Collaborate Disseminate
A month ago there was disappointment as Virgin Orbit’s first attempt at a space launch from the United Kingdom using its converted Boeing 747 airliner platform failed to achieve orbit. …read more Continue reading Virgin Orbit’s First UK Launch Attempt: What Went Wrong
A country’s first orbital satellite launch from home soil is a proud moment, even when as is the case with Virgin Orbit, it’s not from the soil itself but from …read more Continue reading Virgin Not-Quite-Orbit-Yet
Did you know Britain launched its first satellite after the program had already been given the ax? Me neither, until some stories of my dad’s involvement in aerospace efforts came out and I dug a little deeper into the story.
I grew up on a small farm with a workshop next to the house, that housed my dad’s blacksmith business. In front of the workshop was a yard with a greenhouse beyond it, along one edge of which there lay a long gas cylinder about a foot (30mm) in diameter. To us kids it looked like a torpedo, and I …read more
Continue reading Oops… Britain Launched A Satellite, But Who Remembers It?