Just seen that this account has been newly followed by @SpaceCollecting - perfect timing as I’m sure I can’t be the only one drawn to collecting space related items. I’ll share some of mine - do share yours. Warning. This could take some time! Vinyl first...? Image
And the B side (for anyone under 30 or only brought up on digital this won’t mean anything!) Image
We also collect Xmas space decorations. Our tree is still up as couldn’t face the depressing loss of bling during another UK lockdown. When lockdown ends the tree comes down. This is Bella and Strelka - two ceramic canine cosmonauts. Bought in Moscow. Image
Belka and Strelka went into space in 1960 along with a rabbit, two rats and some fruit flies. This is them in non ceramic form (credit Alamy). The dogs did 17 orbits of the Earth and became celebrities on their return. Image
The space dog’s descendants can even be found in the United States - as Khrushchev gifted one of Strelka’s puppies, Pushinka, to Jackie Kennedy. Pushinka (Russian for fluffy) lived in the White House and had puppies with a US dog 🐕🐾 Image
Here’s another bauble on the tree. It was a gift from when reporting on Beagle 2 mission for the BBC. It was due to land on Mars Xmas day, 2003. We waited for the signal... There was a devastating silence. It’s a reminder of the risks of space travel and missions - crewed or not. Image
The twist in this story was that in 2015, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE camera spotted the ESA craft. The images showed that it had landed intact but only 2 of 4 solar panels unfurled causing the loss of Comms. So close... Image
The ESA craft that transported Beagle 2, Mars Express, continues to successfully orbit the planet over 17 years later. This is one of its most recent images. Image
As I’ve often had to go to the States for work, quite a few of our baubles are from NASA space centres or space museums. I can’t be the only one to have these.... ImageImageImage
I mentioned Mojave Air and Spaceport earlier and forgot I have a Xmas decoration from there too :) Image

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More from @People_Of_Space

20 Jan
Thought I'd share some of my radio docs - where I got the idea and what they led to in the future in some cases. Many of these are space related and often about women's achievements. My first space doc was in 1996. I was living/freelancing in New York when I read an article... Image
It had two lines in it referencing the Mercury 13 women - pilots who had wanted to be astronauts in the early 60s but, unlike Valentina Tereshkova in last tweet, never made it. From then on I was on a mission to find out all about them. Starting with Jerrie Cobb... Image
She took the same physical tests as the male Mercury 7 astronauts in 1960 and passed, scoring higher than most of the men. This led to a call to other female pilots across the US to also take the tests at the Lovelace Clinic, New Mexico. As I'm sure you all know (!) - 13 passed. Image
Read 9 tweets
19 Jan
Ok let’s do a separate thread on some of the Rosetta team - because I spent so many years interviewing them and space is not just science and engineering. It’s people! We had a lot of fun meeting up for interviews. Here’s project scientist @mggtTaylor :) Image
I also became very fond of Kathryn Altwegg, the PI of Rosetta’s ROSINA instrument - which identified molecules in the comet’s gases. Unlike slacker Matt Taylor, she could do interviews in several languages! 😉 Image
ESA missions contain so many nationalities from its member states and, on Rosetta, from the US too. Joel Parker was quite a character. Project manager for Rosetta’s ALICE instrument and a very snazzy dresser... Image
Read 7 tweets
19 Jan
Part of my work involves making short films on space missions for ESA. Each one is great to work on but one mission was an extra special treat - as I spent 6 years or so covering it at science meetings and ESA facilities across Europe: Rosetta! Image
I keep my lanyards as reminders of where I’ve been. Sometimes - on a few rare occasions - it’s a really glamorous location. This one was in Rhodes... even if I mostly saw the inside of a conference room during the day. Image
That’s something people often don’t realise when you do TV or shoot short films - the lack of glamour. When Rosetta’s Philae lander descended onto Comet 67P in 2014, it was the first spacecraft to ever land on a comet... Everyone celebrated.
Read 7 tweets
18 Jan
A few days ago the US Post Office announced a wonderful new set of stamps. nasa.gov/feature/goddar… Since today I've been sharing space collections - and I haven't even started on mission patches yet - I'd also like to share some stamps! Yes. I am 100% space geek.
I got two sets for Xmas. If you read my first tweets on here about inspiration you’ll understand why I got these! Space sci-fi :) Image
Here are just three - Mongolia celebrating the world’s first satellite Sputnik...Sharjah in the UAE and Apollo 17... and Cuba’s stamp showing Luna 24 - the third Soviet mission to return lunar samples. ImageImageImage
Read 6 tweets
18 Jan
One of the pluses of working in journalism is that you get to go behind the scenes. In 2019 visited @Virgin_Orbit in California for @Spaceboffins Ok that’s not the real Branson but got to meet some cool people and visit the factory floor.... ImageImageImage
So really pleased that Cosmic Girl has successfully released a satellite into space. bbc.com/news/science-e…
It looked a fun place to work by the way.... Image
Read 6 tweets
14 Dec 20
Hosting #SidewalkScienceCenter 3-5 days a week provides an incredible chance to interact with my local community in truly impactful ways.

I want to share an email and a Facebook response from some people who have visited SSC:
Experience Daliona @ExpDalScience is the name of my company, through which I run #SidewalkScienceCenter.

Responses and stories like this are why I have continued to host SSC for 2.5 years, nearly every single week. My goal is to hire paid educators and create thousands....
....of SSCs all around the world. In fact, over the weekend, I reached a Patreon goal that will allow me to hire my first educator by March 2021! It's exciting to know I'll have a regular teammate alongside me.

(read the milestone here! patreon.com/posts/45026007)
Read 6 tweets

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