Not for profit website/blog on astronomy, space and my writing
With a population of 1.2 billion people, India has just one national with first hand experience of spaceflight. Rakesh Sharma, a now retired Indian Air Force wing commander in 1984 spent eight days in space aboard the Soviet space station Salyut 7. This account of his spaceflight was recorded at this home in the Nilgris region of India in August 2013.
MP3 audio below and Youtube video below that
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November 21st 2013 marks 50 years of the Indian space program. From humble beginnings devoid of infrastructure, experience or trained engineers, India today has an established track record of designing, building and launching satellites for its own national needs and commercially for others.
The next few podcast offer a glimpse of the people and achievements of this half a century old story .. so far.
Episode 62: An interview with Amrita Shah from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. Author of the most comprehensive biography on Vikram Sarabhai (Vikram Sarabhai : A Life). Book review of this fascinating book here.
Episode 63: Rakesh Sharma – India’s only spaceman. A video interview recorded in August 2013 where Rakesh Sharma talks about his spaceflight, its aftermath and his views on human spaceflight. Two minute trailer below.
Episode 64 – Bangalore Astronomical Society. Probably the most productive amateur astronomical society in India with a huge presence online and thus an international footprint.
Episode 65 – Professor UR Rao. A look back at the contribution of former ISRO chairman who was originally recruited in to the Indian Space program by Vikram Sarabhai. Whilst working at NASA in the early 1960s, a cosmic ray scientist Rao worked on several Pioneer and Explore spacecraft. Rao was in Dallas waiting to meet Kennedy on that fateful day…
Episode 66 – Interview with director at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre originally known as Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launch Station. TERLS was the site of India’s first rocket launch in to space on 21st November 1963.
Rakesh Sharma two minute trailer
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.
Links to audio and video below.
The 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s UK visit was marked by the unveiling of an aluminium statue of Gagarin, an exact copy of the one outside Lyubertsy Technical School number 10 where Gagarin started his training as a foundryman. The statue, a gift from the Russian federal space agency Roscosmos to the British Council, is located outside the British Council Offices in London but only for one year.
This episode is a collection of some of the speeches and my short interviews during the three events on 14th July. They were the unveiling of the statue in the morning, the lunchtime reception at the Russian Embassy and the evening reception back at the British council. So, in order of appearance here is a list of all the contributors in this episode
Unveiling of the statue ceremony was opened by
Two recordings during the lunchtime Reception at the Russian Embassy where incidentally, Gagarin spent each of his four nights in the UK
British Council Evening reception
Korolev’s daughter, grand daughter and great grand daughter
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