posted 10-11-2015 05:20 PM               

Following the Q&A and the raffle, but before the photo shoot pictures are wheeled out (I'd imagine) we will hold a brief auction. The auction will be for one professionally framed choice piece, signed by Capt. Lovell.

posted 10-18-2015 04:24 PM               

Please, if any of those are members of this forum, contact Ken immediately and settle up by October 23rd or Ken will let them go to other customers.

Should any of the outstanding 18 not settle up or they fail to attend the Lovell event and that revenue is then lost... understandably Ken will not accept orders for April from those individuals unless they pay for their tickets with their ticket enquiry.

The success of these events is reliant on ticket sales and currently Ken stands to lose £1400 from those who have promised to pay but have yet to do so.

posted 10-19-2015 04:55 AM               

Given the terrific support of Collectspace Ken would like to offer forum members first shot before offering to others.

Please contact Ken directly to confirm availability and make payment but be quick. The tickets can be collected on the door to save on postage. Thank you.

posted 10-25-2015 02:09 PM               

Please mail Ken Willoughby directly to confirm availability and to arrange payment/collection.

posted 10-31-2015 06:11 PM            

Thank you also to Prof Brian Cox for agreeing to chair the Q&A. As already mentioned it gave the event a touch of professionalism.

Many thanks to gareth89 for creating the backdrop for the photo shoot. The prints look fantastic.

posted 11-01-2015 04:53 AM            

On a personal note may I thank cS's Eddie and Rick who each granted me a 'favour' too and to Mr & Mrs Tykeanaut for making the latter one possible. Much appreciated.

posted 11-01-2015 12:13 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Kite:
On a personal note may I thank cS's Eddie and Rick who each granted me a 'favour' too and to Mr & Mrs Tykeanaut for making the latter one possible. Much appreciated.

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posted 11-01-2015 05:54 PM               

TK Mattingly, Fred Haise, Alan Bean and Eileen Collins. All of them were great events; this one was on another plain.

A big thank you in the mean time from Ken Willoughby to Jim and Marilyn Lovell for agreeing to come over, Professor Brian Cox for his support and of course everybody that attended and made the event so memorable.

posted 11-02-2015 01:56 PM               

I will leave Rick to post his very comprehensive reporting of the events in his usual detailed and humorous way but I would like to add my thanks to Jim, his lovely wife Marilyn and all the guest at all three events.

posted 11-03-2015 05:06 PM               

From the moment Jim stepped out of the car at his hotel I knew this was going to be something special. For many, Capt. Lovell is a favourite. His compelling story telling and easy sense of humour place him at the top of many an enthusiasts "Top Ten."

Ken Willoughby had tried unsuccessfully to entice Capt. Lovell to Pontefract six years ago. "I've done my research," Jim exclaimed as he made his way to the foyer. "I googled you Ken," before adding "Freddo speaks very highly of you. I'm delighted to be here and I'm feeling very comfortable." He may have been comfortable but he and Marilyn both were clearly tired so they retreated to their rooms.

Later that evening, at a private dinner with the Space Lectures team, Humberside Constabulary inducted their newest... or should that be their oldest new recruit in to the force. PC James Lovell was genuinely thrilled to be presented with an authentic "Bobby's helmet." Circumstantial evidence suggested that a certain PC Fred Haise had tipped him off. The traditional British head gear has become a regular gift from the Space Lectures team but none the less Jim and Marilyn were clearly delighted. Goodness knows what Space Lectures is doing for the average age of an officer on Humberside!

The formal dinner followed the next day. As usual the traffic conspired against us. As had occurred on the evening of the Eileen Collins dinner, a major incident on the nearby A1 had closed one carriage way. "Pontefract, we've had a problem... again!" Thankfully prior warnings of traffic jams in the area meant that the majority made it in good time. A notable casualty was Prof. Brian Cox who was joining us for the first time. He eventually managed to slip in to the dining room and was greeted by a round of applause.

I had invited Prof. Cox to the event and was anxious that he and his wife Gia (a bigger Apollo fan than Brian) enjoyed their evening. I have to confess I underestimated the impact his presence would have. Imagine my irritation when one or two folk insisted on approaching Prof. Cox while he was eating. Mrs. OWL had to step in but she soon had them shifted. Anybody with a modicum of common sense or basic manners would know that is not on. All being well, Brian will be joining us at the next event in April. Rest assured this episode will not be a repeated.

The raffle and auction saw several bargains go under the hammer but we still expect to make a significant donation to UNICEF and the Foundation Fior di Loto.

The post-dinner signing was slick. When OWL escorted Jim back to his room Marilyn opened the door and said "I wasn't expecting you back so soon."

For the first time this event saw two lectures; on Saturday and Sunday. Carleton Community High School again the location. Both were packed. Both well served by suppliers and food stands. And the queues for photographs with Capt. Lovell started early.

Contrary to what had been advertised, "the real" Jim Lovell spoke about his entire NASA career. It came as no surprise that Jim quickly had the audience captivated. As one guy later posted on twitter, "I didn't blink for an hour."

