It Is Rocket Science

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BBC Radio 4 Extra

Helen Keen's It Is Rocket Science

Factual: Science & Nature

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

Comedy

A comic but scientifically-accurate look at the science and history of space exploration.

Series that takes a comic but scientifically-accurate look at the science and history of space exploration. With Helen Keen, Peter Serafinowicz and Susy Kane

BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 LW

Helen Keen

Peter Serafinowicz

Susy Kane

Gareth Edwards

Miriam Underhill

Helen Keen's It Is Rocket Science: Series 1: Episode 1

Episode 1

Series 1

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Helen Keen's It Is Rocket Science, Series 1, Episode 1

The remarkable true history of rockets and the men, women and animals behind them.

Three fathers of rocket science, and why space travel is like coach travel. Quirky true history with Helen Keen. From March 2011.

Funny, off-beat but factually accurate account of the science of rockets and the brilliant but occasionally warped brains behind-it-all. 

So who were the three fathers of modern rocket science?  

*   19th Century self-taught Russian visionary Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky and his dreams of orbiting space stations and Martian colonies; 

*   American Robert H Goddard, derided in The New York Times in the 1920s for his prediction of a lunar landing (A retraction was printed after the Apollo 11 launch); 

*   Transylvanian-German Hermann Oberth with his brilliant theories about space travel and his horrifying theories about racial supremacy. 

Plus Helen reveals the surprising connection between space travel and a coach tour of the Jewels of the Rhineland. 

Starring:

Helen Keen
Peter Serafinowicz
Susy Kane

Written by Helen Keen and Miriam Underhill.

Producer:  Gareth Edwards

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2011.

Helen Keen's It Is Rocket Science: Series 1

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama. With recent favourites from BBC Radio 4.

Factual

Funny and off-beat, but factually accurate, account of the science of rockets

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