AstrotalkUK

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

Episode 71: TATA Institute for Fundamental Research

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Homi Bhabha 1909 - 1966
Homi Bhabha 1909 – 1966

The Indian Space Program was initiated by a brilliant nuclear physicist Homi Bhabha who pretty much immediately handed over the space program to Vikram Sarabhai. Bhabha himself pursued the goal of establishing premier scientific institutions for fundamental research in India. At the time he regarded scientific institutions to be critical for the new emerging independent India. Whilst working in the Indian Institute of Science, in 1945 he came up with the idea of an institution for fundamental research and went on to establish the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research (TIFR) which continues to operate today.

Opening ceremony in 1954
Opening ceremony in 1954

Although separate organisations, the connection between ISRO and TIFR remains strong to this day. Many of the instruments and subsystem onboard ISRO’s satellites are designed and constructed within TIFR. In this episode, the former director of TIFR, Professor Mustansir Barma talks about Homi Bhabha, his achievements in physics and the role of the TIFR in modern India.

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

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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

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Michael Wood

Episode 47:25th July 2011: Yuri Gagarin Statue in London

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A copy of the statue outside the school near Moscow where Gagarin trained in foundry workLinks 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

  1. Martin Davidson, Chief Executive of the British Council
  2. Vladimir Popovkin Head of Roscosmos (speaking in Russian but with a translator)
  3. Yuri Gagarin’s oldest daughter – Elena Gagarina unveiled the statue
  4. Derek Pullen who provides a brief description of how the statue came from Moscow to London.

Two recordings during the lunchtime Reception at the Russian Embassy where incidentally, Gagarin spent each of his four nights in the UK

  1. The Russian Ambassador Alexander Yakovenko,
  2. Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, who holds the record for the longest time spent in space

British Council Evening reception

  1. Nataliya Koroleva. Chief Designer Sergei Korolev’s daughter. Who gave me a gentle rebuke whilst looking through my book “Yuri Gagarin in London and Manchester” and seeing a photograph of Wernher von Braun and Herman Oberth but not of her father!
  2. The episode ends with Ambassador Yakovenko briefly recalling his recent meeting with the queen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Korolev’s daughter, grand daughter and great grand daughter

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Episode 46:10th July 2011: Yuri Gagarin in London and Manchester. New Book and Personal recollections

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Gagarin approaching Manchester Town hall On his first visit outside the eastern bloc, Yuri Gagarin arrived in London for a 5 day visit on Tuesday July 11th 1961. He was greeted with a tumultuous and sincere warm welcome everywhere he went including his meetings with the Prime minister and the Queen. The British government juggled with acknowledging Gagarin personal courage and the Soviet Union’s historic technological achievement whilst assuring its allies, USA, France and West Germany that the visit would not be exploited exclusively as a communist propaganda opportunity.
When the Manchester based Amalgamated Union of Foundry Workers discovered that Gagarin had trained as a foundry worker, they invited him to join their union as a honorary member.  He came to Manchester on 12th July and visited the union office, the Metrovicks plant in Trafford Park and the city’s town hall before flying back to London six hours later.

During the late seventies I had lived near this union office and only discovered in 2010 that Gagarin had actually been there. I looked but failed to find any books on the subject so I decide to write one. It is called “Yuri Gagarin in London and Manchester” and attempts to fill in a small bit of the Gagarin story.

The first and last chapters describe Gagarin’s flight, some of the key individuals involved, the air crash that claimed his life in 1968 and his personal impact as an advocate of peace during the Cold War.  In the remaining chapter – 2-7, I document the background to his invitation and details of where he went and who he met.  Some of those recollections are the subject of this episode. It includes clips from Captain Eric Brown and Reg Turnill, longer versions of which are available in episodes 40 and 41.  My thanks to those who contributed to this episode – Reg Turnill, Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw, Brenda Knowles, Marjorie Rose, Stanley Nelson, Captain Eric Brown and Stanislava Sajawizc.

Yuri Gagarin in London and Manchester
185 Pages, 27 Illustrations
ISBN 978-0-9569337-0-6
Paperback £10.00 (+postage) and eBook (iPad and Kindle) £2.50 available from publications@astrotalkuk.org
Download a pdf   of  the page of contents, Chapter 2 “An Uneasy Invitation” and the text above or all three in a zip file.

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Recollections of Yuri Gagarin in London and Manchester from AstrotalkUK on Vimeo.