Voyager 1 and The Space Race

Recent news that Voyager 1 is close to the edge of our solar system got me thinking about the space race. What was the space race? Well as I recall it, the race was to get the first man on the moon. Given that there were only two competitors, the USA and USSR, I suppose it was the space equivalent of the cold war, where military supremacy in the form of nuclear arms, was taken out of this world with the battle to be the mightiest in space.

So we had the American Apollo space programme with their astronauts and we had the Russian Soyuz space programme with their cosmonauts. The cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin of course achieved history, and fame, as the first human to enter space orbit in 1961. This was the year before I was born so I have no memory of this, but I do remember the Apollo spacecraft vividly. It's greatest triumph, the mother of all victories, the winning goal in the World Cup Final, was in 1969 when Apollo 11 landed on the moon and Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on its surface. With those steps he uttered the now immortal words:

That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

Wow the whole world was glued to the TV to witness the ghost like black and white images of Neil Armstrong stepping down from the lunar module onto the planet for the very first time.

Although the space race pretty much ground to a halt in the mid 1970s I was inspired by the latest report on the achievements that have been made by Voyager 1. It is easy to forget that this space probe was actually launched in 1977, so it has been on its journey for over 33 years!. This compares with the 3 day journey to reach the moon!

The Nasa probes' initial goal was to survey the outer planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, a task completed in 1989. They were then despatched towards deep space, in the general direction of the centre of our Milky Way Galaxy.

Sustained by their radioactive power packs, the probes' instruments continue to function well and return data to Earth, although the vast distance between them and Earth means a radio message now has a travel time of about 16 hours.

Now 17.4bn km (10.8bn miles) from home, the veteran probe has detected a distinct change in the flow of particles that surround it. These particles, which emanate from the Sun, are no longer travelling outwards but are moving sideways. It means Voyager must be very close to making the jump to interstellar space - the space between the stars.

Edward Stone, the Voyager project scientist, lauded the explorer and the fascinating science it continues to return 33 years after launch.

"When Voyager was launched, the space age itself was only 20 years old, so there was no basis to know that spacecraft could last so long," he told BBC News.

"We had no idea how far we would have to travel to get outside the Solar System. We now know that in roughly five years, we should be outside for the first time."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11988466

Kramola Fizz Available In Dundee

In my post of 20 November I mentioned that my daughter got a tub of cola flavour Kramola Fizz from a family friend (see photo above). Well we happenned to be in The Sweetie Shop in the Forum Centre today and my daughter noticed that they were selling tubs in different flavours though they were a bit pricey at £4 each. They do have little sachets for £1.50 though.

From Snow Go To Slow Go

Well a week has passed since the dramatic events of last Monday. Thundersnow took us all by surprise and the snow continued to fall heavily in the early part of the week leading to lots of people being snowed in, their vehicles well and truly grounded and lots of services reduced or shut down fully. However it looked like normal service was almost resumed with the announcement that most schools were to re-open today.

It therefore took me by surprise that I waited 45 minutes for the bus this morning and that a usually 10 minute journey took half an hour. It was with less enthusiasm that I waited for another 45 minutes for the bus home.

As Central Scotland seems to be getting the brunt of the snow this week, The Public Weather Service Advisor stated:

- More snow, ice and cold temperatures for Scotland in the week ahead. However, following the signficant snow accumulations mainly across eastern parts of Scotland last week, we will see a return to a more 'business as usual', 'typical Scotland in winter' weather situation over the coming week.

- The snow showers will continue to mainly affect northern and northeastern Scotland into next week.

- The band of wintry showers pushing southwards during this evening and overnight is now forecast to pass more quickly, is expected to fall as rain or sleet on lower ground and is generally expected to give little fresh snow (1-3cm) on higher ground.

- Widespread Ice becomes the main risk for much of Scotland into next week. There will be a slight thawing of lying snow during the day (temperatures rising slightly above freezing for a few hours) but this will quickly freeze as darkness falls. This will increase the risk of black ice on roads and pavements, and icicle formation on buildings in towns and cities across Scotland.

