''Blast Off at Woomera'' is a children's

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

novel, the first in the ''Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A.'' series by British author Hugh Walters. It was published in the UK by

Faber Faber may refer to: People * Faber (surname) Companies * Faber and Faber (also known as "Faber and Gwyer"), publishing house in the United Kingdom * Faber-Castell, German manufacturer of writing instruments * Faber Music, British sheet musi ...

in 1957, in the USA by Criterion Books in 1958 (under the title ''Blast Off at 0300''), and in the Netherlands in 1960 by Prisma Juniores (under the title ''Ruimtevaarder nummer één'' -- ''Astronaut Number One''). The books are considered to be collectable, costing £50-£100 or more on book trading sites.

Plot summary

Strange objects have been sighted on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

near

Mons Pico Mons Pico is a solitary Moon, lunar mountain that lies in the northern part of the Mare Imbrium basin, to the south of the dark-floored crater Plato (crater), Plato and on the southern rim of a Palimpsest (planetary astronomy), ghost crater. This ...

. Suspecting a communist plot, the British Government quickly formulate a plan to photograph the domes from above at a closer range. The rocket is not large enough to send a man - enter Chris Godfrey, a 17-year-old science whiz with an interest in

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

ry and is less than 5 feet tall. The launch site is Woomera Rocket Research Station in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, but there may be a Soviet traitor amongst the ground crew... The book pre-dates the first actual usage of

satellite imagery Satellite images (also Earth observation imagery, spaceborne photography, or simply satellite photo) are images of Earth collected by imaging satellites operated by governments and businesses around the world. Satellite imaging companies sell ima ...

by two years, and

human spaceflight Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be ...

by four years.

Reception

Floyd C. Gale of ''

Galaxy Science Fiction ''Galaxy Science Fiction'' was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published in Boston from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by a French-Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break into the American market. World Editi ...

'' rated the book five stars out of five for children, stating that it "includes plenty of action and international intrigue. Plausible and detailed, it is a juvenile ''

Prelude to Space ''Prelude to Space'' is a science fiction novel written by British author Arthur C. Clarke, Arthur C. Clarke in 1947. It appeared for the first time in 1951 as a paperback from World Editions Inc, as number three in its series of Galaxy nove ...

''".

References

External links

Blast Off at Woomera page

nostalgic reminiscences on

Jonathan Calder Jonathan may refer to: *Jonathan (name), a masculine given name Media * ''Jonathan'' (1970 film), a German film directed by Hans W. Geißendörfer * ''Jonathan'' (2016 film), a German film directed by Piotr J. Lewandowski * ''Jonathan'' (2018 ...

's blog
Archive.org on-line lending library (as ''Blast Off at 03:00'')
1957 British novels 1957 children's books 1957 science fiction novels Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A. series Debut science fiction novels Faber and Faber books Novels set on the Moon Novels set in South Australia 1957 debut novels {{1950s-child-sf-novel-stub