posted 01-11-2008 10:27 AM               

Ticket availability and prices are yet to be confirmed.

posted 01-12-2008 06:00 PM               

Regards,

posted 10-04-2008 02:06 PM               

Anyone have any knowledge of what will be on offer?

Pontefract slowly becoming the best place in the UK to see the Astronauts... always a good presentation.

posted 10-06-2008 12:32 PM               

Will you have the photograph showing the damaged CSM (panels missing) taken from Aquarius after the CSM was jettisoned... you know the one I mean.

I was after a large photo bigger than 8x10. Will live with the 8x10 though.

posted 10-11-2008 05:11 AM               

What can you say about Fred Haise - First Class. He gave a first class 'Evening With Presentation' with accompanying slide/video.

A first class Q & A session.

He then signed autographs and posed for photographs etc for 2 hours after the event. Everybody waited patiently in line and Fred was not phased at all by the queue ('Houston, there was no problem').

He had time for everyone young and not so young alike.

To Fred Haise 'Failure was not an option'. Just how many familiar quotations can you get into one posting.

Thanks to to Ken Willoguhby and his professional crew. Thanks to the headteacher at Carleton School and all of the sponsors.

One small step for a man, One Giant leap for Pontefract Kind... ok now I'll shut up.

posted 10-11-2008 10:35 AM            

The talk was worth the trip, I found Fred Haise to be a very good speaker (even if one or two of his answers weren't directly relevant to the questions, he was still an interesting speaker). I was surprised by upbeat his talk was, as opposed to dwelling on the disappointment of not landing on the Moon. Quite a bit of good humour and some laugh out loud moments.

Straight after the Q&A, I shot out of the door to find the dealer's room. I got stuck behind the guy who bought the last portrait photo off Nick, so I had to settle for the one showing the Service Module, along with an ALT patch. Back to the hall to join the autograph queue, I had a lot of trouble finding the end of it as people seemed to be clustering all over the place, but I found a spot. I'm pretty sure it's the first time in my life I've queued up for an hour and a half for any reason at all, but I did get chatting to a friendly couple who had a copy of Lost Moon and some sheet music from the film. Frankly I think the venue could have done with a few stewards to keep everyone in order - by stewards, I mean goons ;-). Got to the front of the queue in the end, dehydrated and tongue-tied (I'm not normally overawed by famous people, but people who've been to the Moon and back have that effect on me), managed to mutter a few polite words to Fred, he signed my (mostly black) picture on one of the few light spots available (I'll bring a gold or silver pen next time) and I left happy. Out into the cool night air after the hot and stuffy hall (I'll also bring some water bottles and pocket fans to sell next time), had my tea (a bottle of Slimfast) and drove home. Got home about midnight exhausted (still dopey now, as I had to get up early to get the exhaust fixed) but happy I went. Despite all the mither, it was definitely worth the trip - I'll just try to get there earlier next time.

posted 10-11-2008 12:17 PM               

At the start when I got to the car park with my mates we said Hi to Ken Willoughby who was just outside then this guy came out of a car,came up to us and shook our hands and said Hi to us all (it was a guy called Fred Haise). We got inside I said to Paul and Dave "Freddo just shook our hand and said hi" couldn't belive it we all had a big smiles on our faces so we were in for a good night.

Nicks said it all and hit it on the nail with the talk (fantastic).

Unlike our cS mate from Manchester we were lucky in the queue and waited about 25 mins. He had time to insc the photos and I hate to think how long he was there as the queue wraped itself around ther school hall.

Well done Ken and the school for putting on a great night.

After seeing what Beano and Freddo did after there talk it will be interesting to see if Lovell and Cernan will go that far?

Saw some of the UK cS's gang Rob, Ollie, Proc, Andy Carson and Nick and Byar and a big thank you to my mate Paul.

posted 10-11-2008 03:19 PM               

I saw quite a bit of Freddo last evening and I was struck by his modesty and humility. Nothing fazed him; a complete gent for whom nothing was too much trouble. Probably the most down to earth astronaut I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. I only hope it is not too long before I get a chance to meet him again.

Hats off to Ken and his crew for putting on yet another top notch evening... They have a knack of keeping in the background and avoiding the limelight they so richly deserve.

Regards,
Rick

posted 10-11-2008 05:55 PM               

Here here to what everyone has said and thank so much to Freddo, what a guy! He was just so humble, a brilliant person to meet. Rick and I did spend a good few hours with him prior to the event and we managed to chat with Fred for quite some time. Again, thanks for Ken et al for their hospitality and help. Let's hope I can raise the money/sponsorship and get a start down here in Cambridge and get one of these guys over... I live in hope! Thanks to everyone who turned up, it was truly a day never to forget. Thanks Fred, and thanks to all the follow cS's who turned up. Cheers Andy

posted 10-12-2008 03:20 PM               

Says something about the man and how he returned from serious injuries sustained in an aircraft crash to be lead pilot on the Shuttle ALT programme. The photos he showed of himself after the crash were quite graphic and its a testament to his powers of recovery and the skill of the medical staff that he was able to return to flight status in a relatively short amount of time.

At the end of the evening he sat and signed items for what must have been a couple of hours (at least). We were fortunately not too far from the head of the queue!

Fred happily chatted, posed for photographs and as he signed did inscriptions, dedications amd mission designations almost as standard.

He signed the photo of the flypast of the Boeing 747 carrier aircraft and chase T-38's over the recently landed Enterprise (as seen in Cs 'Space History of the Week, last May). Big thanks to Ed H. for the scan.

Also signed the Apogee Apollo 13 Mission Report, which he actually mentioned during his talk.

A great evening all round and nice to meet up again with old friends as well as making some new ones.

Of course big big thanks to Ken Willoughby and his team of helpers for making it all happen.

posted 10-18-2008 02:45 PM               

The hall, used for the presentations appears to be one of the areas most damaged.

posted 10-19-2008 12:43 PM               

You would think one of these other schools would return the favour and make premesis available at Carleton's hour of need...!

Carleton has worked closely with Ken over the years to pull off theses wonderful astronaut evenings and I cannot help but feel for them at this dreadful time....

Regards,