Reggie The Rocket

The story of Reggie The Rocket closely tracks the history of the 1960s British Blue Streak rocket program. The author Douglas Anderson worked on the assembly and testing of the Rolls-Royce RZ2 engines powering the Blue Streak and was present in Woomera, Australia, for the launch of F3. Based on that experience, Douglas has assigned a personality to the rockets and has thus woven a whimsical element into an otherwise historical account of the Blue Streak Program. Reggie The Rocket is F3, the third in line to be launched, and Douglas was there to cheer him on. It is a sad reality that most heavy-lift booster rockets have been launched only to return to earth as scrap metal or to have disappeared into the ocean depths. Only now, fifty years after Blue Streak, are serious attempts being made to return booster rockets safely back to the launch pad under their own power so they can be reused. The days of ‘throw away' rockets must surely come to an end if humans are to continue with orbital flights and deep space exploration.