posted 04-10-2014 11:32 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by crash:
Shane, my advice would be to not wear anything green. It plays havoc with the green screen when the final photo drops out of the printer.

---

posted 04-13-2014 01:29 AM               

There was Chris (Tykeanaut), Yorkshire's Ambassador Without. Without what exactly the Yorkshire Government are still deciding though they did indicate that it was probably best to leave him without anything.

After 39 years I finally met with Geoffrey (Blackarrow) again. We renewed our two discussions under the adjudication of Kite. A tentative agreement was reached that the Moon weaved because it had a heart problem and that Irwin was in a hypothetical orbit a million miles away. [Or was it the other way round?]

Rick was his usual towering presence and accompanied by his family, though one has to question what effect the rigours of the M62 might have had on the formative years of his daughter.

Robbie was there as usual in the front row, resplendent in his Bean tartan. It's understood that next time he's going to charge for people to fondle his knees!!

Then there was Karen, aka Linda or vice versa. Without her stirling work behind the scenes the photos would not have been ready for signing.

With apologies to anyone missed out, we come to the most important people there - the two Ken's. First KW whose efforts to stage these occasions cannot be underestimated. His unassuming work is truly appreciated and our heartfelt thanks go out to him. However, one small point. Both Ken and I have, in the past, suffered from the same complaint. So, how come he gets prescribed bottles of red wine and I get only a miserable white tablet?

Then there is TKM, the admirable Admiral. His lecture was serious in content though delivered with an undercurrent of wit and humour as befits a true astronaut and a remarkable human being. Thank you Ken for a very memorable evening.

posted 04-13-2014 09:12 AM            

I thoroughly enjoyed the lecture which was mostly about his late removal from Apollo 13 and then the terrific work in Mission Control and beyond by so many people to bring the astronauts home. It was delivered very well and enhanced by some good questions which were well answered about his problems whilst on the backside of the Moon on his own journey there on Apollo 16 and also the differences on lift off between Apollo and his Space Shuttle flights.

It was good to see so many cS members there and enjoyed the discussion with Moorouge and Blackarrow while we were waiting for our signature from Ken Mattingly. Listening to the two of them it is like witnessing the irresistible force against the immovable object! Great characters both of them.

Already looking forward to the next one so thanks once again to Ken and his team. Their hard work is much appreciated by I am sure all of us.

posted 04-13-2014 12:39 PM            

It came then as a huge surprise when Ken told me he had Ken Mattingly booked to appear in April of this year. Really?

Travelling with his wife Kathleen "TK" (as he preferred to be called) was naturally tired upon arrival at the hotel. A slight man, it quickly became evident he was sharp, erudite, eloquent and humble... in equal measure and with a quick wit to match. Following a couple of stiff black coffees he quickly engaged with Ken and his team before retiring to their room.

The dinner in the Wentbridge House Hotel was a sell out. The place was humming with conversation, anecdotes and lashings of drink as you might expect when familiar faces meet once again in anticipation of a great night. But we had an added ingredient; first timers from "exotic" corners of the globe such as Virginia USA, Italy, Ireland and even... Port Sunlight! They brought with them familiarity and good humour and even magic tricks that would have had "Dynamo" baffled.

Meeting Luigi Pizzimeti for the first time, it an experience in itself. His English may not be great but his enthusiasm, "latin" passion for all things space and his sense of fun is infectious and he leaves Pontefract with a host of new friends.

Last I heard Ken Willoughby wanted to adopt him!

Luigi was not the only collectSPACE member in attendance. Andrew and Julie Macdermott (Mr and Mrs Owl) are integral to Ken Willoughby's team but I bumped (quite literally) into Paul Bramley (gliderpilotuk) and his lovely new wife, Aileen Malone, Dave Sixsmith, Paul Barrier (crash), Ken Mactaggert, Nick and Bryar Deakin (spaceman), Mike Bunko, Carl Walker and Robert to name but a few. The bumping was in part from the crowded bar and in part from the bevy of excited Irishmen — led by Shane (AstroAutos) and Geoff Bowman (Blackarrow) — let out for the day and doing their best to drink the bar dry.

As you might expect Ken Mattingly's entrance to the dining room was greeted by a standing ovation from a very appreciate audience. TK spoke briefly after the dinner, expressing his appreciation for the warm welcome and touching on the thrust of his public lecture planned for the next day; that with team work and dedication very ordinary people can do very extraordinary things.

