andrew faulds journey into space

Andrew Faulds

• Born March 1 , 1923 · Isoko, Tanganyika [now Tanzania]
• Died May 31 , 2000 · Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, England, UK (undisclosed)
• Birth name Andrew Matthew William Faulds
• Faulds was born in Africa into a missionary family. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1948, but it was as a radio actor that he first became widely known, playing Jet Morgan in Charles Chilton's "Journey into Space" on the BBC. In 1959, he and his wife were among those providing hospitality for the black-listed Paul Robeson during the latter's season at Stratford. It was Robeson who, recognising his friend's deep anti-racist convictions, persuaded him to go into politics, thus starting Faulds' second career. Labour MP for Smethwick from 1966-1974, and for Warley East from 1974-1997, he would no doubt have attained ministerial office if his outspoken support for the Palestinian cause had not been mis-construed as anti-Jewishness. - IMDb Mini Biography By: [email protected] after Tam Dalyell
• Spouse Whitfield, Bunty (1945 - May 31, 2000) (his death)
• Served in Britain's House of Commons as a member of the Labour Party, 1966-1997.
• A former film actor who served as a Labour member of Britain's House of Commons from 1966 until retiring in 1997. His devotion to such issues as the Palestinian cause ruled out his advancement in the party hierarchy.
• Stage training Perth Repertory (during school holidays), Glasgow Citizens Theatre, Worthing Repertory, 2 years Stratford.
• The son of a missionary.
• Educated George Watsons, Edinburgh, King Edward VI, Louth, Lincolnshire, Glasgow University.
• [on Enoch Powell's April 1968 "Rivers of Blood" speech] UnChristian ... unprincipled, undemocratic and racialist.

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JOURNEY INTO SPACE

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Appreciation: Andrew Faulds

Andrew's adhesion to Stratford, like Marie Corelli's, took practical form. In the 1950s, he tried to save the 17th-century house in Church Street of his in-laws, the Whitfields, from destruction by civic philistines. Despite the publicity he was able to generate through his fame, he lost, but it was a shot across the bows for those who are reckless of the local environment.

After serving in the Fleet Air Arm, Andrew was invited to Stratford by Robert Atkins in 1944, for the first of his four seasons at the theatre; the last was in 1956, when he played Laertes to Alan Badel's Hamlet. By then, he was a household name, as Jet Morgan in Journey into Space.

It has been suggested that Paul Robeson goaded Andrew into political activism as they watched the Tory landslide of 1959 together. This may be so, but he had in fact been active in that campaign. I heard what may have been his first political speech, in a draughty hall in Tiddington in support of the Labour candidate. He was a great find for the moribund local Labour party and soon became its chairman. In those days he supported CND, and I remember waving a banner on a "Ban the Bomb" march he organised with Jacquetta Hawkes.

Andrew's first electoral foray came in Alveston Ward in 1960. He lost, but increased the interest and turn-out massively. I canvassed for him, and still have the book of prints he gave me, inscribed: "From Andrew Faulds - failed councillor".

The "failed councillor" was destined for higher things. Andrew possessed that quality essential for both actors and politicians - to be in the right place at the right time. He was adopted for Stratford, and would certainly have fought a quixotic campaign in this safe Tory seat, but the Profumo affair of 1963 led to the most high-profile byelection for years. He came so close to winning that he could pronounce that "there are defeats that have the taste of victory." To Andrew's credit, he never referred to the scandal during his campaign.

Although Andrew was too tempestuous a parliamentary performer to be constrained by office (in Norman St John Stevas's words, "the best arts minister we never had"), local people knew him as a brilliant constituency MP. In a House of Commons increasingly devoid of characters, he retained the integrity of his Presbyterian heritage. You could agree or disagree with his firm views, but I doubt if he ever said anything he didn't believe.

At last year's birthday lunch, Andrew wryly lamented to me that the Labour party had not seen fit to send him to the Lords: "I suppose I'm still too controversial." Of course, if there is any justification for that body, it is as a place where people can freely express what they feel needs to be said. That's what Andrew Faulds was all about.

Andy Foster writes: There was a long background to Andrew Faulds' criticism of Enoch Powell. In August 1963, he stood in a famous byelection at Stratford, and reduced the Tory majority to 3,000 in one of their safest seats. This made him a hot political property, but he insisted on fighting Stratford again in the 1964 general election. At that election, against the national swing, Patrick Gordon Walker lost Smethwick to the Tories in the most racist election ever fought in this country: the Tories went round getting the kids to chant "For a nigger for a neighbour, vote Labour." They took Birmingham Perry Barr from Labour on the same night.

