In Praise of ... the British Space Programme

François Truffaut once claimed that the phrase "British cinema" was an oxymoron. By the same token, the British space programme's greatest exponent was Dan Dare. It was certainly more romance than reality: for all of this country's expertise in rocket technology, the UK programme only ever had one successful launch - and by then ministers had already opted to scrap it. Keeping out of the space race, with all its militaristic associations, is not necessarily a bad thing. Even so, there was something pleasing about the effort by Walsall's Barr Beacon school yesterday afternoon to reach for the stars once again. Perhaps it is the modesty of the exercise: 100 teenagers, egged on by the rocket scientist Steve Bennett, firing 60 missiles into the sky. Perhaps it is the prospect of more students taking an interest in science. Dr Bennett is a businessman who plans to offer his own private space flights, but he is also an enthusiast of the kind that Britain seems to produce in abundance. "Why spend $12,000 on a pair of molegrip pliers as Nasa did," he asks, "when you can buy something equally good at B&Q?" And while he plays down any suggestion of acting out of patriotism, Dr Bennett does admit that getting a British rocket into space would be "pretty cool". DIY stores and homemade missiles: if there is to be a renewed attempt to fly the union flag, it might as well be as economical as this one. And it would surely be worth it just to hear, decades from now, the triumphant cry: "Walsall, we have liftoff!"