Presentation given by Nalaka Gunawardene Science Writer at ORBIT ’15, Annual Astronomical Event of Astronomy & Space Science Association of D S Senanayake College, Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 13 March 2015. Event details at: https://www.facebook.com/events/270492739827440/322372387972808/

1. Ride Your
Imagination
to Space!
By Nalaka Gunawardene
http://nalakagunawardene.com
Talk given to ORBIT 15
Annual Astronomical Event
Astronomy & Space Science Association
D S Senanayake College, Col 7, Sri Lanka
12 March 2015

2. We start with a Quiz!
Question 1
Where exactly does the upper atmosphere end
and (near) space begin? What definition is used
Internationally?
 50 km above Earth?
 80 km above Earth?
 100 km above Earth?
 500 km above Earth?

3. Answer 1:
Threshold of ‘space’: 2 definitions!
 Fédération Aéronautique
Internationale (FAI) or World Air
Sports Federation (HQ: Lausanne,
Switzerland) definition: 100 km
 United States Air Force: 80 km
 FAI definition is globally used.

5. Question 2
How many have been to space?
First human to go to space was Yuri Gagarin of
the former USSR, on 12 April 1961. Since then, up to
Nov 2013, people from 38 countries have gone to space.
How many total (men+women) have been to space
(using FAI definition of 100km+)?
 225 persons?
 536 persons?
 849 persons?
 More than 1,000?

6. These ones not counted…
But they too helped inspire!

7. Answer 2
How many have been to space?
 225 persons
 536 persons
 849 persons
 More than 1,000

8. How to Ride Our
Imagination to Space?

9. Remember his wise words…

10. Where knowledge & Imagination
come together…

11. …we get Science Fiction!
This is the way

12. Imagination & Space Travel:
very closely linked…
“When Neil Armstrong
stepped out on to the Sea
of Tranquillity (on the
Moon) on July 20, 1969,
the science fiction writers
had already been there for
2,000 years…”
- Arthur C Clarke

13. After Apollo:
Arthur C Clarke (left) and Neil Armstrong

14. Science Fiction: Fountain of
Imagination 4 Space Exploration!
 SF stories of travelling to
near and far space, alien
words & beings…
 Reading them inspired
many astronauts, engineers
and others working in space
programmes of USA, Russia,
Europe and elsewhere
 Some space agencies now
study science fiction for
bright new ideas!

15. Imagination to Reality:
A long journey through centuries…
Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519)

17. Jules Verne (1828 -1905)

18. Jules Verne:
Vivid Imagination!
 Flying machines
 Submarines
 Spacecraft
 Trips to the Moon
 Ocean exploration
 Polar exploration
 Video conferencing
 So much more!

20. Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon)
1902 French film by Georges Melies

21. Science fiction in Pulp Magazines:
1900 - 1950

22. Science fiction in Pulp Magazines:
1900 - 1950
 Printed on low quality paper, sold cheap
 Many genres: detective, Western,
romance, adventure, etc.
 Initially, SF carried in general pulp mags
 1920s: Rise of all-SF magazines
 Pre-TV, post-WW1, Depression eras:
these provided plenty of hope &
escapism for many Americans
 Also served as ‘Launch pads’ for many
writers and & illustrators

27. Arthur C Clarke:
Imagination + Knowledge + Foresight
 Born: 16 Dec 1917 in
Minehead, England
 Eldest in rural family of 4
kids, raised by a widow
 Grew up on family farm
 Deep interest in science,
literature, movies, space
 Discovered science fiction
at 13 years

28. Arthur C Clarke (aged 13):
First Encounter with Science Fiction
“I must have seen Amazing Stories
for November 1928 about a year
after it had been shipped across to
England- so rumor has it, as ship’s
“ballast”- and sold at Woolworth’s
for 3p. How I used to haunt that
once-famous store during my lunch
hour, in search of issues of
Amazing, Wonder, and Astounding,
buried like jewels in the junk-pile of
detective and western pulps!”
- Arthur C Clarke

29. Farm boy Arthur Clarke reads books
while cooling off in the Summer…

30. “I was hooked on science fiction by the
fantastic tales that appeared in the ‘pulp’
magazines of the early Twentieth Century,
and it was in that genre that I acquired my
writing skills in the 1930s and 1940s.”