Faulds courageously sought the nomination for Smethwick to wipe away the stain of the 1964 result, and his victory in 1966 was sweet. Enoch Powell's 1968 speech was made in Birmingham, and immensely popular in the area. Faulds's resolute attack was, like standing in Smethwick, more courageous than it now appears.

In 1974, he did not "switch to a safer Warley". Warley East was the whole of his old Smethwick seat, plus part of the very marginal Oldbury and Halesowen. On paper it was distinctly less good for Labour than Smethwick. He made it a safe seat until his retirement.

Leon E Cook writes: As secretary of Perry Barr ward Labour party, I wrote to Andrew Faulds in 1966 to ask him if he would accept our nomination as candidate in the coming general election. Perry Barr, with Eton and Slough, and Smethwick, was one of the only three seats which Labour lost in the 1964 general election, all through racial issues. Perry Barr was a sure thing to return to Labour in 1966, and would be a gift to anyone who became the candidate. Andrew was in Spain at the time making a film with Orson Welles, The Chimes at Midnight. He wrote back to tell me that he was honoured by Perry Barr's request, but had to decline. He said that he hoped for nomination at Smethwick constituency as he had the ambition to take back the seat from Peter Griffiths, and avenge the defeat of Patrick Gordon Walker. Which of course he did.

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Journey Into Space : The World in Peril - All 20 Episodes

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Charles Chilton

Journey into space: the world in peril & the return from mars.

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The final series of Charles Chilton’s classic 1950s sci-fi trilogy and the gripping 1981 sequel Written by veteran radio producer Charles Chilton, Journey into Space kept Light Programme listeners enraptured between 1953 and 1958. Almost eight million people tuned in to the interstellar adventures of Jet Morgan and his intrepid crew, making it the last UK radio drama serial to beat television in the ratings. This audio collection contains the complete Series 3 of the groundbreaking trilogy, as well as the special 90-minute sequel The Return from Mars . The World in Peril – Continuing the suspenseful story begun in The Red Planet , this 20-part serial, set in 1972, follows Jet and his comrades as they return to Mars with orders to discover all they can about the impending Martian invasion of Britain. Stretched to their limits, they take on the awesome Martian power – and when they discover the astounding secret of the invasion plan, they must race against time to warn a defenceless Earth… Starring Andrew Faulds, Guy Kingsley-Poynter, Don Sharp and Alfie Bass . The Return from Mars – It’s an ordinary afternoon at London Landing Control. Suddenly, a voice breaks across another aircraft’s frequency: ‘This is the spaceship Discovery ’… To the controller’s astonishment, Jet Morgan and his crew are re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere – more than 30 years after they went missing, presumed dead. What happened to Jet and friends during those years? Consulting his diary, Jet begins to tell their astonishing story… Starring John Pullen, Ed Bishop, Nigel Graham and Anthony Hall . Production credits Written and produced by Charles Chilton Music composed and orchestra conducted by Van Phillips The World in Peril Jet Morgan – Andrew Faulds Lemmy Barnett – Alfie Bass Doc – Guy Kingsley-Poynter Mitch – Don Sharp Other parts played by David Jacobs, Alan Tilvern, John Cazabon, Fred Yule and Pat Campbell First broadcast BBC Light Programme, 26 September 1955-6 February 1956 The Return from Mars Jet Morgan – John Pullen Lemmy – Anthony Hall Doc – Ed Bishop Mitch – Nigel Graham Cassia – Elizabeth Proud Nichols – Patrick Barr Wrist radio/Countdown voice – David Bradshawe Pilot/Talian – Graham Faulkner Controller/Radio voice – Stephen Garlick Videophone/Junior officer – John McAndrew Control/Sotteer 2 – Sion Probert Sotteer 1/Harry – Christopher Scott Supervisor/Radio – John Webb Script by Charles Chilton Directed by Glyn Dearman First broadcast on the BBC Light Programme, 7 March 1981 © 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

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Journey into Space: The World in Peril

• The BBC Radio Sci-Fi Drama
• By: Charles Chilton
• Narrated by: Don Sharp , Alfie Bass , Andrew Faulds , Guy Kingsley Poynter , full cast , David Jacobs
• Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
• 4.4 out of 5 stars 4.4 (47 ratings)

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The complete third series of this classic BBC Radio sci-fi drama epic – plus extra bonus material.