The auction followed and soon after, each table took it in turn to have something signed by TK. Like Alan Bean before him, TK signed everything placed in front of him without quibble; multi signed items, crew completions, covers, models, globes but on this occasion... no limbs!

I was at the signing table for the dinner and OWL was there too for the dinner and the lecture. Both went very smoothly but we would still like to apologise to the few who asked for inscriptions, dedications or the likes. Signings can be arduous for these guys and we think a simple signature a small price to pay if it means the difference between them coming or not. Everybody that asked was politely declined and everybody declined took the answer in good spirit for which we are most appreciative. A simple "Best Wishes", "Apollo 16" or a combination of both would have potentially doubled the time taken for each signing.

Later I asked TK why he had agreed to come to England. He said "I don't usually do these kinds of events as they are often corporate funded and companies and institutions want something from me. I am really enjoying myself because these folk are just interested in space and don't have an agenda."

The following day people started arriving for the lecture at Carleton Community High School at 12.00 noon; the doors didn't open until 2.00pm!

Eddie aka "Moorouge" and Chris aka "Tykeanaut" did their best to lower the tone of events (only kidding boys — it was great to see you again and thanks Eddie for the help) but thankfully Chris's wife kept him in check.

Refreshments, photshoots, dealers tables and acquaintances new and old soon had the place humming. TK took time out to speak privately with a group of BA airline pilots before the lecture. The common bond shared by pilots was evident and the respect and admiration was mutual.

posted 04-13-2014 12:42 PM            

I cannot quite put my finger on it, but "TK" brought a refreshing insight in to Apollo, the space program and flying to the moon in general. He captured in his own inimitable style what it was "really" like to fly to the moon.

At the launch of Apollo 16 he thought to himself "You can't shake a million parts like this," such was the attack on the vehicle — and his senses — as the Saturn V left the pad. He paraphrased Frank Borman by saying, "Frank thought he was the Commander on Apollo 8 but when he launched he realised he wasn't in command of anything."

He recalled the childlike sensation of weightlessness and the fun of floating in zero G, though he was always conscious for the first few hours of not getting sick. He added "Earth is beautiful; thunderstorms are "cute" sparkling like Christmas tree lights — Sparkle, sparkle, sparkle." He was struck by contrast of African tribesmen living primitive lives sat beside fires twinkling in the darkness below while he orbited above in mankind's greatest technological achievement.

He reiterated what many of us already believe; that Apollo 13 was NASA's greatest success built on everybody's dedication to success. That dedication is what brought Apollo 13 home safely and why he got to go on Apollo 16.

Incidentally, he said that Gary Sinise, as Ken Mattingly in the movie Apollo 13 did a great job of being sorry for himself when dropped from the flight but added, "Trust me, not as sorry as I was; I could have won myself an Oscar."

He went on the describe Glynn Lunney's role in the unfolding drama of Apollo 13 as "the best management I have ever seen." When the explosion occurred such was the confusion amongst mission control, so extreme and unexpected had been the problems that the young controllers forgot the maxim of not relying purely on what the telemetry was telling them. While Gene Kranz led the team that worked on getting spacecraft home Glynn Lunney's team took control of the immediate issues and it was his leadership that "glued back together a team that had become unglued."

"We had never simulated this problem because it was so unrealistic. But the simulations we did do... that many told us were unnecessary... provided us with the tool kit of procedures that equipped us to deal with it" — Helped in no small part by fate.

When the command module was powered down and the guidance platform switched off nobody knew whether it would work again following a cold soak lasting several days. The platform had been designed to work in a shirt sleeve environment and had never been tested in the cold, or so it was thought. However during manufacture one had been shipped to another plant for testing. Unbeknown to his bosses the guy transporting the part had inadvertently left it over the weekend in the back of his flat bed truck — exposed to freezing temperatures. As the drama Apollo 13 unfolded this worker came forward to tell his boss what had happened and "it was this free communication and integrity under pressure that got them through it."

A good Q&A was followed by the signing. We employed the same queue control as we had for Alan Bean last year. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" and judging by the feedback everything went well.

Soon after TK and his wife left to catch a flight. But not until after he had met his youngest fan of the day. Leon Herling from Luxembourg had brought his Mum and Dad along for the day. TK and Leon seemed deep in conversation. They clearly had a lot in common, besides sharing the same barber. I could have sworn I heard TK say to Leon, "Have YOU had the measles?!"

