AstrotalkUK

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

Cybersecurity, History of Britain in Space and Yuri Gagarin’s 1961 visit to London and Manchester – Zoom Sessions. Free

By 4 Comments

Starting on Monday 18th May 2020, I will be running three live sessions using Zoom for the Workers’ Educational Association. They are all free, introductory and have no prerequisites. They are organised by the WEA so applicants have to be based in the UK and at least 19 years old. To join/enrol see links and a brief description below.

11:15 -13:15 Monday 18th May 2020. Basic cybersecurity. C3844330 Staying Safe Online

  • Understand basic concepts of being secure online including Social Engineering, Phishing and multi-factor authentication.
  • Recognise the importance of basic security controls including automatic software updates, antivirus solution and good password management.  
  • Become familiar with and make use of authoritative online sources for cybersecurity information and tools

11:15 -13:15 Wednesday 20th May. The story of Britain’s space programme. C3844331 Britain in Space

  • Early rocketry Societies in England
  • Development of British Ballistic Missile & Nuclear Tests in Australia
  • Launch Satellite of Black Arrow & satellite Prospero from Woomera
  • British Astronauts Helen Sharman & Tim Peake
  • UK Spaceports
  • Virgin Galactic & Orbit
  • SSTL and Skylon

11:15 -13:15 Friday 22nd May 2020. Yuri Gagarin in London and Manchester. C3844333 The Day the cosmonaut came to Manchester

This presentation is based on my 2011 book – Yuri Gagarin in London and Manchester. It will cover

  • Gagarin’s achievement?
  • What was he like as an individual?
  • Why he came to Britain?
  • Where in London and Manchester he went and who he met?
  • Legacy of his visit?

Amazon Ebook Promotion. 99p from 11th-15th July – Yuri Gagarin in London and Manchester

By Leave a Comment

Yuri Gagarin in London and Manchester

Next week marks the 57th anniversary of the world’s first cosmonaut’s visit to the UK. Three months after his historic spaceflight on 12th April 1961, the first human in space, Yuri  Gagarin came to Britain. He was here for 5 days. It was not planned that way. Initially, his visit did not include meeting the Prime Minister or the Queen but his visit evolved through the political posturing of the Cold War and he met both.

His visit to Manchester was the only one outside London. Invited by the Amalgamated Union of Foundry Workers (Gagarin had trained as a foundry worker), he visited the union’s HQ in Old Trafford, a factory in Trafford Park and was hosted by the Mayor at the Town Hall in Albert Square.

He arrived at Ringway Airport (now Manchester International Airport) at 10am on Wednesday 12th July and by 4pm he headed back there for his flight to Heathrow. To mark this anniversary, the ebook “Yuri Gagarin in London and Manchester” is being promoted on Amazon for 99p (or cents in USA) between 11th and 15th July. For book reviews – see here. A 91% discount on the normal price.

A timeline of his 5 days in London and Manchester below.

Tuesday 11th July       

10:30            Arrival at Heathrow [Guardian 11/7/1961]

11:45            Soviet Embassy [Daily Worker 10/7/1961]

13:00            Earl’s Court [Guardian 12/7/1961]

15:00            Press conference in Fashion Hall Earl’s Court [Guardian 12/7/1961]

16:15            BIS medal award at the end of the press conference [Flight 20/7/1961]

16:30            Leave Earl’s Court [Guardian 12/7/1961]

17:30            Evening reception at Soviet Embassy [Daily Worker 10/7/1961]

Wednesday 12th July  

10:00            Arrival at airport [Manchester Evening News 11/07/1961]

10:45            AUFW Medal Ceremony [Guardian 12/7/1961]

11:35            Metropolitan-Vickers at Trafford Park [Manchester Evening News 11/7/1961]

12:45            Manchester Town Hall [Manchester Evening News 11/7/1961]

16:30            Manchester Airport

Thursday 13th July

11:00              Mansion House – Lord Mayor of London [Daily Worker 13/7/1961]

11:45              Tower of London – Gv. Sir Thomas Butler [Daily Worker 13/7/1961]