Charles Chilton’s classic radio sci-fi series Journey into Space thrilled listeners between 1953 and 1958, attracting almost eight million people to its gripping tale of the far future and the thrills of interstellar travel - the last radio programme in the UK to attract a bigger evening audience than television.

In this, the third series, Captain Jet Morgan, Doc Matthews, engineer Mitch Mitchell and radio operator Lemmy Barnet once more set out for Mars, but this time alone. Their orders - to discover all they can about the threatened Martian invasion of Britain. Jet and his comrades are stretched to their limits as they take on the awesome Martian power, and when they learn the astounding secret of the invasion plan, there is a race against time to warn a defenceless Earth....

Production Credits:

Written and produced by Charles Chilton.

Music composed and orchestra conducted by Van Phillips.

Jet Morgan - Andrew Faulds

Mitch – Don Sharp

Doc - Guy Kingsley Poynter

Lemmy Barnett – Alfie Bass

Other parts by David Jacobs, Alan Tilvern and Pat Campbell.

First broadcast BBC Light Programme, 26 September 1955 – 6 February 1956.

• Radio/TV Program
• Categories: Science Fiction & Fantasy

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What listeners say about Journey into Space: The World in Peril

• 4.5 out of 5 stars 4.4 out of 5.0
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 4.6 out of 5.0

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Audible.com reviews, amazon reviews.

• Overall 5 out of 5 stars
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars
• Story 5 out of 5 stars

• Ron A. Parsons

Good adventure story

What made the experience of listening to Journey into Space the most enjoyable?

Adventure stories with a science theme are rare today, this is one of the best, it stands the test of time and the Characters are well played

Who was your favorite character and why?

The Martian, principled and ethical

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A BBC Radio Show. Lots of fun from the era!

This is a radio show from the BBC. 20 shows each an 1/2 hour. The sound effects and dialogue show the era - and it was great fun. This was recorded in the days when TV was just about replacing Radio Shows. But that increased the enjoyment of listening. Hard to believe that at certain times of the week, people stopped everything to listen to a show. Now with DVR and the ability to record and control live TV, we forget what had to be done each week to keep the show going. For the small price, it was well worth it.

• Nils J. Rasmussen

Brilliant Old-Time Radio Drama

Any additional comments?

"Journey Into Space" is by far one of the most exciting series amongst all of those old classic radio dramas. This is the 2nd story-line in its long serial of programs. If you are a fan of audio books or radio dramas of any kind, you will most surely enjoy "Journey Into Space". It is a shame that this medium is not as popular as it once was but it's great that you can still enjoy these old shows with the help of the internet.

3 people found this helpful

• Marc Zicree

Terrific sci-fi classic

Just great! BBC radio at its best. Charles Chilton was the real deal! Don’t miss it!

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Journey into Space: The World in Peril

• The BBC Radio Sci-Fi Drama
• By: Charles Chilton
• Narrated by: Don Sharp , Alfie Bass , Andrew Faulds , Guy Kingsley Poynter , full cast , David Jacobs
• Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
• 4.7 out of 5 stars 4.7 (174 ratings)

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The complete third series of this classic BBC Radio sci-fi drama epic – plus extra bonus material.

Charles Chilton’s classic radio sci-fi series Journey into Space thrilled listeners between 1953 and 1958, attracting almost eight million people to its gripping tale of the far future and the thrills of interstellar travel - the last radio programme in the UK to attract a bigger evening audience than television.

In this, the third series, Captain Jet Morgan, Doc Matthews, engineer Mitch Mitchell and radio operator Lemmy Barnet once more set out for Mars, but this time alone. Their orders - to discover all they can about the threatened Martian invasion of Britain. Jet and his comrades are stretched to their limits as they take on the awesome Martian power, and when they learn the astounding secret of the invasion plan, there is a race against time to warn a defenceless Earth....

Production Credits:

Written and produced by Charles Chilton.

Music composed and orchestra conducted by Van Phillips.

Jet Morgan - Andrew Faulds

Mitch – Don Sharp

Doc - Guy Kingsley Poynter

Lemmy Barnett – Alfie Bass

Other parts by David Jacobs, Alan Tilvern and Pat Campbell.

First broadcast BBC Light Programme, 26 September 1955 – 6 February 1956.