He recounted reaching the final 32 from which the original 7 Mercury astronauts were chosen. "Whatever happened to those guys?" he quipped. He moved on to Gemini 7 in which he and Frank Borman endured 8 Gs at launch on route to a "medical mission." He and his partner became guinea pigs for calcium bone loss experiments; the same experiments currently taking place aboard ISS. Then Apollo 8: in his opinion the highlight of his career... and of course Apollo 13.

At one point he eluded to something Alan Bean mentioned when he was in Pontefract two years ago — that we live in the Garden of Eden; a grand oasis in the vastness of space.

Jim's take on it was, "People hope they go to heaven when they die. I then thought, you go to heaven when you are born." A notion acknowledged by billions of people in the years that followed as the iconic blue marble Earthrise image taken on Apollo 8 became absorbed irrevocably and subconsciously in to the global consciousness.

He then wondered, what would have happened had Apollo 13 successfully landed on the moon? There would have been no "Houston, we've had a problem" nor "Failure is not an option." Apollo 13 was the catalyst that brought Mission Control to the fore. The crisis on Apollo 13 was the greatest moment of potentially the greatest team that the world has ever seen.

He closed by saying, "There are three type of people in this world. People that make things happen; people that watch things happen and people that just wonder what just happened." Mission Control MADE things happen!"

Following a brief comfort break Prof. Cox joined Capt. Lovell on stage for a 30 minute Q&A that had the microphone guys scampering to all four corners of the theatre and most places in between. Brian had CRASH puffing and panting like Mo Farrah on the finishing line. I've always thought that British Airways captains needed licking in to shape!

All of the questions were answered with candour and humour. Did flying in space affect your sense of taste? "No, the food did." Would you have liked to fly in space again? "Well, when John Glenn flew on STS-95, I asked NASA if I could be his back-up," he replied. "They said NO: you're too young!"

Brian was clearly used to conducting interviews in front of a captivated audience. As a committed Apollo fan he brought with him an innate ability to draw out of the audience a variety of interesting and clearly informed questions. He did so against the backdrop of a magnificent seven foot tall Apollo 13 spacecraft model very kindly provided by professional model maker Mike Conroy.

Just one more piece in the Space Lectures jigsaw that pieced together to form a memorable event. One that was complimented by a slick signing procedure. Saturday saw 475 signatures in one hour, 20 minutes; 20 minutes below our previous best. Sunday, 475 signatures in just one hour!

A far cry from the three hours or more when Ken first embarked on his Space Lectures venture some nine years ago. At the risk of sounding cocky, I think we have cracked the signings process thanks in no small part to team work that would give Mission Control a run for its money.

I assisted Jim and OWL at the signing table and we would like to thank both audiences for their response to instruction. We were contractually obliged to a signature only policy with no inscription or missions. Very few people asked for either.

Capt. Lovell declined to sign just two items; a blank sheet of A4 paper folded in half and the leg of a young lady who had Alan Bean and Al Worden's signatures tattooed on to her arm. He thought about it before declining on the grounds it was inappropriate. I'm sorry that the lady was disappointed; Jim did sign a glossy photo for her instead, but we must respect our speakers' decisions at the end of the day.

posted 11-04-2015 08:00 AM               

Capt. Lovell was incredible! He pitched his lecture at just the right level to give space enthusiasts the detail we needed without making it too heavy for the more 'casual' listeners. Throw in a few funny anecdotes and one hour went by in what seemed like five minutes! After a short interlude, Brian Cox held the Q&A before the signing took place. Again, this was handled very efficiently and people generally abided by the 'come down when we call your row' rule.

If I was to make any constructive criticism, it would be that it was difficult to get to the vendors selling prints etc because of people just 'hanging around' waiting to go inside the lecture theatre.

posted 11-04-2015 01:08 PM               

It was nice to meet you at last Rick.

Jim Lovell was amazing, conveying some of the emotion and sense of wonder that space enthusiasts look for in an astronaut and Professor Brian Cox conducting the Q and A added a whole new dimension to the proceedings.

I'd particularly like to thank Space Lectures' Roger for his help in carrying sections of the Apollo 13 model to the stage and OWL and Andy for arranging access to certain areas. Greatly appreciated.

With the Gene Cernan event a little over 5 months away, there's another exciting date to look forward to.

posted 11-05-2015 03:11 AM               

Ken tells me that the UNICEF donation will be matched by the government which when coupled with Gift Aid will amount to £1800 in total for UNICEF.

posted 11-05-2015 11:41 AM               

I didn't get the chance to say hello to everyone and some of you I only got talking to for a short time, but there's always April!

Rick, Andy Green, Andrew/Julie, Paul on the door and Howard (great fun as always), Paul the pilot (we have to get chatting about your flying exploits next time), Craig, fellow Irishmen Gareth and James, Aileen Malone and many others of whom there are too many to name. People like you make these weekends all the more enjoyable.

Captain Lovell was fantastic as expected. I thoroughly enjoyed Saturday's lecture and am delighted to have finally met a man I've wanted to meet for some time.

posted 11-06-2015 04:04 PM               

It was great to finally meet you all and put faces to names. Ken, Rick, Paul, Tykeanaut, Shane, Demi and James to name but a few.

Big thank you Rick for the bespoke portrait of Captain Lovell, I'm delighted, it's a fantastic prize and looks excellent on my mantelpiece!

I've got my dinner ticket for April and will be keeping a close eye out for a lecture ticket, so see you all there!