32. Young Clarke as
rocket-builder…
 1920s & 1930s:
growing up doing
small rocket
experiments on
family farm
 Mother allowed
experiments – but
urged them to be
careful with
fireworks!

33. Robert H Goddard (1882-1945):
American Rocket Pioneer
 Physicist, engineer, inventor
 Designed and built world’s
first liquid-fueled rocket
 1st
launch: March 1926
 1926-41: He & team launched
34 rockets
 Held 214 patented inventions
 Ridiculed by press at the time
 His work later helped NASA to
build US Space Program

34. British Interplanetary Society (BIS)
Early promoters of space travel
 Founded in 1933 in Liverpool, UK
by Philip E Cleator
 Starry-eyes young people!
 Networked space enthusiasts in
UK & Europe in 1930s, 1940s
 Did studies, events, experiments
 Oldest space advocacy
organisation in the world today
 Remains a non-profit entity &
membership organisation
www.bis-space.com

35. British Interplanetary Society members on 17
July 1938 with a visiting guest speaker

36. SF fans come together for first time…
Delegates to world's first science fiction convention - Jan 1937
In Leeds, England (young Arthur C Clarke is second from left!)

37. 2014 BIS presentation by Bob Parkinson & Alistair Scott
http://www.slideshare.net/UKSEDS/bi-simagination-
torealityads1302-37369088

38. 2014 BIS presentation by Bob Parkinson & Alistair Scott
http://www.slideshare.net/UKSEDS/bi-simagination-
torealityads1302-37369088

39. 2014 BIS presentation by Bob Parkinson & Alistair Scott
http://www.slideshare.net/UKSEDS/bi-simagination-
torealityads1302-37369088

40. 2014 BIS presentation by Bob Parkinson & Alistair Scott
http://www.slideshare.net/UKSEDS/bi-simagination-
torealityads1302-37369088

41. Nalaka Gunawardene at BIS Headquarters in London,
December 2010

42. BIS: From imagination to reality…

43. 1950s & 1960s…
 Govts become interested in
space exploration
 Start investing in research,
experiments; set up
National space agencies
 Great Space Race: USSR vs
USA to reach the Moon –
and beyond

44. 1960s: Science Fiction as path-finder:
Value of international cooperation!

45. Star Trek: Going boldy where
no one has gone before…
 Original season ran on US
Network TV in 1966-68 (79 eps)
 Set in 23rd
Century: humans
collaborate to explore space,
meet alien civilisations
 American, Russian, Chinese &
other nationals serving together
on United Star Ship Enterprise
 Women hold significant technical
positions (uncommon at the time)

46. Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP)
US-USSR join hands in space: July 1975
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo-soyuz/

47. Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP)
July 1975
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo-soyuz/

48. Islands in the Sky (1952)
by Arthur C Clarke
 Science fiction novel for
young readers
 First published 1952
 5 YEARS before Space
Age dawned (in 1957)
 Imagined a young boy
living and working in an
orbital space station in
21st Century

49. Quiz Kid wins a trip to Space!
 Roy Malcolm, 16, knows all about history
of aviation
 Wins final of Aviation Quiz Programme on
TV, sponsored by World Airways, Inc.
 Top prize: all expenses paid trip to “any
part of the Earth”
 Roy asks for a trip to Inner Space Station
(considered part of Earth because its
orbit lies under 1,000km limit of earth’s
legal territory, as agreed in late 20th
Cent)
 Wins argument with World Airways!

