Satellite's of Lo......

Picture Info:
Satellites by Robin Kerrod
Illustrated By Mike Tregenza
Franklin Watts 1980

So as well as archive photos I’m planning on some scans from my space books here’s a good one to start.



Even for space mad types like me a whole kids book on satellites might have been pushing it, that being said you’ve probably used one at least 10 times today!

Some a marvellous drawings pay attention to the diagram as there will quiz at the end on how the phone system works!

Here's the link to bigger versions of the scans

Dogs In Spaaaccccceeeee!

Photo info:
Damka (Дамка"Little Lady" sometimes called Shutka (Шутка, "Joke") Krasavka (Красавка, "Little Beauty") not shown. Pictures outside a Korabl Sputnik (1K-4) (?) capsule, 22nd Dec 1960 launched by R7 / SL3 rocket.
No photographer Credited.

Here’s my first space photo and it’s dripping with history, it’s of the Russian space dog Damka happily sat outside her capsule tongue lolling in the bright sun of Russian winter. I’m not sure but it’s likely faked; not as fake as I first thought as I was under the impression that like poor old Laika (the first dog in space) that Russian dogs all died in space. This wasn’t always the case and many survived their ordeals.

Damka apparently was very lucky her rocket misfired and never went into full orbit, her luck continued as the capsule came down safely. The rescue crew were wary of the auto-destruct mechanism and it being snowy and dark left the apparently dead dog for the morning for fear of the whole thing blowing up as they tinkered . Fortunately in the morning Damka was heard barking in side and was rescue intact!

As for the picture it’s clearly doctored I’m not sure whether the black lines are state censors work or the work of photo sub making it better defined for reproduction. I can’t believe even in 1950’s anyone bought the picture wholesale

Links:

Damka

Capsules
Rockets

Hello.....

We come in peace for all mankind…..

Here’s my first post of Space Junk, basically it’s a visual and oral primary to the space detritus that’s in low earth orbit in my flat. It’s not a definitive collection far from it but I thought it would be good for more people to see some it.

The Urbane Space boy

So what’s the fascination with space? Well it could be those episodes of Thunderbirds that used to sneak out on Central telly all those years ago in Stoke. Even Virgil’s and Scots’ (yes, I know those names crop up elsewhere in our story) dystopian mini disasters movies were wondrous.

Maybe it was because one of my earliest memories was a splash down, I’m not sure which one maybe an Apollo mission or perhaps Skylab.

Or maybe it was those “what will you do when you grow up books” with their lists of jobs; postman, doctors, miners and in ‘70’s “astronaut”.

Or maybe it was those endless shots of the Saturn 5 blasting off, the frozen oxygen falling away, all to the tune of Aaron Copeland’s “fanfare to common man”.
The Saturn five just looked cool all ribbed and a chequer board lucky kids had the 3 ft high Airfix kit.

Later we watched the shuttle blast off in the library at lunch time watching TV at school as big as treat as the launch.

And then a long came my left leanings and the discovery of Realist art, Constructivism and Yuri Alexavich Gagarin. Yuri was a true hero, he may have been on the pinnacle of a brutal Totalitarian cartel but here was a man who went from cabbage fields and ox carts to touching the face of god. All in space of 15 years, he was the most famous man alive and then fell from favour with authorities and ended days fighting the controls of a badly maintained trainer jet all before he was 32.
And it goes on.

But sadly we live in “post-modern” world, were a scary percentage of educated people spout rubbish about it all being faked in shed in Arizona. They sceptics do this while driving their cars obediently following the GPS (which some how is all being faked from a shed in ……)

So here in no order are some excellent photos I picked up in a flea market. They are wonderfully evocative; I’ve left the credit notes, photo editor’s scribbles and the ticker tape photo agency tags. I’ve also got everything from badges to mugs to share, so I’ll take some pictures of these as well.

Also to paraphrase Nietzsche “Space without music would be a mistake” I’ll also post the “music of spheres” so expect the best space tunes I can find (I’ll try to go easy on the “moon in June” angle)

Lastly I’m not an expert so if you have things to add and even the odd correction that’s fine.
Just remember some of these pictures may be almost 50 years old but it’s less than 100 miles to space!