posted 09-09-2014 10:10 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by gliderpilotuk:
A veritable Paulfest.

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posted 09-18-2014 01:48 AM            

ESA at Autographica, 19-21 September in Birmingham

Autographica is the UK's premier event for the space and sci-fi interested public. Alongside Apollo astronauts who've flown to the Moon, ESA will have a stand at this two-day event being held next weekend, 19-21 September, at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel at the NEC.

At the ESA stand there will be information about European astronauts and space projects, including of course, the exciting Rosetta mission. This will be the first time a space agency attends the event in its 15-year history.

Several thousands of people are expected to pass through the venue's doors next weekend, to meet pioneers of spaceflight and aviation, as well as characters from well-known films and TV shows. One of the biggest attractions is the highly popular series of astronaut talks, where guest speakers entertain fans with stories of their space experiences.

ESA's stand will also have a special guest: Portuguese-born photographer Edgar Martins, who was granted unparalleled access to ESA facilities in 2012 and 2013. For those two years, he photographed the space facilities across Europe, Kazakhstan and South America. Edgar will be signing copies of his stunning new photography book at the ESA stand.

posted 09-18-2014 06:34 PM               

The Al Worden dinner during the week has at least given me my dose of Apollo astronaut and should keep me going for a while - I'm hoping to be back over for the next show and I certainly hope the lineup whets our collective appetites.

posted 09-19-2014 02:27 AM            

Maybe the toil of all the events around the country is having an effect.

I was going to come to meet Stafford, but his pricing annoyed me. After the previous visits where he overcharged people, (whilst I recognise that this is fairly standard practice) I feel it’s now fairly cheeky to want a further £10 for a mission name under his signature. No doubt he’ll have a ‘no photographs’ sign above his head too. With the other guys being cheaper also in Manchester, I’m afraid I’m out.

posted 09-19-2014 05:18 AM               

I won't be buying autographs as this is more of an opportunity for me to meet these guys and have a photo with them and to give my boys the chance to meet astronauts.

I don't really know any of you guys and would not recognise you if I saw you but if you want to say hi to me and my family that would be great. You won't be able to miss me as I will be most probably the smallest adult there.

posted 09-19-2014 01:43 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Madon_space:
You won't be able to miss me as I will be most probably the smallest adult there.

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posted 09-21-2014 11:18 AM               

Again on Saturday it was a lot quieter than previous shows but it was still very enjoyable. One big surprise was getting to meet and talk to Rick Armstrong. What a lovely man he was and very generous with his time too. The two SR-71 guys were also a delight.

posted 09-21-2014 05:20 PM               

All astronauts were very nice to talk to. Enjoyed my little chat with David Bryant. Thank you.

I was only going to have the photo shoots as well as the lecture with Al Worden as I already have all the autographs of all the astronauts, but my missus surprised me by buying me all the autographs plus a very, very large signed presentation of Ken Mattingly from SpaceBoosters. Guess you could say I am very lucky.

Looking forward to the next one.

posted 09-22-2014 12:21 AM               

This was, of course, our last Autographica and I'd like to publicly thank Dave, Jason and Garry for all their help and friendship over the years. They invented the concept in the UK and, in my opinion, every other astronaut show over here is a pale simulant.

Thanks, too, to the the hundreds of folk who have bought from us over the years and who've become great friends — I shan't name you all: you know who you are! But special mention, of course, to Paul and Howard who have become two of our best buddies!

posted 09-22-2014 04:31 PM            

First was Tom Stafford, who I have met twice previously but this the first time he had given a lecture. He was marvelous. Very detailed in regard to how Apollo came about, his Gemini flights in particular, Apollo 10 and ASTP. His description of Gene Cernan's spacewalk on Gemini 9 was riveting and almost made you feel you were there. The launch hold on Gemini 6 too was well explained. His friendship with Alexei Leonov and his respect for him was evident as well. I could have listened to him for hours and as it was, despite starting a little late, he still went well over his allotted time and was getting the organisers a little worried so not too much time for questions.

Next was Al Worden giving the fourth talk I have heard from him. As usual very polished and going into the navigation of getting to the moon in detail. All his talks I have attended have been completely different such is his expertise in communication with his audience. An outgoing and natural speaker.

A strange incident happened in the questions when an attendee asked about re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere suggesting about skipping in and quoting Chris Kraft. The same person had asked Tom Stafford the same question and another member of the audience interrupted him and accused the questioner of being a moon hoax conspiracy believer. They were arguing and Al stressed that a skip of the atmosphere was the last thing any astronaut would want. The stewards ended the session there and then and the two were still having strong words to say to each other afterwards. I noted that the questioner did not attend the next two lectures by astronauts who never went to the moon!

Ed Gibson gave the third lecture, the second I have heard from him. What a pleasant personality he has and it came through in his very interesting talk about his Skylab flight and the future of space exploration and its past missed opportunities. I asked him about his flying the T-38 and he replied that he absolutely loved it and that NASA had sent three of his group to learn to fly.

The fourth talk was by Jack Lousma whom I had never met before and he was also very good. He explained he had spoken mostly the previous day of his Skylab flight so would today talk about his shuttle test flight which he commanded, only the third one in the series with Gordon Fullerton. With video as well and explaining the first use of the cargo bay and mechanical arm was most interesting. Deorbiting and landing, with a delay was covered well also. I asked him how he felt about his chances of landing on the moon vanishing with Apollo 20 having been cancelled and he said it was never confirmed but as he had been doing a lot of work on the lunar module he may well have been on one of the three cancelled trips to the moon. Another very pleasant character.

Vance Brand was also there but his only talk was on Saturday so I missed it. I had heard him last time he was here and this time I had an interesting conversation with him and his wife.

I was disappointed not to have enough time to attend the last lecture by a SR-71 Blackbird pilot but had to get away for a family occasion.

Very pleased to have conversations with Dave Shayler and David Bryant. Best wishes in your semi retirement David, you certainly have plenty of interests to keep you occupied. Keep well.

As was so busy going in and out of the lectures I could not tell if the rest of Autographica was very busy or not but it did seem relaxed. As a tennis fan I was disappointed not to see Vijay Amritaj (most people remember him for being a James Bond villain) but couldn't see him anywhere.

posted 09-23-2014 01:51 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Kite:
I noted that the questioner did not attend the next two lectures by astronauts who never went to the moon!

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Personally I've found his behaviour to be quite selfish, especially at the Tom Stafford lecture where there was only a very limited amount of time for questions. By repeatedly asking the same thing over and over he took away any chance for others to ask a question but he seemed to have no regard for that at all. He didn't even let Gen. Stafford finish his answers before he was trying to interrupt him.

All that said, this was an excellent event, I didn't arrive till later on Saturday so things were definitely quieter at that point but the Sunday seemed steady enough. All the guests were very friendly and happy to chat, especially the SR-71 pair. Budget constraints meant I had to miss the Al Worden lecture in the end which I was sorry to do as he has always been a superb speaker whenever I have heard him.