AstrotalkUK

Episode 55: 4 August 2012: Mars Curiosity Rover

AstrotalkUK ·

2012/08/04

Since the mid 1970s six spacecraft (Viking 1 & 2, Sojourner, Opportunity, Spirit and Phoenix) have successfully landed on the surface of Mars. In probably the most audacious, breathtaking and risky space missions, in less than two days, another Mars Curiosity Rover will arrive on Mars. Using a technique never used before, NASA has described the Entry Decent Landing as the seven minutes of terror. Launched in November 2011, the arrival of Mars Curiosity will for the first time make a high

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Mars Curiosity’s seven minutes of terror – in less...

AstrotalkUK ·

2012/08/03

Mars curiosity entry, decent and descent from http://www.extremetech.com/ Mars Curiosity landing in a nutshell (less than 3 minutes audio below) by Dr Anita Sengupta from the Entry Decent & Landing and Advanced Technologies group at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Full interview in Episode 55 - tomorrow.

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7:11

Episode 54: 23 July 2012 – Manchester Interplanetary...

AstrotalkUK ·

2012/07/23

Stanley Davis The August 2012 edition of Spaceflight, the monthly magazine from the British Interplanetary Society carried an article where I discuss the Northwest of England’s contribution in Rocketry during the 1930s. An extended version of that article is available for free download on Astrotalkuk.org - here. So on to today’ episode. In 1937, two teenagers Harry and Stanley with an outrageous ambition to design and build rockets for space travel joined a newly formed group with a name to match

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Episode 53: 28th June 2012 – The Chinese Space program

AstrotalkUK ·

2012/06/28

Brian Harvey is a Dublin based writer, author, broadcaster and probably the most informed specialist on Chinese and Soviet/Russian space program in Ireland today. This conversation recorded during the Shenzhou-9 / Tiangong-1 mission orbiting the Earth with the three crew including the first Chinese female astronaut on-board. At the end of the interview Brian Harvey talks about the Space Cooperation Memorandum signed last week.

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17:51

Episode 52: 7th June 2012: Michael Wood Historian and...

AstrotalkUK ·

2012/06/07

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.

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Episode 51: 5th June 2012: Profile – Author David...

AstrotalkUK ·

2012/06/05

You know what it is like, you buy a book on a subject of interest and enjoy it. Later you see a book on a similar subject that you probably were not going to buy but do so because it is from that same author. Gradually, you end up with several books from that author in your collection. David Shayler is one such author for me. During the Space Day event in Droitwich earlier this year organised by British Interplanetary Society West Midlands branch, I finally got to meet David. This is a short

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Transit of Venus and the Great British Story

AstrotalkUK ·

2012/06/01

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. 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

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Episode 50: 26th March 2012: Manchester first Rocket...

AstrotalkUK ·

2012/03/27

27th March 1937 - Foreground (left to right): Eric Burgess, Bill Heeley, Trevor Cusack, Harry Turner (Picture – Philip Turner) Robert Goddard in America , Sergei Korolev in the Soviet Union and Herman Oberth in Germany are three names credit with the development of rocket propulsion during the late 1920s and early 1930s. Each led a very small group with more dedication then resources working on a shoestring budget usually in their own time after work. Their collective work eventually lead to

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Episode 49: 17th March 2012: National Astronomy...

AstrotalkUK ·

2012/03/17

This episode has no specific astronomical topic but draws attention to a very special astronomy meeting later this month. The Royal Astronomical Society’s annual National Astronomy Meeting last year was held in Wales, next year it will be in Scotland but this year it is in Manchester. National Astronomy Meeting 2012 or NAM2012 will be hosted by the University of Manchester in partnership with Germany’s equivalent to the RAS, the Astronomische Gesellschaft in the last week of March 2012.

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Episode 48: 13th February 2012: Mat Irvine, early BBC...