• Radio/TV Programme
• Categories: Science Fiction & Fantasy

More from the same

• Journey into Space: Operation Luna
• Journey into Space: The World in Peril & The Return from Mars

What listeners say about Journey into Space: The World in Peril

• 4.5 out of 5 stars 4.7 out of 5.0
• 5 Stars 136
• 5 out of 5 stars 4.8 out of 5.0
• 5 Stars 103
• 5 Stars 101

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Audible.co.uk reviews, amazon reviews.

• Overall 4 out of 5 stars
• Performance 4 out of 5 stars
• Story 4 out of 5 stars

Intelligent SF and amazing music from 1955

Back in the mid 1950s many thousands were glued to their radios each week. Eery, evocative music by Van Phillips, lively writing and engaging characters, and convincing sound effects. Great SF and radio drama fed by an impressive and sometimes prescient mind. Marvellous entertainment, that modern audiences should try out for themselves.

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• Overall 5 out of 5 stars
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars
• Story 5 out of 5 stars

• Brian A. Jones

Remember When

Enjoyed the whole story. I do hope there is more in the series. It transported me back to the days when we gathered around the radio to listen to Journey Into Space. With audio on iPads and earphones able to take the story wherever I go...to the moon and beyond!! Excellent entertainment.

• Lisa Mather

Love the innocence of it all , but Lemmy has to the most feeble character ever!

A classic from the BBC

It is dated and tacky in places - who am i kidding all the way through - but it is a real blast from the past for any of us that hark back to an era that dared dream about space travel and the future in this way. It is now a classic a real collectors piece. I actually felt transported back to listening round a valve radio. To younger ears this will grate and jar and leave you wanting but to those that hail from the 50s and 60 this is a must just for the nostalgia

1 person found this helpful

Before Dr Who there was Journey into Space

I remember listening to these adventures as a young child they captivated me then and they captivate me now

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Any additional comments?

A fantastic series that never fails to capture me no mater how many times I hear it. Just one problem the second series 'The red plant' is not available with audible but the third series 'World in peril' is. You have to buy the CD set for series 2 from amazon. Madness!!

3 people found this helpful

• SirMoBotRio16

Just loved it

Brought baxk memories of Sunday nights listening to the radio with my family. Super quality.

Love Charles Chilton's Journey into Space stories....😁😎. Renee listening to it on "Wireless". back in the day

A Journey into Digital download!

Journey into Space is a true legend of radio sci-fi. More intelligent than most of the US offerings of the time, it was the perfect alternate to TV's Quatermass (Parts of JiS in total darkness were allegedly written in response to Nigel Kneale's argument that 'TV could do anything better than radio'!). The pace is different to modern-day offerings and the science sometimes a little daft, but overall the trilogy is wonderful listening; I have shared Jet, Lemmy, Doc and Mitch's adventures several times now, and still don't tire of them. To pick up on a previous reviewer, these are restored episodes from the original transcription discs. The first series (Operation Luna) was not retained on original broadcast and was re-recorded in 1957, tightening up much of the early plot (by the writer, who CHOSE to re-write it) and by necessity re-casting some of the roles. However, the second and third series (Red Planet and World in Peril) ARE the originals, at least what was kept of them at the time. The full story of the re-recording, loss and recovery of these episodes can be read in the accompanying booklets. These are well worth buying, but be aware the audio quality is not perfect, particularly due to Audible's compression, it is only a shame that the BBC flatly refuse to issue the third series on CD.

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He missed a chance to be the first Black astronaut. Now, at 90, he's going into space

Scott Neuman

Ed Dwight poses for a portrait in February to promote the National Geographic documentary film The Space Race during the Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif. Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP hide caption

Ed Dwight poses for a portrait in February to promote the National Geographic documentary film The Space Race during the Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif.

Edward J. Dwight Jr. has waited a long time for his ride into space.

In the 1960s, he seemed poised to become America's first Black astronaut. That dream was never realized. Now, at age 90, he's about to finally get his shot, aboard a Blue Origin rocket.

The opportunity is "a curiosity more than anything else," Dwight says. "They called me up and asked me if I was interested. And of course I said yes."

The 1st Black Woman To Pilot A Spacecraft Says Seeing Earth Was The Best Part

While Dwight won't be the first African American in space — that honor went to Guion Bluford Jr. in 1983 — he will be the oldest person to go there, edging out (by a few months) Star Trek actor William Shatner , who flew aboard a Blue Origin rocket in 2021.

For many his age, a journey into space would seem unthinkable. Dwight says he's ready to go. He points out that the rigors of his upcoming flight won't be much different from what he experienced as a test pilot in the Air Force. "I've pulled more G's than any person on Earth," he says with a wry smile. "I've been high enough to see the curvature of the Earth. ... I've been doing things like that most of my life."

