posted 04-06-2019 10:26 PM               

• Friday, 4 October 2019:
  Evening Dinner and Auction £100
  The Wentbridge House Hotel, Pontefract
  Photo shoot: 18.00-18.45 (£30 payable on the day)
  Dinner 19.00-21.00
  Auction and autograph session

• Saturday, 5 October 2019:
  Lecture £45
  Carleton Community High School "The Infinity Theatre"
  Doors open at 14.00
  Photo shoot: 14.45-15.45 (£30 payable on the day)
  Lecture 16.00-17.00
  Q&A session, approximately 15 to 20 minutes
  Autograph session

posted 04-07-2019 05:43 PM               

Now would be a good time for budding designers out there to conjure up a backdrop design for October.

I will personally guarantee a bespoke signed photo from Jack Lousma, courtesy of Space Lectures to the winning designer. If it transpires that the winning design is submitted by one of Space Lectures' own team, a "runner up" design as chosen by Ken will win the prize.

posted 04-08-2019 02:58 PM               

Never had as many people pay so quick!

posted 05-07-2019 04:31 AM               

I cannot wait until Jack Lousma's visit in October to hear from the horse's mouth about their time on board. How do I drop into polite conversation that I've seen him in the shower?

posted 05-12-2019 03:52 AM               

Ken can't bank a promise!

Tickets will only be allocated with payment: Ken now has the tickets so orders will be processed and tickets shipped quickly.

posted 08-04-2019 07:57 AM               

An event not to be missed. Jack has such of wealth of knowledge, expertise and of course spaceflight experience to convey to us all.

We'll be there with our usual tables of pin badges, mission patches, photos, astro food, matted and framed items, t-shirts and caps. Plus some nice flown shuttle presentations.

posted 08-05-2019 02:34 PM               

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the British Interplanetary Society for their continued support. The September edition of Spaceflight magazine carries our advert for the Lousma event and all being well so too will the October edition.

posted 08-26-2019 05:37 AM               

I am not aware of any restrictions on what Jack will and won't sign. There will be vendors selling items on the day but please feel free to bring anything particularly special or bespoke and we will do our best to accommodate.

posted 09-05-2019 03:04 PM               

But I have no intention of keeping the bespoke Lousma signed photo for myself so Mike Lambert, assuming you are attending the event please make yourself known to me (I will be assisting at the signing table). It may not be your design but I hope you will like your very own and unique signed piece as a memento of the event.

posted 09-27-2019 12:54 PM               

The venue will be in use by another group until this time so please respect their space and keep to the schedule.

posted 10-07-2019 01:32 PM               

Jack spoke to nearly 1000 pupils over two days. Outwood Academy Carlton in Barnsley and Mount St. Mary's College in Sheffield the beneficiaries of Ken Willoughby's on going quest to inspire youngsters with stories of space adventures delivered first hand from the men and women that made them happen.

The reception and warmth of welcome was matched by the enthusiasm of the students. The Q&A that followed the first lecture in Barnsley for instance lasted longer than the presentation itself. The whole experience made a great impression on Jack, and Mary in particular. Following the Saturday lecture I asked Mary what had been the best part of her first visit to the UK? "Seeing all the youngsters hands going up" she replied, "and their enthusiasm for my dad's adventures so many years after they happened."

The schedule afforded Jack and Mary time to see some of the areas ancient and historic sites. No, not Ken Willoughby's wallet but Pontefract Castle. I was gobsmacked at David Jones' local knowledge. Our usual event compere was a mine of information: he would make a good teacher! Along with a suitcase stuffed with liquorice (a local delicacy) and Pontefract cakes, Jack and Mary will certainly return to the US with a flavour of the area.

Friday found the event shifting once again to Wentrbridge for the dinner and auction. (Please note that for Space Lectures' Ed Gibson event in April, the dinner and auction will be held at Kings Croft Hotel.) Things got off to a bad start when Mrs OWL (aka Julie McDermott) was taken seriously ill and hospitalized for the duration. That in turn meant that her husband Andrew (OWL) was switching to and fro from the hospital to the venue. Julie was greatly missed but in the best of traditions she told Andrew "the show must go on," and the team pulled together in an hour of need. In any case, Andrew knows his place.

Gene Kranz would have been proud of us.

It was nice to see so many new faces. First timers included Dwight and Alexandra Steven Boniecki. In addition to donating a choice auction piece the Boniecki's brought with them a selection of merchandise from their triumphant movie "Searching for Skylab." It transpires that Ed Gibson was instrumental in bringing the film to fruition: safe to say Dwight and Alexandra will be back in April, not least because they ran out of DVDs PDQ.

The lecture at Carlton Community High school was altogether smoother for the team than Gennady Padalka's event. The tech guys were on the ball from the get go and the new caterers brought a selection of mouth-watering cream cakes that I'm convinced added pounds just from looking at them. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

Understandably, when Jack's Skylab Commander Alan Bean came to Pontefract in 2013, the Apollo 12 moon landing dominated: it was refreshing to see an in depth study of the ground breaking Skylab program: Jack's "warm up act" a brief STS-3 movie with a Willie Nelson soundtrack.

It quickly became evident why Dwight and Alexandra's movie has been so well received. Jack's lecture underlined just how influential Skylab had been in paving the way for the ISS and the long term manned exploration of space, in so doing re-writing the text books on Solar Astronomy.

Jack's humour found a receptive, knowledgeable audience and anecdotes were sprinkled throughout. If you ever bump in to Jack be sure to ask him about the "Skivvies" — on day 58 of his Skylab mission, or the peanut munching crewmate, and you will understand what raised the biggest laughs of the afternoon.

So familiar are the Space Lectures audience with the signing process that before we knew it Jack had finished the signing and he and Mary were leaving for the airport. Thankfully the days of 3 hour queues for an autograph are ancient history.

Another 7 months will find astronaut Ed Gibson in Pontefract. I'm looking forward to it already, not least because of the reported "mutinous" actions of the Skylab III crew: the inside story I'm certain will be worth the admission ticket alone.

Ken Willoughby has asked me to convey his appreciation to everybody that made this event a success. Without the support of our dinner guests, audience members, trade suppliers, schools, auction sponsors, Karen and James from Proffoto and of course team members, Space Lectures would have folded 12 years ago. The fact we are still going strong does everybody great credit.

posted 10-09-2019 03:10 PM               

We really enjoyed our visit and all of the events. We thank you for all you did to make our travel, speaking events, and social activities pleasant and meaningful. I thought the speaking audiences were strategically selected to effectively convey my space-related messages. The events were well-planned and organized, and the listeners seemed attentive and interested. I did not realize the Carleton High School event would be primarily for adults, so we improvised a bit upon arrival to add some “fun” and a bit of Space Shuttle-related info to the presentation.

The Wentbridge was a pleasant, quiet, and delightful place to stay, and we thank you for accommodating us in such grand style!

All things considered, that is, the schedule, audiences, pace, organization, people, events, locations, transportation, photo-shoots, banquet, auction, autograph sessions, ambiance, lodging, Castle visit, and even the weather were top-notch! Please accept for yourself and convey our gratitude to all for their friendship, patience, hospitality, and extra effort in welcoming us and in making our visit pleasant, worthwhile, and memorable.