I’ve just been giving my space site a review and a face-lift in preparation for a new season of astronomy courses and I see that it is now ten years old. So the old Spacepod has been exploring space for my students and others for a whole decade! Now, fitted with an alien interstellar drive, I hope that it will extend its reach across the galaxy. Watch for improvements there over the next few months.
Until then, congratulations, pod people.
I just found a great website, maintained by the BBC. They’ve compiled many of their recordings of TV coverage from the Apollo era in a Moon Landings Archive. Here you can watch the same news coverage that we, in the UK, saw at the time, as well as some more recent documentary shows.
Also we are coming up to a big anniversary. 14th April will mark 40 years since the accident that prevented Apollo 13 landing on the Moon. This is close to the date for Yuri’s Night (12th April) and will likely be a focus for space enthusiasts around the world. Arbelos hopes to perform a new song for Apollo 13 at the Dumfries Yuri’s Night party on 10th April.
image courtesy of NASA
In the small hours of tomorrow morning, NASA’s LCROSS spacecraft will divide into two sections and crash into a dark lunar crater. The instrumentation probe will observe the impact of the booster section into the lunar surface and identify the materials excavated from deep under the regolith. Both impacts will be analyzed from the earth. NASA TV will be covering the event live and people with big telescopes will be able to watch it themselves.
There’s lots of detail on the LCROSS web site.
Our area recently switched to digital TV and I’ve been rediscovering old 60s and 70s programmes that I only dimly remembered. One of these was 70s show Space 1999 and, as I picked up a few episodes, I noticed some parallels that I hadn’t spotted before. Firstly, I’d forgotten the quirky combination of Thunderbirds and Outer Limits style plots, but then I noticed a format change introduced in the second season that reminded me of another series.
I’m not sure how well known Space 1999 was in the US, but maybe some future TV creators saw it and some ideas bedded in, deep in their subconscious. In order to refresh the series, a couple of new characters were introduced in the form of second-in-command Tony Verdecci and alien scientist Maya, between whom an on-off romantic relationship developed. These joined the regular stars Commander Koenig and his girlfriend, chief medical officer Helena Russell.
This foursome of leading characters rang a bell as I remembered the big space show of the 80s. Star Trek: the Next Generation featured a Captain and his Medical Officer who eventually found romantic involvement and a First Officer and alien crew member who were linked by a shared history. Maybe Captain Picard and his crew enjoyed less cheesey plots and a slicker production, but it looks like someone recognised a solid character format when they saw one.
It always fascinates me to observe the creative process in operation. No idea pops out of a vacuum. A creative person soaks up influences from all over the place and the really good ones execute the treatment of these ideas in a way that sparkles with its own spirit and something new is brought into the world.