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Should you wish to contact the
society or require general information please contact ASTRA
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email: Jan.12. First
of six lectures by Archie
Roy at
Airdrie, jointly organised with Glasgow University Adult
Education Department. Feb.3. 'The
Influence of Megaliths', lecture by Tony Crerar, whom we had
met on tour with Sphinx at the Edinburgh
Festival. Feb.23. Start
of programme of films at Airdrie, hired from the British
Interplanetary Society. Mar. 7. Civil
Aviation Authority donates 10 cm. radar array and other
equipment, from the break-up of the former Air Traffic
Control station at Western Gailes, to ASTRA Technical
Section. Mar.22.
Megalith completed by Sea King helicopter from H.M.S.
Gannet. ASTRA exhibition at reception afterwards. The
project was now coming up to full strength, with illustrator
Dave McClymont working full-time on the High Frontier
exhibition, under direction of Gavin
Roberts. Mar.27.
Prof.
Hermann Oberth
becomes first Honorary Member of ASTRA. - Inland Revenue
recognises ASTRA as a charity. May 5. AGM:
Linda Lunan becomes Treasurer. 1979 membership
27. May 12. ASTRA
hosts Scottish Astronomers Group meeting at
Airdrie. May 31.
Publication of "New Worlds for Old" by David & Charles
Ltd., who had also published Chris
Boyce's
"Extraterrestrial Encounter". "New Worlds for Old" was the
factual chapters from "Man and the Planets", plus the guest
chapters by Archie
Roy,
Andy
Nimmo, John
Macvey and Tony Lawton, with artwork by Ed
Buckley &
Gavin
Roberts.
David & Charles also had the option on "Man and the
Planets", i.e. the future space development chapters and
artwork of the original book, but unfortunately Paul
Barnett, the editor concerned, had left, and D & C
cancelled his Westbridge Books line. June 9. Open
Day at Airdrie
Public Observatory,
Monklands Fair. Airdrie lectures started by Ian
Downie, 'The
Constellations', and Paul Benson, 'History of Astronomy',
repeated in Hamilton. July 21 -
Aug.11. Apollo commemorative exhibition for Gary Gale
(see 1985, 1990 & 1993) at Saltcoats Library, featuring
a 'loose-leaf' photo exhibition created by Ian
Downie on the
Astronomy Project. July 27.
Funding for Airdrie film programme cut back by District
Council. Aug.26 -
Sept.4. Duncan
Lunan
whirlwind tour of USA to negotiate more exhibits for the
High Frontier. Visited Smithsonian Air & Space Museum,
NASA Headquarters, JPL, Rockwell International Inc., NASA
Ames Research Centre, San Francisco Exploratorium, United
Technologies Technical Systems Division - on 8 aircraft in
10 days. At NASA Ames I met Kit Weinrichter, who afterwards
represented ASTRA at the Voyager 2 Saturn and Uranus flybys,
the launch of STS-7 and the landing of STS-9, and gained
much very valuable material for our photo
library. Sept.15. "The
High Frontier, a decade of space exploration 1969-1979",
opens at the Third Eye Centre and Glasgow Film Theatre. At
its time, we believe this was the most ambitious thing of
its kind ever attempted in the UK. For a group with 27
members. even calling on the resources of the Astronomy
Project and with finance from the Scottish Arts Council, it
was at the extreme limit of our capabilities. Similar things
were being tried at the time by other groups, who had or
claimed greater resources; their events didn't take place,
but ours did. The centrepiece of
the exhibition was a pair of Voyager-Jupiter colour blowups,
sponsored by the Glasgow Herald. The surrounding display
panels featured photos and artwork from the US centres above
and also McDonnell-Douglas, SPAR Aerospace Consortium,
Hasselblad, ESA and the Novosti Press Agency of the USSR.
The Post Office and ESA contributed displays and models of
their own, including an Ariane model; there were also
cameras from Hasselblad, a Shuttle model from Rockwell
International and a Concorde model from British Airways.
John
Boyes of
Edinburgh, who became a member and later our auditor,
contributed a model display. There was an on going space
colonisation game, and a programme of SF films and talks at
the Glasgow Film Theatre in addition to the main programme,
with extra exhibition material; the ESA exhibition was moved
there when artwork and stills from the film 'Alien' were
added to the main exhibition. The foyer display included
original artwork by Ed
Buckley,
Gavin
Roberts and
Sydney
Jordan; home
computers; and a side room with Ian
Downie's
Astronomy Project exhibition, a telescope, on going slide
show and satellite model by Oscar
Schwiglhofer (see
below). Sept.18.
'Spaceships of the Pen', talk by Ed
Buckley. Sept.28. 'The
Soviets in Space' by John Macvey. Sept.29.
'Nuclear Waste Disposal in Space' seminar at the GFT,
principal speaker Capt. Chester Lee of the Space
Transportation System Office. This was a major boost for our
enquiry, which has so far led to two formal papers
(see
1983) and
four major articles, also a poster paper (see
1985). - Paul Benson,
'Behind the Bamboo Curtain', report on his Rolls-Royce
assignment in China; at Airdrie, later repeated in
Hamilton. Oct. 3.
Astronomers' Brains Trust. Oct. 4.
Sputnik Anniversary lecture, 'Space Developments since
Sputnik' by Duncan
Lunan. Oct. 6/7.
Space & Scotland/Satellite Applications Seminar at
GFT; speakers from ESA, Glasgow University, Dundee
University, Post Office Telecommunications, Macaulay
Institute of Soil Studies; films from ESA. Oct.12.
Extraterrestrial Encounter Simulation by Chris
Boyce. Publications: as well
as many leaflets, brochures and handouts, jointly with the
Third Eye Centre we produced the book "The High Frontier, an
exploration of space future", edited by Bob Low. The Third
Eye Centre produced "Star Gate, the science fiction poems of
Edwin Morgan", and a Voyager-Jupiter poster which was a
sellout. Oscar produced an
issue of Spacereport on his plan for an ASTRA Getaway
Special satellite, to be monitored by the tracking station
at Hamilton. In the meantime the power pack had been
completed and passed to Phillips (Hamilton) for
calibration. Oct.26. First
of 18 Airdrie lectures by Archie
Roy and Colin
Aspin of Glasgow University Astronomy Department. Oct.27. At
ASTRA HQ, showing of all films on loan or hire to the
exhibition before their return, attended by the director of
a NASA tracking station in Australia. This one will always
remain in ASTRA memory because the projector, on loan from
Phillips, did not have a take-up reel and it took all
afternoon to find one. Nov.10.
Glasgow branch meetings began at Strathclyde University
Union, with Duncan
Lunan, 'Are
the Russians Going to Mars?', a farout notion at the time.
Anyone else remember Cosmos 929? The High Frontier
exhibition was now on tour, starting at Leeds, and from now
on stored at the ASTRA rooms in Hamilton. If the image of
the 70's had been putting drawing pins in and out of walls,
the early 80's one was to be hauling chipboard up and down
stairs. 1980
1978
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Date Last Modified: 31 07 1999