Space health expert Dorit Donoviel says the 11-minute flight of Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket means many of the concerns about the long-term effects of orbital and deep-space missions won't come into play.

"The main thing we worry about is the G forces," says Donoviel, director of the Translational Research Institute for Space Health at Baylor College of Medicine.

Air Force Capt. Edward J. Dwight Jr., the first African American selected as a potential astronaut, looks over a model of the Titan III-X-20 Dyna-Soar combination during a visit to Air Force headquarters in the capital in November 1963. Getty Images/Bettman Archive hide caption

Air Force Capt. Edward J. Dwight Jr., the first African American selected as a potential astronaut, looks over a model of the Titan III-X-20 Dyna-Soar combination during a visit to Air Force headquarters in the capital in November 1963.

Those G forces cause blood to drain from the head, and that's an issue for anyone launching into space, regardless of age. However, she points out that the seats aboard Blue Origin's rocket are angled at 20 or 30 degrees. "As you're experiencing the G-forces, you're getting it through the chest, which is not affecting your head," Donoviel says. "It's distributed through the chest, which really shouldn't matter very much."

And then there's the landing. The crew capsule will separate from the booster and come down under a set of parachutes — emitting a last-minute retro thrust to reduce speed to about 2 miles per hour to cushion the impact. "It's not even a controlled crash. It's a crash," Donoviel says. Still, she anticipates no issues.

No launch date set

Blue Origin has not announced a launch date yet. But Dwight and his crewmates will train for two days before liftoff at the company's Launch Site One in western Texas, not far from the Mexico border.

The company, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, declined to disclose the per-passenger cost of the flight, but says Dwight's seat is being sponsored by Space for Humanity and Blue Origin, with additional support from the Jaison and Jamie Robinson Family Foundation . (Jaison Robinson, who flew on a previous Blue Origin flight, is on the NPR Foundation Board of Trustees.)

Leland Melvin, a retired NASA astronaut who flew two space shuttle missions to the International Space Station, says it will be good to see Dwight finally "get his due" all these years after he first trained for space.

My Big Break

From touchdowns to takeoff: engineer-athlete soared to space.

Dwight sees his upcoming spaceflight as the "climax to an interesting story."

His own story, that is. One of the earliest chapters begins at an airfield in Kansas City, Kan. As a child, Dwight's fascination with aviation led to odd jobs cleaning aircraft owned by wealthy flyers. But even then, he had greater ambitions. "I told them I didn't want their nickels and dimes for cleaning airplanes anymore," he says. "I wanted to fly." At age 8, he got his first flight.

Dwight was equally interested in art and earned a scholarship to pursue his passion after high school. His father would have none of it. Art wasn't a real career, he insisted. Dwight should study engineering instead, so he enrolled at a junior college, receiving an associate's degree in 1953, the same year he enlisted in the Air Force.

After finishing primary flight training, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant. Dwight also got a bachelor's of science in aeronautical engineering from Arizona State University. Discrimination was an ever-present reality in the armed forces at the time, but as a skilled pilot, he made captain.

Kennedy wanted a Black astronaut

That's when President John F. Kennedy — eager to link his administration's push for civil rights to the country's early space exploration efforts — asked for a Black astronaut.

At the time, it was test pilots who became astronauts, and there were no Black test pilots. So, Dwight was invited to attend the Air Force's newly opened Aerospace Research Pilot School (ARPS).

But when he got the invitation letter, he almost threw it out, Dwight recalls. His Air Force peers "got a big laugh out of it," telling him that "all those guys have swagger, and it's a club," he said, referring to the all-white astronaut corps. They said, "They are not going to let you get in that club."

"And, of course, they were right," he says.

'Black In Space' Explores NASA's Small Steps And Giant Leaps Toward Equality

It was a huge career gamble. Dwight's father, who played baseball in the Negro Leagues, was strongly opposed. His mother, though, changed her son's mind. "She said, 'You are going to do this' because she was thinking it would be uplifting the race and racial pride," he says.

Upon entering the flight-test program, Dwight experienced immediate pushback that he says was rooted in racism. He says Chuck Yeager, the famed test pilot who ran the school, resented having to accept a Black candidate. (Yeager, who died in 2020, wrote in his memoir that his only issue was Dwight's piloting skills, which he described as "average.")

Once on the astronaut track, Dwight became a minor celebrity, especially in the Black community. He appeared on the cover of magazines such as Ebony and Jet . But he also endured taunts of "Kennedy's boy" because of the president's support.

