Three Copies of Newspaper Cartoons Depicting the Kettering Satellite Tracking Group
Three Copies of Newspaper Cartoons Depicting the Kettering Satellite Tracking Group
Copies of three cartoons produced for the Daily Mirror, Daily Mail, and Electronics Weekly, humorously depicting the Kettering Grammar School Satellite Tracking Group and their activities.The Kettering Grammar School was home to a group of satellite tracking enthusiasts, led by teachers Geoff Perry and Derek Slater. They enlisted the help of school children to track satellites and achieved some celebrity status after revealing they had pinpointed a secret Soviet launch site in 1966. Their work resulted in several newspaper and magazine cartoonists poking fun at the Group's remarkable ability to beat NASA and the CIA to announcing space related news stories.
The Daily Mirror cartoon was produced by Keith Waite and has a dedication on it made to Geoff Perry, whilst the Daily Mail cartoon was produced by Stan McMurtry.
More information
Object number
34-2014
Location
Off-site Storage
Has this object been into space?
No
Material
Paper
Content - Description
Daily Mirror - depicts the crew of Soyuz 11 being hounded by Kettering Grammar School students for autographs. This cartoon was drawn at the start of the Soyuz 11 mission to the Salyut Space Station - tragically, all three cosmonauts died a few weeks later due to a fault with their spacecraft.
Daily Mail - depicts Oxford University staff trying to lure Kettering Grammar School students into coming to work for them, highlighting how well they were thought of at the time.
Electronics Weekly - depicts scientists in a mission control environment, commenting that to confirm a Chinese launch they should check with Kettering. An advanced telescope can be seen through the window, implying that despite lacking these expensive resources, the Kettering Grammar School was better placed to confirm satellite activities of foreign powers
Inscription Content - Content
Inscribed - For Geoffrey Perry who started it all Best Wishes Keith Waite 8.6.71
Associated Organisation
Kettering Satellite Tracking Group
Associated Person
Slater, Derek
Perry, Geoffrey
Associated Place
Kettering
Object Production Date
1971
Object Production Organisation
Daily Mail
Daily Mirror
Electronics Weekly
Object Production Place
United Kingdom
Object Production Person
Waite, Keith
McMurtry, Stan
Credit Line
Donated by Derek Slater
On Display Status
In storage
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