ISSUE 2 NOVEMBER 2004 £2.50 VOYAGE A Journey of Learning Through Space THIS ISSUE: Rockets and Spacecraft FLYING MODEL ROCKETS THE SATURN V Apollo’s ride to the Moon BUILD YOUR OWN TITAN LANDER THE X-PRIZE THUNDERBIRDS - from TV to film via Mercury Great Puzzles and Competitions Receive Spaceflight sent directly to your home each month Rapid worldwide delivery by speed air/sea dispatch Join a worldwide international space organisation with a long history of contributions to space exploration Membership offers free Evening Lectures and reduced rates to Technical Symposia held by the Society SPECIAL OFFER - join now and receive six issues FREE The Society was founded in 1933 and is the world’s longest-established organisation devoted solely to the exploration of space and astronautics. It has charitable status and is financially independent. Most of its income is derived from its membership. 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Return to the British Interplanetary Society ................................................................................................................................. 27/29 South Lambeth Road London SW8 1SZ Signature .................................................................. Date .................................... England Voyage *Normally £64.50 (US$119) †Normally £43.50 (US$80) ‡Normally £22.50 (US$42) Offer ends 30 November 2004 CONTENTS ROCKETS AND SPACECRAFT So, You Want to be a Rocket Scientist? 8 It’s not just NASA or other nations that can fly rockets. You can do it yourself in model form. MAT IRVINE tells us how to get started in this world-wide hobby. 14 The Ansari X-Prize Regular space toruism may only be a matter of a few years away, and it’s getting closer as the competition to win $10 million hots up. STEVEN CUTTS fills us in. Did You Know About - The Saturn V Rocket 30 34 On the Cover: Shuttle Rollout PLUS Mr Pilbeam’s Lab 18 Who’s Who in Space 40 Voyager Card Game 24 Re-Entry: Hubble Telescope 44 FEATURES and COMPETITIONS Sci-Fi Focus - Thunderbirds 20 The 1960s Gerry Anderson puppet show has been turned into a great all-action movie. But it also has a link with the early days of the American Space Program. BRIAN LONGSTAFF shows us the connection. 26 The Night Sky Ever looked up at the stars and wondered which was which? If you want to learn more about the fascinating sights in the night sky, DAVE BUTTERY provides a great beginner’s guide. Future Space - Humans on Mars 28 With talk of sending missions back to the Moon and on to Mars in the near future, STEVEN CUTTS looks at how we might get to the Red Planet, and how we can survive when we’re there. Great Puzzles and Competitions Test your knowledge of space with: Get your entry in the next issue of Voyage Puzzle page on page 12 Caption Competition on page 13 Giant Wordsearch on page 31 Photo Competition on page 35 WIN A Die-Cast Space Shuttle Model in our great competition on PAGE 16 1 The best laid plans... Editor: Mike Shayler It just goes to show that predicting the future is a risky business. Production Assistant: We’ve had such a fantastic response to the first issue that many Mary McGivern of the articles planned and advertised for this one have had to be left out in favour of the ones that actually made it. There’s been Voyage Marketing: such an encouraging input of new articles for Voyage that we Suszann Parry were simply spoilt for choice. Voyage OFFICE Some of the items left out of this issue will appear in later ones, but we’ve learned 27/29 South Lambeth Road, very quickly not to make any predictions for the content. Issue 3 will have an London, SW8 1SZ, England. astronomy theme, though, so if you’ve never tried astronomy before, have a look at the beginners article on page 26. Tel: +44 (0)20 7735 3160 Fax: +44 (0)20 7820 1504 E-mail: [email protected] We also have some great competition prizes to give away in this issue, so why not have a go. And if you or your school would like to write something for the magazine, www.bis-space.com/education just drop me a line or an email at the addresses below. ADVERTISING Mike Shayler Astro Info Service Ltd Editor Tel: 0121 243 7642 E-mail: [email protected] DISTRIBUTION COMPETITION ENTRIES Voyage may be received worldwide by mail through subscription of the British Interplanetary Society. Details from the above Send your answers for all competitions to: address. Library subscription details are also available on request. *** Voyage Magazine Voyage is a publication which promotes the aim and objectives of The British 124 Lyncroft Road Interplanetary Society. Opinions in signed articles are those of the contributors and do Birmingham not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or the Council of the British Interplanetary B11 3EH Society. *** OR Back issues of Voyage are supplied at £3.50 (US$7.00) each, inclusive of surface mail delivery. email: [email protected] *** Published by the British Interplanetary Society, 27/29 South Lambeth Road, Entries Must Be In By 14 January 2005 London, SW8 1SZ, England. Registered Company No: 402498. Registered Charity No: 250556. Printed in the UK by Buxton See the competitions for how to Press Ltd, Palace Road, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 6AE. mark up your entries *** Copyright © British Interplanetary Society 2004 ISSN 0038-6340. All rights reserved. Don’t forget to include your name, No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, age and address or school address electronic or mechanical, including photo- copying or recording by any information You MUST get permission from storage or retrieval system without written permission from the Publishers. Photocopying permitted by license only. your parent, guardian or teacher *** The British Interplanetary Society is a before entering company limited by guarantee. 2 Thirty years ago in 1974, my two crewmates and I set a new American record of 84 days in space, which lasted for over 20 years. We also travelled 35 million miles in our Skylab space station. We were proud when we landed, but then we compared what we had done with what lies in the future — travel to the stars. Light covers the 35 million miles that we travelled in just three minutes. Yet it takes light over four years to reach our nearest star. Clearly, when it comes to real space travel, we barely nudged our toe out the front door. Are there other life forms out there among the stars? Do they think or look like us? Are they smarter than us? Finding the answer to these questions is behind much of our drive to leave our home planet and reach outward. It has been calculated that the number of planets in the universe that could support some form of life is about the same as the number of grains of sand on all the beaches of the world. So here we sit, on our own one grain of sand, asking, ”Could there could be other intelligent life out there?” You bet, the answer has to be YES! You are now just learning about science and space, and all of us whose careers are mostly over really envy you.