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Lottie Jackson
Upper Sixth
Hallward's House

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Sixth Form Lecture: 'Spacewalking' by Tim Furniss

As the members of Upper and Lower Sixth promptly congregated in the Redgrave Theatre for the weekly Sixth Form Lecture, anticipation was rife as the topic of space brings about a territory that is unfamiliar and “alien” to many. Luckily Tim Furniss, a world-renowned space journalist, is an expert on the subject and was on hand to exhibit and explain all things galactic and astronomical.

The lecture commenced with a brief yet amusing anecdote about the moment in which he first became interested in the subject of space. He described a trip to London with his mother in the spring of 1961 (an event which was highlighted by a rather delicious lemon dessert) and how he remembered seeing the headline “Man In Space” plastered over a newspaper stand. From this point forward his interests were solely focused on matters of space and he even hoped to incorporate this growing passion into a career.

He then proceeded to give us a fascinating insight into the political and social history of space travel through describing the competitive “Space Race” between the Soviet Union and the United States during the ‘60’s. It was sparked off initially by the launch of Sputnik in 1957 and became an important part of their rivalry during the Cold War due to its military applications and abilities to sustain public morale. However, arguably the Americans won this race through being the first nation to successfully send men to the Moon. A point that Furniss repeatedly emphasised, through his amazing visuals and speech, was the irony of how travelling to the moon gave us a clearer view of the Earth and it’s magnificence. Gradually, people stopped having such a desperation and desire for space travel, and instead professionals used the technology for utility and commercial applications such as broadening our knowledge about the universe and development of satellites.

Furniss would later become a journalist for “Flight International”, a magazine that he had subscribed to since the age of thirteen. The beginning of his career was highlighted by an expedition to the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida. It was whilst here that he had the opportunity to witness the launch of Apollo XIII from the press area. He conveyed the excitement and exhilaration that he experienced at the launch through playing us a recording whilst displaying pictures of several different stages of the rocket’s liftoff.

The main focus of the lecture was the astounding visuals, which not only exposed the sheer vastness but also the beauty of our universe. Favourites included high definition images of Mars and Saturn’s surface.

The lecture was concluded with a reflection on the future of space travel, although imminent launches have been postponed due to the current economic climate it is predicted that within the next fifteen years space tourism will be widely available.

10 March 2010

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