Blast Off at Woomera

Blast Off at Woomera

First edition
Author Hugh Walters
Cover artist Leslie Wood
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Series Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A
Genre Science fiction novel
Publisher Faber
Publication date
1957
Media type Print (Hardback)
Pages 187
OCLC 30163717
823.91
Followed by The Domes of Pico

Blast Off at Woomera is a young adult science fiction novel, the first in Hugh Walters' Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A. series. It was published in the UK by Faber 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 near Mons Pico 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 whiz with an interest in rocketry and crucially less than 5 feet tall!

The launch site is Woomera Rocket Research Station in South Australia but there may be a Soviet traitor amongst the ground crew...

The book pre-dates the first actual usage of satellite imagery by two years, and manned spaceflight by four years.

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