Weeping … And with good reason, I think …
I’ve got to admit, I was watching tonight’s edition of “The One Show”, on BBC1.
And they had possibly the saddest article I’ve ever seen.
One that made me both want to weep …
After I’d sat sat back in my seat, and yelled “You dumb F*CKS!”, out loud.
Something I never knew was that Britain had — during the ’60s — it’s own satellite launching capability.
And we only shot up one; called the Prospero X-3, on a British rocket that was tested at the High Down testing facility on the Isle of Wight, and launched from Woomera, Australia, on the 28th October, 1971.
And cancelled, almost immediately.
Dear, GODS!
Britain’s the only nation to have successfully launched a satellite, and walked away from it.
Dear Gods, what the HELL did we do that for?
No, I’m no fascist, no über-right wing nationalist.
But I love my nation; I’m one who knows we’ve a country that’s done a lot of wrong in its time, but also one that’s given some quite good ideas, in it’s time.
One that’s tried its damnedest to as well as it could, with the resource, ingenuity, and sheer persistance of its diverse peoples.
One that, at one point, lead the world, with its technological and scientific capabilities. (Arguably still does, with companies like Astrium and Virgin Galactic, and the inventiveness of people like Time Berners-Lee and James Dyson.)
Britain is the country that gave the world the engineering and scientific geniuses that were Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Isaac Newton, Alan Turing, and Thomas Flowers, artisitc icons like Sir Edward Elgar, Francis Bacon, and John Lennon.
But one that could have given itself a forty-eight year lead in its satellite launching capacity, one that could’ve given itself a much needed industrial kick up the jacksie, in so doing, and one that could’ve taken a hell of a lead, in taking humanity out there.
It leaves me weeping at the stupidity of the government at the time.
And bloody angry at the short-sightedness.
Aye, a very sorry tale indeed, but nothing surprising as they (the government) had done much the same throught the 60s in regard to our aircraft industry - the potential we had to be world leaders in aviation was frittered away by stupid, stupid decisions. 'Project Cancelled' is a very worthwhile read, though it'll probably get your blood boiling.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Alan
Back to satellites, for just $8000 you can get one of your very own... and that price includes it being launched into a low-earth orbit.
ReplyDeletehttp://spacefellowship.com/2009/08/01/interorbital-syatems-tubesat-personal-satellite-kit/
So very, very tempting. Just need to think up something to fit the tubesat's mass/volume...
Cheers,
Alan