The 18. of August 1962, the Ferdinan 1 sounding rocket was launched from Andøya Rocket Range, at Andøya in northern Norway. This year, at the 50th anniversary, Andøya Rocket Range invited almost the whole of Norway to celebrate this event. During two full days, around 3000 persons got a glimpse of the rocket range, listened to interesting talks by well-known "space personalities". Even the King of Norway joined, and placed the foundation stone of the new education center at Andøya.
The celebration was completed with the launch of a small rocket reaching almost 10 kilometers of altitude. During the celebration, Andøya showed itself in a beautiful condition, in spite the wind being a bit cold.
More information can be found on the official web page.
http://www.norway50.org/
Our stand. Students Sigvald Marholm and Marianne Bakken are sharing space secrets
Illustration from Christer Fuglesangs talk about his job as astronaut
The NUTS team waiting on the launch from an elevated spot
Area almost cleared for launch!
Launch! The rocket engine burns for about 2 seconds, thrusting the rocket to almost 10 km height!
The view from Alomar. One of the nicest beach in the world!
All photos: Roger Birkeland