Kennedy's 1963 assassination nearly derailed Dwight's training, he says. Days after the president's death, "Lo and behold, I had orders in my mailbox shipping me out of the country," he says.

Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, the president's brother, intervened to keep him in the program, according to Dwight. He stayed in the Air Force for a few more years, but it became increasingly clear that he would not be selected as an astronaut. "When I found out it wasn't going to happen, that's when I left the program," he says. "I just packed my bags and left."

One of Ed Dwight's sculptures in Battle Creek, Mich., depicts escaped slaves along the Underground Railroad being led to freedom by Harriet Tubman and local abolitionist Erastus Hussey. Carlos Osorio/AP hide caption

One of Ed Dwight's sculptures in Battle Creek, Mich., depicts escaped slaves along the Underground Railroad being led to freedom by Harriet Tubman and local abolitionist Erastus Hussey.

After the Air Force, Dwight, who eventually settled in Denver, became a computer systems engineer for IBM, later opened a restaurant and worked as a real estate developer before being drawn back to his childhood love of art . Despite having little formal training, he was commissioned in 1974 to create a sculpture of Colorado's first Black lieutenant governor, George Brown.

Black History Month 2024

A child's dream to 'drive' a space shuttle propels him toward a historic nasa mission, from would-be astronaut to sculptor.

From there, his reputation as a sculptor blossomed. In 1977, he earned a master's of fine art in sculpture from the University of Denver. He specializes in sculpting historic African American figures. Among his more notable pieces are busts of jazz greats Dizzy Gillespie and one of Louis Armstrong on display at the National Museum of American History.

Melvin, who is African American, says when he met Dwight, he didn't know much about his backstory. "I got a copy of his book and I read some of the stuff that he had done," he says. "He reminded me of Katherine Johnson ," the NASA mathematician who led an all-woman group of "computers," who made vital orbital calculations for the agency's early crewed spaceflights. Their story was later featured in Hidden Figures, the book and 2016 film.

Dwight and Melvin became close friends. In recent months, they have worked together on The Space Race , a documentary released last year about the contributions and experiences of Black astronauts. Dwight's own story is prominent in the film.

NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Leland Melvin pose with Ed Dwight for a portrait to promote The Space Race in February at The Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, Calif. Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP hide caption

NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Leland Melvin pose with Ed Dwight for a portrait to promote The Space Race in February at The Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, Calif.

"He's not only funny, he's self-deprecating," Melvin says of Dwight. And one quality stands out. "He's got grit."

"But the other thing that his mother taught him was grace," he says. So, when being an astronaut didn't work all those years ago, "he gracefully pivoted to doing something else. It was just as impactful — just as impactful, especially in the Black community, which was his sculpture."

"He will now get his chance to do some zero-G floating and look at the planet from another vantage point," Melvin says.

Correction April 25, 2024

An earlier version of this story omitted Blue Origin as a sponsor of the flight that will take Edward J. Dwight Jr. into space.

• blue origin

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Journey into space: operation luna: the bbc radio sci-fi drama audible audiobook – original recording.

The complete first series of this classic BBC Radio sci-fi drama epic.

Charles Chilton's classic science-fiction trilogy stormed the BBC airwaves during the 1950s. Its gripping story lines, extra-terrestrial sound effects, and atmospheric music engaged listeners as never before. Between 1953 and 1958, a devoted audience of adults and children attentively followed Captain Jet Morgan and his crew from one cliff-hanger to another as, together, they faced the unknown perils of space.

In this, the first series of Journey into Space , Captain Jet Morgan and his crew battle to be the first people to land on the Moon, but soon discover they aren't alone up there...

Production Credits

Written and produced by Charles Chilton.

Music composed and orchestra conducted by Van Phillips.

Jet Morgan - Andrew Faulds

Lemmy Barnett - Alfie Bass

Doc - Guy Kingsley-Poynter

Mitch - David Williams

Other parts by John Cazabon, Alan Keith, David Jacobs and Deryck Guyler.

The original 1953 recordings of this futuristic series were erased. This series was re-recorded and first broadcast on the BBC Light Programme 26 March 1958 - 18 June 1958.

• Listening Length 7 hours and 1 minute
• Author Charles Chilton
• Narrator Alfie Bass, see all
• Audible release date November 30, 2006
• Language English
• Publisher BBC Audio
• ASIN B000LE16PS
• Version Original recording
• Program Type Audiobook
• See all details

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