Journey Into Space

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When It's Nightime in Italy - Song Lyrics

Sorry - me again. After further google searching I have discovered this site: http://www.geocities.com/Cag03/NovWhenItNight.html with full lyrics for 'When It's Nighttime...' - it also cites the writers as James Kendis and Lew Brown, and the performers as Lou Holtz, Billy Jones, Edward Furman and William Nash. Apologies for the sloppiness of my previous research!

Mel Roddis

Youngest Fan...?

Hi JIS fans - it's so great to know so many of us exist! I have spent my life thinking me and my dad were the only ones, although I have tried my best to spread the joy among my friends...

Being born in 1984 I wasn't around when JIS first aired, but I listened to it avidly when the Beeb re-ran it in the early 90's. My dad is a big radio stalwart and never had a TV so I was exposed to the wonders of JIS and other brilliant shows such as 'Hancock's Half Hour', 'I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again', 'Round The Horne', etc, from an early age, for which I am eternally grateful.

I picked up all sorts of interesting info from listening to JIS which later stood me in good stead in physics lessons! The series sparked off a love of sci-fi and fantasy and all things other-worldly that I still have now.

As soon as I could get my hands on them, I bought the cassette box sets of the trilogy and have now played them so many times I pretty much know the entire script by heart! I remember hiding behind the sofa when I first heard that strange 'music' in Op Luna, and Whitaker's eerie voice in The Red Planet - and in the episode when the crew spots the Light near the wreck of Number Two and Doc says 'it's distinctly traveling towards the west!" (with a slight echo), I still get the shivers! Bravo to the makers of a radio drama that can still have an effect after the hundredth time of listening!

Briefly, in answer to Christopher Huggett's question regarding the song in Jet's dream - according to vintage-recordings.com, it was sung by The Happiness Boys, Billy Jones and Ernest Hare, c. 1923-1926, and is entitled 'When It's Nighttime In Italy'. The website implies that they also wrote it but I don't know how accurate it is. I seem to remember looking it up on google a few years ago and successfully finding the full lyrics, but I can't seem to be able to find them now. Anyway, Chris, I hope that helps! Unfortunately, I can't shed any light on Lemmy's expletive, except that I imagine it is Jewish...?

Congratulations on the website - lots of interesting facts, and it's great to know this community exists! Finally, JIS can be recognised for what it is - the best radio drama, ever!

Regards, Mel.

Mel Roddis

Reaction Engines

I have just found your excellent website and have thoroughly enjoyed going through it.

Journey into Space was one of the major influences on my life. I began by wanting to be a 'Jet Morgan' but finished up a 'Stephen Mitchell' originating the design for the engines for HOTOL which later led to the SKYLON engines and the company I helped to found, Reaction Engines.

I have always been fascinated by the precision of JintoS and about a decade ago decided to use Charles Chilton's scenario to investigate the feasibility of space exploration using an advanced thermal nuclear engine of the sort envisaged in the series. I have over the years since then performed full trajectory modelling of all the series, not only for a bit of fun, but to gain insight into the engineering and operational issues such missions would involve.

The engines I have evolved combine advanced high temperature fission reactor technology with a thermodynamic cycle derived from papers I published back in 1971-1973 to enable the hydrogen working fluid to achieve several times the absolute reactor core temperature. The result has been an engine design with a predicted thrust to weight ratio (with shielding) of about 14:1 and a vacuum exhaust velocity of 12.2 km/s. The nominal thrust level is about 800 tonnes and thermal power generation of some 57 GW. The nuclear fuel in this design can be managed into a safe storage locker after a propulsive burn to limit the residual radioactivity to manageable limits, thereby allowing Jet and Mitch onto the Lunar surface without being instantly fried by the engines of LUNA.

I have derived some preliminary layouts of a LUNA type vehicle and LUNA-derived vehicles which could lead to the scenario that Charles Chilton envisaged. Interestingly, it would only be necessary to develop a single engine type to pull off his whole series, since this same engine would also propel the mars fleet he envisaged. A typical LUNA - 142 vehicle (assumed to be the 142nd flight of a LUNA derived vehicle) would have a launch mass from Earth of about 480 tonnes and carry 23 tonnes of payload to be delivered to the Moon. Assuming that hydrogen is mined from the Lunar regolith for the return trip it would take about 25.4 tonnes of propellant to return the vehicle to Earth. The chemical booster that the LUNA prototype used would only be needed for a very heavy (over 100 tonnes) lift. There is adequate hydrogen from the solar wind trapped in the Lunar regolith to propel the vehicles depicted in JintoS, both for their return to Earth and for the missions to Mars, although mining it would need processing of a large area of the Lunar surface.

With nuclear propulsion it is the operational constraints which limit its application. However by careful management of the propulsive burns close to the Moon and by using deep craters at a distance (3 miles in the series) as the landing/launch area the radiation delivered on a regular basis (about every 2 weeks implied in JintoS) to a lunar colony can be acceptable.

Of course, the real worry would be a failure at launch from 'Wongawalla'. However even this may be acceptable, producing radioactive fallout about the same as a 8kiloton atomic bomb. Provided reliability was sufficiently high, an occasional failure of this type could be managed, although not politically in today's nuclear hysterical world.

In summary of the above, JintoS does depict a credible scenario, although probably not quite the one that will eventually happen.

The recordings of JintoS have helped me through many dark hours following meetings with the British National Space Centre where the lack of insight is in stark contrast with that of Charles Chilton. It has frequently reminded me that there is a goal to aim for in space when I have doubted why I persevere in the intellectual wasteland that is modern Britain. The series contains so very much more than is mentioned above. I can only salute a man that has inspired so many.

Alan Bond
Reaction Engines Ltd

http://www.reactionengines.co.uk/

Red Planet CD

Just got the Red Planet set of CDs - Every bit as good as the Operation Luna set.

Regards
Jerry Mortimore

New Year BLAST OFF!

Hi All J.I.S.Fans

Looks like we are in for a good start to the New Year, BBC Radio 7, will broadcast THE RED PLANET from Sat 1st Jan 2005 at 1900hrs GMT, so cancel all your appointments for the next few weeks.

Happy New Year to all J.I.S. fans worldwide.

Tony Cross
Manchester UK