Mailbox
Today in Mailbox: Response to Radio Prague programmes, Czech space satellites and astronauts, the largest astronomical observatory in the Czech Republic. Listeners quoted: Jaroslav B. Tusek, Aloisie Krasny, George Scott, Frank Muzika, Sanusi Isah Dankaba, Brandon Jordan.
Hello and thank you for tuning in to Radio Prague’s weekly Mailbox. Even though we usually reveal our mystery person and announce the winners of our monthly quiz on the first Sunday of each month, this time we will postpone it until next Sunday so that even your last-minute answers can be counted. Meanwhile let’s quote from some of the e-mails that have arrived over the past week or so.
Jaroslav B. Tusek from the United States responds to last Friday’s news story:
“Bohuslav Sobotka is right to want to see Jan Švejnar as a candidate for Czech EU commissioner. What Europe and of course the Czech Republic badly needs in that post is an educated, competent, caring, informed and experienced negotiator who can and will undo the great damage caused by politicians to the Czech reputation worldwide. Jan Švejnar could fill this post superbly and bring the Czech Republic back to the stage of the world politics. Challenging the Lisbon Treaty at this time would have severe consequences for the Czech Republic at a time when Czechs need to focus on the ongoing recession at home.”
“I found this article interesting in that I remember when tourists flocked to Prague but money is short at the moment and I should imagine that people tend not to travel. However, the Czech Tourist Agency needs to market far more extensively than its neighbouring countries. It needs to reach places like Australia and New Zealand where in fact there are a number of Czechs touring. Marketing and PR will grab the interests of people and Australians are known for their travel exploits. The Czech Republic has a great deal to offer but unless you open up your doors and windows and shout out to the rest of the world, trumpeters from the battlements won't make a great deal of difference.”
Frank Muzika from the United Kingdom recently read a February edition of Mailbox where we quoted an e-mail from George Scott from England, the son of a Czech soldier. Mr Muzika writes:
“As the son of a Czech Spitfire pilot in WW2 for the RAF, now buried in the Brookwood Cemetery of which George speaks, I am extremely keen to get in touch with him. Thank you so much for your help.”
This was more than six months ago and I’m afraid we do not keep the addresses of our listeners for so long. But if Mr. Scott is listening today or reading this article and would like to get in touch with Mr. Muzika, please contact us at [email protected] and we will be happy to put you through.
Sanusi Isah Dankaba from Nigeria has these questions:
“How many times did the Czech Republic send a satellite into orbit? Has any Czech astronaut ever flown to the International Space Station?”
As for the first question, we already answered it earlier this year in Mailbox. So just briefly: Czechoslovakia launched its first space satellite in 1978, called Magion 1. It was the first one in a series of Magions, the last one being Magion 5 launched in 1996. In 2003, the Czech Republic launched a scientific microsatellite which, due to a technical fault, never became fully operational. As for the second question: I’m afraid no Czech astronaut has ever flown to the ISS. The only astronaut this country has had is Vladimír Remek, now an MEP for the Communist Party for a second term. As a matter of fact, two American astronauts have Czech roots: Eugene Cernan, a native of Chicago, is the son of a Czech mother and a Slovak father, and John Blaha, whose grandfather had come to the US from Bohemia.
On a related topic, Brandon Jordan from Tennessee sent in this question along with his reception report:
The country’s largest observatory is the Ondřejov observatory, southeast of Prague. It is part of the Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. We have covered it in our Spotlight programme, so you can take a radio tour of its premises on our website at http://www.radio.cz/en/article/56489
As I said at the beginning, we will disclose our July mystery man next week but we already have another one for you.
Our August mystery man was born in 1862 in the North Bohemian village of Jiřetín pod Bukovou, the son of a glass cutter. He went on to start his own glass cutting business in Austria and his surname today is a brand name for precision cut crystal glass.
Please send us your answers by the end of August to [email protected] or Radio Prague 12099 Prague. Until next week, happy listening and take care.
