A Journey Through The Solar System And Beyond…

Presented by Patrick Moore

Being a foreigner and all, from the far northern wastes where it snows at Easter, this was my first visit to the Anvil. Considering the general lack of interest from Basingites in the club, the crowd packing the entrance hall was surprising. We managed to fight our way through and assemble with the other Genesis victims. With no sign of Ruth, time was called and we battled our way inside. Moments before the lights dimmed, as if by magic our Chairman appeared.

It was at this point that I made my fatal mistake – someone remind me never to use the YES word when Jeremy is near. Pen and paper in hand, I was about to discover the joys of taking notes in the dark. As I fumbled with the pen lid, curtains parted and the man himself peeked through. Satisfied that anyone had turned up to listen, Patrick Moore walked slowly onto the stage, the noise of the footsteps masked by a rapturous round of applause.

Patrick started by telling us of his 43 years presenting Sky At Night, the longest running TV programme in history. One of his numerous stories, he recalled, included a one show in mid-summer when there was a bluebottle buzzing around the studio. At one point he inhaled deeply before beginning a long description, only to inhale the bluebottle as well. Faced with a choice, and remembering that the show is transmitted live, Patrick chose to swallow the bluebottle rather than spit it out in front of his guest. A consummate English gentleman, in contrast to Bill Clinton, who we are told, never inhales.

Our tour of the solar system began with a trip to the moon, our nearest neighbour at a mere ¼ million miles away. Because the Moons rotation to locked to the Earth the far side of the moon remained unseen until the advent of the space age. Russia’s Lunik 3 send back the first pictures of this mysterious hemisphere to an eager audience of scientists and astronomers in October 1959. Visits to the moon continued, cumulating in the Apollo 11 landing in July 1969, which was covered by Patrick live on BBC TV. The last humans to leave Earth orbit where aboard Apollo 17 for the final Moon landing in December 1972. Patrick Predicts that there will be a base on the moon within 20-30 years, possibly because of the desire for a low gravity lunar hospital.

Our Journey through solar system then moved up to the epic scale, switching to the sun and its neighbouring stars. Patrick endeavoured to give us an idea of the scale of the solar system; If the sun where a beach ball, the Earth would be a pea at the back of the theatre, and the nearest star would be in Grimsby.

Patrick, in his own informal yet informing style continued to cover the planets of the solar system, paying particular attention to the moons of each planet. We called in on Mercury with its lack of atmosphere and hostile, volatile terrain. Then we visited Venus, revealed by Mariner 2 as having a high-pressure atmosphere in which float clouds of sulphuric acid.

Bypassing the Earth we arrived at Mars, the current focus of space investigation and exploration. Patrick predicts that there will be a base on Mars by as early as 2070. Patrick speculated on the possibility that humans born in the lower gravity of Mars may never be able to visit Earth, leading to the first "Extra-Terrestrial" branch of the human race. When asked later about the possibility of life once existing on Mars, Patrick adamantly remained on the fence, refusing to be drawn either way until the results from the next handful of probes to Mars are returned.

We fled through the asteroids to the outer planets, and stopped to examine some of their moons. Io is violently volcanic and within Jupiter’s extended aura of deadly radiation. "Leave Io well alone" was Patrick’s 2010 inspired final comment on this moon. Europa is covered with a skin of ice under which there may be a liquid ocean and, some speculate, primitive life. We called on Titan, with its nitrogen-methane atmosphere and it’s very, very, cold surface temperature which may hold oceans of methane. We will know more about Titan in 2004 when a probe called Huygens will land on the moon.

After the interval we returned for a question and answer session. Patrick fielded a large number of diverse questions from the floor, including one from Ann, our own resident Alien. Sorry Ann, but the chances of silicon life forms are, in Patrick’s opinion, very remote. In general Patrick says that there is no definite proof of external life, but thinks it may be possible.

Finally, the quote of the evening came in response to a question from a younger member of the audience. The question asked what created gravity, Patrick, with a sly grin replied, "Gravity is the force that gives mass weight."