuri Gagarin, he recounts his personal memories of the day the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin came to town.

A video recording is available below

https://media.blubrry.com/astrotalkuk_podcast_feed/astrotalkuk.org/wp-content/uploads/episode52.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 17:51 — 16.3MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Spotify | RSS | More

Michael Wood

Share this:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook

Transit of Venus and the Great British Story

By Gurbir Dated: June 1, 2012 1 Comment

The last hour of so of the transit of Venus on 6th June 2012 will be visible during sunrise from northwest of England. The following links should answer most if not all your queries.

https://media.blubrry.com/astrotalkuk_podcast_feed/astrotalkuk.org/wp-content/uploads/RadioMerseySide_1Jun2012.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.5KB) | Embed

Subscribe: Spotify | RSS | More

Listen to a short interview above on Radio Merseyside with Roger Phillips today. For details of the Yuri Gagarin talk download this flyer. Liverpool Astronomical Society Venus transit event see bottom of page and details about the Great British Story event at Liverpool Museum where Roger Phillips and Michael Wood will be present. I hope to attend too.

Details about the transit of Venus from Royal Astronomical Society

This animation illustrates how the transit would look if you you could see it from your location.

Want to see it from the comfort of your armchair – NASA will carry a live coverage here.

Carl Barry and Lillian Fletcher from Salford talk about their research in episode 9 on William Crabtree’s observation in 1639  of the transit of Venus from.. Salford.

If you are wondering what the Transit of Venus looks like – see below. My video from 2004.

 

Free public event in Liverpool – yes it really does say 4.30am!

Contact Name: Gerard Gilligan Liverpool Astronomical Society
Liverpool Astronomical Society
Time: 04:30:00
Date: 06/06/2012
Location: Holt Playing Field, nr. Sudley House Art Gallery
Town: Liverpool
Post Code: L18 8BX
Public observing event
Email: ggastro@liverpool.ac.uk
Website: http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/sudley/visit/getting-here.asp

Share this:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook

7th June 2012 Yuri Gagarin in Manchester – Chorlton History Group

By Gurbir Dated: May 22, 2012 2 Comments

I will be speaking at the Chorlton History Group about Gagarin’s visit to Manchester on 12th July 1961.  On his drive from the airport, Gagarin drove through Chorlton in his open top car – in the rain.

Invitation for Joyce Baines who worked at the AUFW

The presentation will include a rare video (originally cine) film of Gagarin in Manchester and several unpublished photos.

In attendance will be Joyce Baines who worked at the Old Trafford HQ of the Amalgamated Union of Foundry Workers, which was Gagarin’s first stop in Manchester. The AUFW invited him to the UK and presented him with a gold medal making him their first honorary union member.

 

Time and Date: 13:30 – 14:30 Thursday 7th June 2012

Venue: St Ninian’s United Reformed Church, Egerton Road South, Chorlton, Manchester  M21 0XJ

Cost: £2 charge for tea & biscuits

Organised by: Chorlton History Group – BTLeach@gmail.com

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook

BIS Northern Meeting York 19th May 2012

By Gurbir Dated: February 18, 2012 2 Comments

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.

* * *

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.

* * *

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.

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
« Previous Page
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

Recent Comments

  • Frank Pleszak on Episode 117 – Early Aviation in Manchester
  • Gurbir Singh on Episode 111 – Chandrayaan-3
  • Lunar Polar Exploration Mission: Difference between revisions – भोजपुरी on Episode 82: Jaxa and International Collaboration with Professor Fujimoto Masaki
  • Gurbir on Public Event. Anglo Indian Stephen Smith – India’s forgotten Rocketeer
  • Sandip Kumar Chakrabarti on Public Event. Anglo Indian Stephen Smith – India’s forgotten Rocketeer

Archives

Select posts by topic

apollo astrobiology Astrophotography BIS Book Review Carl Sagan CCD CCSK China Cloud Computing cnsa commercial Cosmology curiosity Education ESA Gagarin History India Infosec ISRO jaxa Jodrell Bank Mars Media Moon NASA podcast radio astronomy Rakesh Sharma rocket Rockets Roscosmos Science Science Fiction seti Solar System soviet space space spaceflight titan USSR video Vostok Yuri Gagarin

Copyright © 2008–2025 Gurbir Singh - AstrotalkUK Publications Log in