50. Clarke’s vision of future humanity
working in space (written in 1953)
“Perhaps the artificial worlds (space
stations) we have created will become as
important as the original, natural planets.
These worlds may develop their own
climate, food-producing areas, and
specialized activities. Possibly, a thousand
years from now, only a small proportion of
the human race will live upon the earth,
and the sun’s family may be much larger
than it is today…”

51. 2001: A Space Odyssey (released 1968)
by Stanley Kubrick & Arthur C Clarke
Space station serving as hub 4 flights to Moon & back in 2001

52. International Space Station (ISS) 2015
Russian, US, Japanese, Canadian & European modules

53. 1970s: NASA develops Space Shuttle
 After Apollo, NASA worked on
reusable spacecraft  space shuttle
 Building first shuttle began in 1974
 Science fiction fans campaigned for it
to be named Enterprise (after
StarTrek’s spaceship)
 NASA agreed…and invited Star Trek
creator Gene Roddenberry & the cast
to Space Shuttle Enterprise roll-out
ceremony 17 Sep 1976

54. Unveiling first (experimental) space shuttle
Enterprise, named after StarTrek’s spacecraft, in 1976

55. RIP Leonard Nimoy
Long Live Mr Spock of Star Trek…

56. NASA tweet on 27 Feb 2015

57. Space agencies studying
Science Fiction for ideas + inspiration!

58. Science Fiction for
Space Applications: ESA Study in 2001
 European Space Agency (ESA) study,
edited by David Raitt, pub June
2001
 Explored popular & classical science
fiction in English & other languages
 Looking for ideas that can be
pursued by further research
 Read full report online:
http://www.esa.int/esapub/br/br17
6/br176.pdf

59. Science Fiction for
Space Applications: ESA Study
Sections/chapters:
 Propulsion Techniques
 Colonization of Space
 Energy & Power
 Computer & Communications
 Robotics & Cyborgs
 Launch Systems
 Resources and Materials
 Other technologies

60. Sri Lanka from Space…
First image
of India and
Sri Lanka
from space –
by NASA’s
Gemini XI
astronauts in
1966

61. Who might become
Sri Lanka’s First Astronaut?
Sri Lanka stamp marking 50th
anniversary of Gagarin’s space flight.
Issued on 26 April 2011
www.muddara.com/uncategorized/first-human-in-space-
uri-gagarin/

62. Sri Lanka stamps honouring Clarke:
issued in Feb 1998

63. Read my Sinhala book on
Arthur Clarke’s childhood years…
Suratha
Publishers, 2014.
120 pages; 74
Images; Rs 600/=
Available at
Leading book
stores in Sri Lanka
Tharu Atharata Giya Daruwa: Details at:
http://nalakagunawardene.com/books/

64. How to celebrate genius and
imagination of Arthur C Clarke?
 Monuments of brick and mortar
-- or even of steel and silicon –
are superfluous for a writer who
stretched the minds of millions…
 Naming roads or satellites after
him cannot capture the spirit and
energy of this visionary!
 So what can Sri Lanka do to
promote Clarke’s legacy?

65. Imagine and innovate
to honour Sir Arthur C Clarke!
 “Sri Lanka should go for the 'grand
prize': nurturing among its youth
the intellectual, cultural and
creative attributes that made
Arthur C Clarke what he was. In
other words, we must identify and
groom the budding Arthur Clarkes
of the 21st century!”
- Nalaka Gunawardene, writing in
Groundviews.org in March 2009
 http://groundviews.org/2009/03/19/
to-honour-sir-arthur-c-clarke-
nurture-imagination-and-innovation/
The making of Arthur C Clarke: what was that magic
mix?

66. The legacy continues…
Studying roots of human imagination!
University of California San Diego launched this
multi-disciplinary centre in 2013
http://imagination.ucsd.edu

67. That’s it, folks! Thank you
Email:
alien@nalaka.org
Blog:
http://nalakagunawardene.com
Twitter: @NalakaG
This is a non-commercial educational presentation.
Content maybe downloaded and shared.
All photos used in good faith. Many have come from NASA,
Arthur C Clarke Estate and British Interplanetary Society