CONFESSIONS OF AN ARMCHAIR ASTRONAUT!

Thirty years ago today in 1977 the Voyager space programme blasted off to explore the outer solar system. As an avid fan of all things spatial I followed all such exploration. Paradoxically it was Voyager 2 which lifted off first to travel to the outer solar system. Voyager 1 was launched on 5th September 1977 on a fast track to Jupiter and Saturn only. Thinking back to my books on astronomy written in the 1970's my recollection is just how sketchy they were about all these planets and the moons of these worlds were a complete mystery. The Voyagers revolutionised our understanding of our planetary neighbours. Jupiter's moons were no longer mere dots of light but worlds in their own right. And even worlds as far flung as Neptune had active cryo-volcanic features! These probes are even now moving out into interstellar space and looking back they can give us an astonishing view of our solar family from the outside.

I was first enthralled by the early manned space flights, and as an "armchair astronaut" I absolutely loved the Apollo Moon Shots. I vividly remember watching Neil Armstrong's first step on the Moon; to those of us on this side of the Atlantic Ocean that occured on 21st July 1969 - 38 years ago. As an excited eleven year old I got up in the early hours of the morning to watch that 'one small step'... I was entranced by the whole adventure of space flight and followed each moon shot closely. I laid out charts and maps and models as each mission unfolded.

Apollo 15, July/August 1971, though stands out in my mind to this day as the most visually exciting mission of them all. This mission launched in July of 1971 was the first to take a 'lunar rover' with its own freely operated TV camera. It was like sharing in this whole fantastic adventure, nothing will ever recapture the sheer delight of following those particular Moon walks. encompassing Hadley Rille. All the later Apollo missions were similarly equipped and I charted the progress of Apollos 16 and 17 just as avidly.

The Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990 and opened up the wider universe to us with some of the most breathtaking photographs imaginable. It is an amazing time to be alive to witness such things - I hope that future generations will have the opportunity to marvel as I did at the Universe we inhabit and that they will never grow blase about such
wonders.