Cardiff Astronomy Festival
Saturday 25^th July 2009

Dawn broke on the day of our second festival held at the Nation Museum of Wales, promising a beautiful sunny day. And so it turned out.

By 8am all of the team had assembled outside the main doors and all the CAS paraphernalia was stacked up ready to be deployed. As the minutes ticked by, the traders arrived with vehicles filled to the roof with their various wares. Instantly as each drew up, the CAS sherpas eagerly descended the steps and set about portering heavy boxes of cargo to be stacked outside the doors.

Soon the scene resembled the provisions ready for Captain Scott’s expedition to the Antarctic from Cardiff 99 years before.

At the duly appointed minute, the doors were thrown open and the sherpas surged inside. Theresa ("I’m in charge!") had the master (mistress?) plan and directed operations with military precision. Boxes were dispatched to the four corners of the foyer as tables were hastily set up and traders began unpacking. Amongst this flurry of activity, I set up the society display boards and then made sure that each table had an adequate supply of chairs. (Isn’t that what the chairman does?)

Saturn V - Ian Davies X

It was simply amazing how quickly the whole thing came together. Once Ian Davies had unpacked and assembled his magnificent model of a Saturn V rocket (surely winner of the "Best in Show" award) we were ready for blast off!

The first trickle of visitors became a steady stream, flowing around the various stalls - books, sculptures, astronomical equipment, planetarium, Campaign for Dark Skies, Faulkes Telescope and more - a good deal to take in.

But as 10.30 approached, it was time for me to head off to the Reardon Smith Lecture Theatre for the first of the day’s talks. The theme for the festival was "The Moon" with the Apollo 11 moon landing being exactly 40 years ago.

Martin Griffiths

Martin Griffiths, a good friend of the society, began the proceedings by reminding a sizeable audience what a truly fascinating object the moon still is. Despite being a nuisance for many observers for a substantial part of each month, there is still much to see and enjoy, understand and question about our nearest neighbour in space. As usual, Martin’s natural enthusiasm worked its charm and I am sure many of the audience were persuaded to revisit the moon - albeit only observationally.

Peter Cadogan

Next to bat was Peter Cadogan, who spent five years as a postgraduate student trying to date the moon rocks brought back by the Apollo crews. (Presumably that means we have to add 5 years to the figures he came up with.) On the face of it, the geology of a completely dead, arid, grey lump of rock might appear less than engaging. But far from it ! The variety of rock samples and the story that is contained within their make-up and structure is a fascinating and dynamic one. It provides some insight into the origins of the moon, its violent past and relationship to the earth. And yet as fast as one mystery is solved, more as-yet unanswered questions emerge. Certainly the geology of the moon as a topic is very much alive.

David Shayler

After lunch, it was time to welcome David Shayler back to the society. It emerged that all three speakers had been directly affected by the Apollo 11 mission. All were still at school at the time, their imaginations had been captured by the men walking on the moon and they began to explore astronomy firstly as an interest and then a hobby and finally a career. David Shayler had determined very early on that he was going to become an astronaut himself. Although this has not happened (so far!) he did get part way through the selection process for the Russian manned space programme. Meanwhile he has devoted himself to collecting all possible information regarding manned-space flight, befriending several astronauts on the way. This valuable insight can be accessed via the many books he has written and through his excellent website: astroinfoservice.co.uk. This encyclopaedic knowledge formed the basis for his talk, outlining the human and practical perspectives on the moon missions. After speculating about future manned-missions to Mars, David fielded a lively question session with members of the audience.

With all three fascinating lectures successfully delivered, it was time to catch up on events in the foyer. What a transformation! Virtually all the stalls were packed away already and the same sherpas were hurriedly dispatching the same boxes down the steps to the awaiting vehicles. Symbolically, Ian Davies dismantled the Saturn V (despite my requests to fire it up!), safely stowing its sections into their storage boxes ready for another day, another mission. With remarkable efficiency the whole travelling circus was packed up and down the road with no evidence of the day’s events remaining.

But then a surreal moment! Isn’t this a young bride in full regalia, dodging the train of coolies? Where is the groom? Who would get married in a museum? Had she been to all the lectures? After "Observing the Moon", "The Geology of the Moon" and "Manned-Spaceflight to the Moon", she had nothing left to look forward to but the Honeymoon.

Full marks again to everyone who helped with the day’s successful events. Around 2000 people attended. The traders have asked to be at the next festival. It was a fabulous demonstration of motivation and commitment from CAS members. Gosh! If we had been in charge of the Apollo programme, there would be men standing on the moons of Saturn by now! Any volunteers?