Blast Off at Woomera is a young adult science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

, the first in Hugh Walters

Hugh Walters (author)

Hugh Walters was a writer of juvenile Science Fiction novels from Bradley in the West Midlands region of the United Kingdom.-Biography:...

' Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A. series. It was published in the UK by Faber

Faber and Faber

Faber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...

 in 1957, in the US 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 now quite collectable, changing hands for sums around £50-£100 or more on book trading sites.

Plot summary

Strange objects have been sighted on the moon

Moon

The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...

 near Mons Pico

Mons Pico

Mons Pico is a solitary lunar mountain that lies in the northern part of the Mare Imbrium basin, and to the south of the dark-floored crater Plato. This peak forms part of the surviving inner ring of the Imbrium basin. This ring continues to the northwest and with the Montes Teneriffe and Montes...

 and suspecting a communist plot the British Government hurriedly plans a mission to photograph the domes from above closer range. The rocket is not large enough to send a man - enter Chris Godfrey, a 17-year old science whizz with an interest in rocket

Rocket

A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...

ry and crucially less than 5 feet tall !

The launch site is Woomera Rocket Research Station

Woomera Test Range

The RAAF Woomera Test Range is a weapons testing range operated by the Royal Australian Air Force Aerospace Operational Support Group...

 in South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

 but there may be a Soviet traitor amongst the ground crew...

The book pre-dates the first actual usage of satellite imagery

Satellite imagery

Satellite imagery consists of photographs of Earth or other planets made by means of artificial satellites.- History :The first images from space were taken on sub-orbital flights. The U.S-launched V-2 flight on October 24, 1946 took one image every 1.5 seconds...

 by two years, and manned spaceflight by four years.

External links

• Blast Off at Woomera page
• LiberalEngland nostalgic reminiscences on Jonathan Calder's blog
• Faber archive