Even then it looks like we are not totally out of the woods yet though. A weather briefing from the Met Office states the outlook to 18 December is as follows:

Risk of snow showers developing again across northern and eastern areas of the United Kingdom. Mainly dry elsewhere. Overnight frosts continuing. Daytime temperatures likely to recover enough to lead to gradual thaw of lying snow. Confidence in this scenario is moderate for temperature but low for detail on any further snow.

Wonderful Words and Phrases - Doup

This word is dedicated to one of my band colleagues who used it last night and I hadn't heard it for ages. Note for the uninitiated, it is not pronounced like "soup", it is pronounced as in "dowp". It can be both a reference to one "bottom" but also can refer to the bottom or end of anything. I recall It brought back memories of my gran who used it a lot in both contexts, the latter being her cigarette end or "doupies".

Wonderful Words and Phrases - Gallus

Now this word is definitely one my Gran used a lot. I think of it as having a "devil may care" attitude though apparently it derives from gallows, meaning someone who was a bit of a rascal who deserved to be hanged.

It is not to be confused however with galluses, which my gran referred to as braces, i.e. for holding up trousers.

Gallus was also the name of the 1992 album by the Scottish rock band Gun. It's a superb album IMHO.

Subbuteo - A Toy I Did Get For Christmas

Wow - Subbuteo World Cup - with real working floodlights! Yes that was my first (and only) Subbuteo set which deviated from the standard set as the game came in the colours of Brazil and England instead of the usual blue and white kits. This was a deluxe set with special items including a miniature replica of the Jules Rimet Trophy. I loved it! According to Peter Upton's tribute website, the set I had (with white floodlights) came out in 1971, when I was 9.

http://www.peter-upton.co.uk/sub1.htm

The great thing about Subbuteo was that you could upgrade your set by buying additional items such as corner flags, barriers, crowd figures etc. but most of all you could add additional teams. These came in most colours so you could always find your local team. I remember going down to Brian Sheriff's toy shop in the Cowgate (now Rainbow Music) and being fascinated by the range of Subbuteo items available. The other great thing about Subbuteo was that you could organise competitions with your mates - league tournaments, cup tournaments etc. I used to have fictituous teams too, i.e. Everpool and Liverton!!!

I have no idea how I came about it, but I do remember having a Palermo team, in pink!

There was also a bit of controversy in the 1970s about the low wages being paid to the people who painted them. Often these were women working from home to earn extra money.

Wonderful Words and Phrases - Buckshee

A great word, meaning, "free" as in obtaining something at no financial cost, or obtaining something extra.

Example: "Eh've got tickets fir Sidney Devine going buckshee".

Now I always thought this was a Scottish word, or at the very least a longstanding part of the English language. It has also wrongly been thought that buckshee is Cockney rhyming slang for "free". However it's origins appear to be Persian, the word baksheesh meaning a gratuity or a tip to expedite service.

...the English usage origins of buckshee (also buckshees, although this can still refer to a single free entity) are firmly rooted in Middle-Eastern and Anglo-Indian language, dating back to the mid-1700s, and more widely adopted and popularised by the British army operating in the Middle-Eastern and Indian territories in the first and second world wars, who developed various meanings around the main interpretation. The root word is bakh'sheesh in Arabic, notably from what was Persia (now Iran), with variations in Urdu and Turkish, meaning a gift or a present. The early British usage of the expression would have been bakshee, backshee, but by the 1900s this had evolved into the modern buckshee/buckshees/buckshish. The modern form is buckshee/buckshees, referring to anything free, with other associated old slang meanings, mostly relating to army use, including: a light wound; a paymaster (also 'buckshee king'), and a greedy soldier at mealtimes. I am grateful for the following note from Huw Thomas in the Middle East: "...The word 'buckshee' was brought back by the British Eighth Army lads from North Africa in the Second World War. It comes from the Arabic word bakh'sheesh, meaning 'free' or 'gift'. In Arabic today, it refers to the tip given to a restaurant waiter." (ack Huw Thomas)

source: http://www.businessballs.com/clichesorigins.htm#buckshee_buckshees_origins