1969 Moonbase and More

What with it being 50 years since the Apollo Moon Landings, I thought it might be a good time to put my 1969 Space City Biscuit Tin on here. My friend Mr Palmer picked this up for me and it really is quite a lovely thing. In 1969 we were all so optimistic about space and the moon. The general assumption was that by the 1990s/end of the century we would be holidaying on the moon and there would be a rather splended Moonbase. On TV and Film we were constantly shown people living and working on the moon: Clavius Base in 2001, Moonbase Alpha in Space 1999, SHADO Moonbase in UFO (set in 1980) and even Hammer got in on the act with Moon City in Moon Zero 2 (set in 2021). Sadly of course in the real world none of this happened, even though I was convinced that it would. More on My fondness of all things 60s and 70s Spacewise can be sort out on Found Objects

 

SHADO/UFO Moonbase

Moonbase Alpha, Space 1999

Clavius Base, 2001

Moon City, Moon Zero Two

2001

When I was about 6 my Mum and Dad took myself and my Sister to see the film 2001. To this day I do not know why they took a 6 year old to see this film????? but they did.
A few hours later we all left the cinema looking very very confused.
I was not just confused, I did not have a clue what the film was about. But I thought the Space Station, The Space Suits and The Main Space Craft (Discovery) look really good. Some years later when I was about 12 a friend of mine had just read the book of 2001. I said to him that I had seen the film but could not remember or understand what it was about. My friend suggested I should try to read the book. So I plodded of to the Library and found a copy. I ended up reading it 3 times before taking it back and then became quite obsessed about the story. I went out and got the paperback version then Arther C Clarkes The Lost Worlds of 2001 then The making of 2001 then picked up the soundtrack and The Marvel Comics Treasury Special (I still have the Cassette Soundtrack and the Marvel Treasury Special)
As time went by I got all the other books 2010, 2061, 3001. But have to admit they did not have the same impact on me as 2001. When finally the year 2001 came I was a tad disappointed but then I was also disappointed in 1999. I do remember something about when I first saw the film when I was 6. At the beginning of the film I wondered why the big front door was in the desert with all the monkeys.