13:20            Burlington House – Royal Society

15:00            Return to USSR Embassy

15:45            Meet PM at Admiralty House [Prem 11-3543 12/07/1961 National Records Archive]

16:15            Lays wreath at the cenotaph

16:30            Air Ministry in Whitehall – Secretary of State for Air [Daily Worker 13/7/1961]

18:00            Hyde Park Hotel GB USSR Association [Daily Worker 13/7/1961]

19:30            Muscovites-Association cancelled. Sightseeing tour instead [Guardian 14/7/1961]

22:15            Back at USSR Embassy [Daily Worker 13/7/1961]

Friday 14th July        

12:50            Buckingham Palace [FO 371-159606 12/07/1961 National Records Archive]

14:45            Soviet Embassy

15:30            Earl’s Court [Daily Worker 14/7/1961]

16:00            Highgate Cemetery [Time is uncertain; The Times 15/7/1961 says “Evening”]

16:40            Soviet Embassy – British Soviet Friendship Society [Daily Worker 14/7/1961]

21:00            Earl’s Court Live BBC TV interview (at 21:30) from Earl’s Court with Richard Dimbleby, Tom Margerison, science editor of the Sunday Times, and Yuri Fokin of the Soviet Television Service [Daily Worker 14/7/1961]

22:15            Soviet Embassy

Saturday 15th July    

11:00            Leave Soviet Embassy for Airport [Daily Worker 15/07/61]

11:45            Press conference at Airport

12:35            Depart for Soviet Union [Daily Worker 15/07/61]

18:05             Arrive in Moscow [FO 371-159606 12/07/1961 National Records Archive]

 

Episode 63: Rakesh Sharma India’s first and only spaceman

By 8 Comments

Rakesh SharmaWith 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

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

Subscribe: Spotify | RSS | More

Yuri Gagarin in London and Manchester – Errata

By Leave a Comment

This book was published over a year ago.  I thought it would be useful to share with you some of the corrections and comments I have received. Naturally, if you are aware of others please drop me a line.

* * *

P7:  Korloev died in 1966 not in 1967 as stated  on p17. Thanks Dave Shayler

P41:  “On his own visit to Cuba in 1965, Leonov met Hemingway and personally told him that this novel had been a favourite of Gagarin’s”  This is Leonov’s account from his jointly authored book  Scott, D. & A. Leonov: Two Sides of the Moon, 2004, p39. But it cannot be so – Hemingway died in 1961. Thanks Michael Cassutt

P85: The picture of the cenotaph in Manchester is not the cenotaph in Manchester but he one in London.  Apparently the picture form 1961 had been erroneously labeled back then. It has since been corrected by Ria Novosti.  Thanks Francis French (see post from Facebook replicated below)

P101:  I imply Dr Alexander Martynov is a cosmonaut. That is not so. He is a space scientist and frequently tours alongside other cosmonauts. Thanks Francis French

* * *

Tale of two cenotaphs  Originally posted on Facebook 26th September 2012

During his day trip to Manchester, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin stopped by to lay a wreath at the cenotaph in St Peters Square which just a couple of hundred meters from the Town Hall, his final stop in Manchester. Or that is what I thought and said so on page 85 in my book “Yuri Gagarin in London and Manchester”.

During my research all my conversations with Mancunians who saw or met Gagarin in 1961 – no one could recall his stop at the cenotaph. But that did not matter, I had a photo from Rainovosti clearly capturing that moment in a labelled and dated picture.

During his recent trip “back home” to Manchester, Francis French stopped by at the cenotaph at St Peters Square. He compared the actual cenotaph with that in the picture and concluded that the one depicted in the picture was not the cenotaph in Manchester.

As I describe on page 116, in between his meeting with the Prime Minister and visiting the air ministry on Whitehall, Gagarin stopped by the cenotaph which was very much on his route. I have looked at images of the cenotaph in London and it appears that the one depicted in the picture (and my book) is the cenotaph in London.

I contacted Rianovosti and they have already amended the description http://visualrian.ru/en/site/gallery/#899166. I will do likewise in the ebook version of my book. Thanks to Francis “Sherlock” French, the story of Gagarin’s visit to the UK is now a little more accurate.