Ken Willoubhy would like to thank TK Mattingly for generously accepting his invitation to come to the UK. He would like to thank his band of merry helpers that make these events work and SO much fun to be part of. And he would of course like to thank everybody who supported the event and/or attended. collectSPACE members and the great unwashed alike make these events happen.

OWL would like to apologise to the few folk (gliderpilotuk included) who complained that he had stood in their way during the Q&A. I roughed him up round the back of the bike sheds then gave him a damned good thrashing; it won't happen again. Seriously though, we appreciate the feedback and will sort it going forward.

posted 04-13-2014 02:05 PM            

As for the man himself TKM is a wonderful speaker and his lecture was almost hypnotic. Full of wit and humour, that at times had the whole auditorium in laughter, TKM started off talking about how you go about getting to and landing on the moon.

And then in detail about how the crew of Apollo 13 managed to get home with the support of the engineers and technicians back on Earth. The story of how they discovered the electrical circuits in the CSM would work after being frozen was something I'd not heard before and was full of lessons.

Finally TKM answered a few questions. My personal favourite was about nearly aborting the Apollo 16 lunar landing.

posted 04-14-2014 02:14 AM               

I found a great Ken Mattingly. An example? I had with me a Shuttle TAG era with TK Mattingly and Ken told me: I remember when I lost that TAG! Answer? I'm sorry, but now it's mine!

A great thrill when I dedicated my book to Ken Mattingly. Another nice moment when my Italian friend Mario, who was with me (he saw the launch of Apollo 16 from Cape Canaveral) Mettingly said him: Do you liked the sound of the Saturn V? Yes Ken! We like the sound!

Beautiful moments spent with friends as the great Ken Mac Taggart and Simon Bolt, I do not write all the names because they are many. All with the same passion.

Thank you all for the welcome they have given me. I was surprised. I look forward to the next guest... Rick, I apologize for my English, I promise that I will study.

posted 04-14-2014 05:01 AM               

Amidst all the adulation did anyone realise the significance of the date of the lecture?

• April 12 1961: Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space.
  
• April 12 1981: Launch of Space Shuttle Columbia on mission STS-1.

• April 12 1937: Sir Frank Whittle conducts ground-tests of the world’s first jet engine.

posted 04-14-2014 05:40 AM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by Rick Mulheirn:
TK took time out to speak privately with a group of BA airline pilots before the lecture. The common bond shared by pilots was evident and the respect and admiration was mutual.

---

posted 04-14-2014 11:29 AM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by gliderpilotuk:
Amidst all the adulation did anyone realise the significance of the date of the lecture?

---

posted 04-14-2014 11:53 AM            

It was only a shame you did not bring your full scale command module along for TK to sign... and for us to play in!

As I recall, it was you that kept telling me your English was poor. Rest assured it is a darn site better that my Italian!!!

posted 04-14-2014 01:38 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by robert_l:
Amidst all the adulation did anyone realise the significance of the date of the lecture?

---

posted 04-14-2014 01:41 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Rick Mulheirn:
I will be testing you on your English studies.

---

posted 04-17-2014 10:22 AM            

These dates may change and I will start a new thread as and when Ken is in a position to make an announcement.

But given the unique nature of the Space Lecture events I thought it wise to give folk a "heads up" so plans can be made... or put on hold as the case may be.

It promises to be another unique occasion.

posted 04-22-2014 08:32 PM               

The November event sounds like another one for the books and it's safe to say I'll be there. (Might bring my girlfriend over to that one instead of my mate, I find the astronauts don't mind stopping to chat for longer when you have a female on your arm!)

posted 04-24-2014 12:11 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Tykeanaut:
Shane, sorry I missed you.

---

Chris, you're slipping. You mean you allowed Shane to enter Yorkshire without interviewing him for his visa?

posted 04-24-2014 01:13 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Tykeanaut:
Luigi, I saw you and wanted to say hello but you'd gone next time I looked - maybe next time?

---

posted 04-25-2014 04:28 PM            

Sorry to be late in responding. Its amazing how much stuff piles up when out of pocket for a week. Kathleen and I want you to know how much we enjoyed our visit and appreciated the many courtesies you and the team extended to us. Thanks again for your hospitality.

posted 04-26-2014 11:56 AM            

Sorry – you misunderstood my "out of pocket" expression. We use the expression to mean not available. I was away from my normal business for over a week (we stayed a few days in London after we left you). My apologies for using our slang. You did indeed take care of all expenses associated with your event.