Talk:British space programme

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British space programme in fiction

94.30.84.71 (talk) 17:33, 10 July 2012 (UTC)

British government attitude to manned flight and funding in light of Tim Peake

Please can someone with good understanding, update this article in light of Timothy Peake's forthcoming visit to ISS in December 2015. My understanding is that he is doing this under the banner of the European Space Agency. It would be helpful if this article could be updated to either:

  • State that UK government policy has changed, and that it funded Tim Peake, OR
  • State that UK government policy has NOT changed, and that Tim Peake was funded through some other method (explain that UK still does not fund ESA human spaceflight?) - in which case, explain how/why Peake qualified for selection given that his government did not fund him

Andrew Oakley (talk) 16:56, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

Scope of this article?

Is the scope of this article, British space programme, exclusively the extent of any British government space programme? It might seem so, given the the logo of the "UK Space Agency" is given as the main logo/image for the article.

Now it could be that there is no private space "programme" of any kind in the UK, with technology development funded by private means; I don't know. But certainly there is private investment in other space programs, in other geographic and political jurisdictions globally. And that private activity is certainly a part of the overall space-related activity in those countries.

So the article is inconsistent: it says in the beginning that "The British space programme is the UK government's work to develop British space capabilities.", yet later in the article, includes text on "Commercial and private space activities", and seems to indicate that it is part of the the "British space programme".

If private spaceflight-related activity is occurring in the UK, is that sort of development something that should fit within the scope of this article? If so, the article could likely use some expansion; and probably needs the lede edited, and the logo modified or clarified by an explanatory caption.

Either way, I suggest that we clear the scope of this article on this Talk page, and then clarify the prose in the article. Cheers. N2e (talk) 22:47, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

Include Gregory H. Johnson in table of astronauts?

He was included as a 'Briton' in space by the BBC article already referenced. He may not be a British citizen (evidence needed), but this is a bit of a technicality anyway. What is the motivation for a list of British astronauts? Quite possibly place of birth matters more than legal citizenship to some enquirers (e.g. to schoolchildren born nearby), so we could reasonably include both connections, just as the BBC did.

In any case, this astronaut should be distinguished from the others in that section as having actually flown, whereas the others are potential British astronauts who in the end did not fly, or have not yet flown. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 163.1.246.64 (talk) 11:34, 6 January 2020 (UTC)

:Done. Whizz40 (talk) 11:02, 29 January 2020 (UTC)

::This source here (https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=hz01DwAAQBAJ&lpg=PR6&pg=PR6#v=onepage&q&f=false) states he was never a British citizen. Born to American military parents and later a U.S. Air Force officer; no non-British sources I’ve found emphasize that he was born in Britain or has any strong British connection. Garuda28 (talk) 15:11, 4 September 2020 (UTC)