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Episode 41: April 9th 2011: Yuri Gagarin and Reg Turnill

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Reg Turnill joined the BBC in 1956 with the remit to cover aviation and defence. The launch of Sputnik 1 in the following year expanded his remit to include space. He is particularly well known for his coverage of the American Apollo program. In the UK, his name and face, along with that of Patrick Moore and James Burke, is associated with the commentators who covered live the Apollo Moon landings on the BBC.

In April 1961, Reg was sent to Moscow for Gagarin’s first post flight international news conference. It turned out to be a fascinating story of cold war politics as well as leading edge space technology. In his own words Reg describes this as “ a phony press conference, an entirely choreographed event designed to humiliate the west” and he summarised the whole press conference as “good humoured evasion”. Interacting through an interpreter and restricted to pre submitted written questions, he had to put aside his usual analytical approach. However he recognises that this was “a great achievement”. This interview was recorded on January 19th 2011 at his home on the south coast of England.
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Today’s quote is from Reg Turnill’s book “The Moon Landings: An Eye Witness Account”. Following John Glen’s second spaceflight in October 1998, Reg at 83 the oldest working space correspondent, asked John Glen, the oldest man in space, a question. In part Glen answered
“Old folk have ambitions and dreams too, like everybody else. So why don’t they work for them? Don’t sit on the couch. Go for it”

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Reg Turnill talks about Yuri Gagarin’s first press conference from AstrotalkUK on Vimeo.

Episode 40: April 2nd 2011: Gagarin in London : Captain Eric Brown

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On the third of Gagarin’s five days in Britain, immediately following his meeting with Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, on Thursday 13th July 1961,  he had the only private meeting of his visit with Captain Eric Brown where the press was not invited, no photographs were taken and no official record was kept.  During this “test pilot” to “test pilot” meeting, Gagarin clearly told Brown that he had ejected from his spacecraft. Although not in the same league as Brown, Brown considered Gagarin to be a test pilot. The Soviets consistently maintained that he had not but eventually, a decade later they conceded officially that Gagarin had bailed out and landed by parachute. When I asked Captain Brown why he had never published the details of his private meeting before, “no one asked me before” replied.

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At the time Captain Brown was the deputy director of Naval Air Warfare and the meeting took place between him, his deputy and colleague from the Admiralty who could speak Russian but that was kept secret from Gagarin and Belitsky. Brown sought additional confidence that the translator was translating sincerely.

Captain Brown has had a unique career as a test pilot. He had met many of the key players in aviation and rocket design. Hanna Reitsch, Herman Goering and Wernher Von Braun. Brown’s achievements as a test pilot were well established and it is probably with the knowledge of his accomplishments that the Soviets agreed to such a meeting. Brown still holds the world record in deck landings (2407) and the number of aircraft types flown (487). He also has several firsts (first deck landing of a twin-engine aircraft, first deck landing of a jet engine) of which the Russian’s and Gagarin would have known. By 1960, many of his books were available in translation in technical colleges which young aviators like Gagarin would have come across. It is likely that Gagarin knew of Brown and wanted to meet Brown just a much as Brown wanted to meet Gagarin.

Immediately following the war, Brown was inevitably involved in supersonic flight testing and reached speeds up to mach 0.9. He was testing a secret high-performance aircraft designated as the Miles M52 which was suddenly and suspiciously dropped in 1946. Had it not been; it was very likely that Brown would have added first supersonic flight to his collections of firsts. In the event Chuck Jaeger in USA claimed that achievement in 1947.

He is considered to be the greatest ever test pilot by some within the aviation industry.

An extensive interview, recorded in his home on 19th January two days before his 92nd birthday, is edited specifically for his recollections about Yuri Gagarin.

Episode 38: January 23rd 2011: Want to be an Astronaut? Book a ticket online

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Going in to space was nothing more than a dream for many of us for such a long time. But things are changing profoundly and fast. Once human spaceflight was only possible as part of a national government project. Then a decade ago Denis Tito (on 28th April 2001) became the first self funding astronaut by signing a cheque for $20 million.

Now in 2011, Spaceflight has never been easier or cheaper. Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic has now brought the price down to $200,000 for a brief suborbital flight. Imagine spaceflight for the price less than that of a small house in London. In the year that marks the 50th anniversary of human spaceflight, it is about time isn’t it?

A familiar name in the astronomical community, Nigel Henbest a writer, broadcaster and television producer took a not too deep breath and signed on the dotted line and is now on the road to his space experience in the next year or two.

As the private sector develops  perhaps the commercial spaceflight market will experience the same rapid innovation and price reduction we  saw in the personal computer market. Is it too speculative to imagine that within a few years the price of a sub orbital flight will come down perhaps to that of a family car?

In this episode Nigel, talks about why he wants to go in to space and the steps involved in the process of getting there.  Nigel has written about his flight here and to see a high resolution image of the huge Virgin Galactic brochure click the image.

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This episode’s quote

You see things and say why? But I dream things that never were and say why not?
George Bernard Shaw

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Episode 36: October 11th 2010 – UK Space Policy and Yuri Gagarin’s visit to Manchester and London in July 1961

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Next year April 12th  2011 marks the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s,  mankind’s,  first steps  into space. It was a product of the accumulated technology of many countries over many years but particularly driven by the the political landscape resulting from the 2nd world war. Since then successful robotic missions have visited the planets, asteroids and comets. 24 men have gone to the moon and a dozen have even walked on its surface.

Subsequent achievements have fallen short of the expectations raised in the wake of Gagarin’s flight. Gagarin himself  spoke openly about his desire to go to the moon and Mars. That sounds like a pipe dream now but back in 1961, he was absolutely serious and realistic.

So what happened? Had the space race been won when Neil and Buzz landed on the Moon? Had the motivation borne out of political rivalries of the cold war finally been exhausted? Perhaps, the problems closer at home of poverty, population growth, environmental concerns  raced to the top of the political agenda and forced  governments into a pragmatic reconsideration on how they spent their cash?

Big questions. Too big for this episode where Dr Chris Welch from Kingston University provides a brief outline of the current status of the Space policy here in the UK.   Dr Welch  also happens to be the chair of the of the recently launched YuriGagarin50 group which has amongst its aims:

Stimulate celebration and recognition of the global significance of Gagarin and his flight – ‘the first person in space, the first person to see the Earth as a planet’.

After his flight Yuri Gagarin embarked on a world tour which included a 4 day visit to the UK which surprisingly included a visit to Manchester on 12th July 1961. By chance, Gagarin’s first job was as a moulder in a foundry in Moscow.   He came to the UK and Manchester at the invitation of the Manchester based Amalgamated Union of Foundry Workers. I will be producing another episode  focusing on Gagarin’s UK visit next year. Did you see Gagarin in July 1961? Do you know someone who did? Share your memories. Drop me a note at info@astrotalkuk.org.

With many months to go to next year’s 50th anniversary, there are several events already being planned  to celebrate mankind’s first steps in to space. Keep an eye on the events calendar at  www.yurigagarin50.org

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The quote for this episode is from the Soviet government in 1961 following Gagarin’s success in Vostok 1. Perhaps they were deliberately winding up the Americans but there is something warm and reassuring to see a couple of familiar words in the quote  “all mankind” that are on the plaque left on the Moon by the Apollo 11 astronauts. A 1961 official Soviet Government and Communist Party announcement said.

“We regard these victories in the conquest of outer space not only as the achievement of our people but as an achievement of all mankind”

A video version of this podcast is available on Vimeo here.

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