Mark Williamson discovers that co-operative groupings - of objects as well as people - will mark the next half-century of space exploration ON 4 OCTOBER 2007, scientists gathered at Jodrell Bank Observatory, near Manchester, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Space Age and the launch of Sputnik 1. But reminiscence was a minor aspect of the 'Space50' event, as delegates looked forward to what promises to be a second 'golden age' for space. The venue for the celebrations was apposite, because the Jodrell Bank Mark I radio telescope was the first to detect the rocket stage for that historic satellite. Speaking at the event, the observatory's founder Sir Bernard Lovell admitted that Jodrell Bank owed at least a part of its success to the Sputnik, as it propelled the struggling telescope project into the public eye.
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