AstrotalkUK ·

2012/02/14

The same year that the first woman made it in to space in 1963, a quaint children’s sci-fi series called Dr Who started on BBC television in the UK. Eventually it became popular around the world and has enjoyed success once more since it restarted again in 2005. Mat Irvine worked in the special effects department of the BBC and made the original model of K9 for Dr Who but he also worked on other programs including the Sky at Night. One of the memorable characters from Dr Who was Davros. The

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Gagarin Statue in Manchester – Quick Update

AstrotalkUK ·

2011/12/04

It appears that the public support for the statue to come to Manchester is not an issue once people get to know about the campaign. Half way target of 500 was met on Thursday last week. My thanks to all of you. Another name, Professor Carl Murray a scientist working on the Cassini probe currently orbiting Saturn, was added to the open letter this weekend. The campaign has sufficient public support what it now requires is a sponsor to make it happen. It was clear from the beginning that public

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

AstrotalkUK ·

2011/07/25

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

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Episode 46:10th July 2011: Yuri Gagarin in London and...

AstrotalkUK ·

2011/07/10

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

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Episode 45: 4th July 2011: Apollo 15 Command Module...

AstrotalkUK ·

2011/07/04

Probably the most scientifically demanding Apollo mission, Apollo 15 was launched on 26th July 1971 on a two week mission. Al Worden in the command module orbited the Moon for 75 orbits whilst Dave Scott and James Irwin explored the south eastern edge of Mare Imbrium on the Moon’s surface. Apollo 15 launched with the heaviest payload of all Apollo missions and included the first moon rover, a sub-satellite launched from Apollo 15 in to lunar orbit and a collection of science instruments including a

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Episode 44: 15th May 2011: First Orbit and...

AstrotalkUK ·

2011/05/15

Another Yuri Gagarin episode, I know the anniversary of the world’s first spaceflight is over but there is still lots going on over the next few months. There are two contributors in this episode, Chris Riley and Richard Evans. One of the most successful projects to mark the anniversary is the film First Orbit. The only camera aboard Vostok 1 was on the inside, transmitting live pictures of Gagarin’s face to the nervous engineers who anxiously monitored mankind’s first experience of spaceflight

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Episode 43 April 18th 2011: Apollo 12 and Captain...

AstrotalkUK ·

2011/04/19

Scroll down for the audio and video. 1969 is remembered for the unique event in history, Apollo 11 and the first men, Neil and Buzz on the surface of the Moon. Before the year was out, another three men headed the same way. On November 19th, Pete Conrad and Alan Bean precision landed Apollo 12 in the Ocean of Storms with in walking distance of Surveyor 3 which had arrived to years earlier. The command module pilot Richard Gordon waited in lunar orbit while Conrad and Bean made two lunar EVAs

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Episode 42: April 12th 2011: Rare video of Yuri...

AstrotalkUK ·

2011/04/12

Scroll down for the audio and video. On a cold bright Wednesday morning fifty years ago in the Soviet town of Turatam, a rocket launched a man into space. A critical initial step for any civilisation that eventually travels to the stars. Any first is both special and trivial. Special because by definition it only happens once and arises from a complex set of circumstances that happen to come together at that point in time. It is trivial in the sense that there is nothing necessarily unique about

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

AstrotalkUK ·

2011/04/08

Scroll down for the audio and video. 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

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25:25

Episode 40: April 2nd 2011: Gagarin in London :...

AstrotalkUK ·

2011/04/02

Scroll down for the options to play audio and video. 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

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Episode 39: March 19th 2011: Spacecraft Operations

AstrotalkUK ·

2011/03/19

Scroll to the bottom for the audio and video. Since the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, thousands of unmanned spacecraft have been launched, mostly to Earth orbit, but many have gone to the inner and outer planets, and four of them have pretty much left the Solar System altogether. European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft arrived at Mars in 2003 and is still operating almost a decade later. It is operated by people in a profession initiated by the space age itself. Spacecraft

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