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Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

12/09/2012

BBC Four - The Three Rocketeers

How rocketeer Alan Bond and two colleagues built a new spacecraft - Skylon.

How rocketeer Alan Bond and two colleagues defeated the Official Secrets Act, shrugged off UK government intransigence and defied conventional wisdom to build a new spacecraft.

For his entire life, one man has nursed the dream of putting mankind into space. Inspired by the Dan Dare comic strip, Alan Bond first started building rockets as a teenager in his back garden. He started his career working on Britain's Blue Streak rocket, then HOTOL - the world's first attempt to build a 'single-stage-to-orbit' spacecraft. Each time, he was thwarted by lack of funding from the UK government, so, together with two colleagues, Richard Varvill and John Scott-Scott, he decided to go it alone. This documentary tells the story of how the three rocketeers defeated the Official Secrets Act, shrugged off government intransigence and defied all conventional wisdom to build a revolutionary new spacecraft - Skylon.

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