The Three Rocketeers

 

Today on Far Future Horizons we present the BBC 4 documentary The Three Rocketeers, about the men behind the revolutionary single stage to orbit space vehicle - Skylon.

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. 

 

Dan Dare - Pilot of the Future

Bond 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 (SSTO)'.

HOTOL Single Stage To Orbit Spaceplane

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 racketeers defeated the Official Secrets Act, shrugged off government intransigence and defied all conventional wisdom to build a revolutionary new spacecraft – Skylon.

Skylon in orbit

BBC 4 The Three Rocketeers
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