ANS - The first Dutch adventure in space - Documentary Trailer (now available)

[Paper Kosmonaut]

Hello everybody.
I do not post that often, I often feel a little overwhelmed here. But I have been working on a documentary for the last eight years (with hiatuses) about the ANS, the first satellite from the Netherlands. It features the people who created her (ANS is also a girl's name) telling anecdotes, the story of how the satellite came to be and the film is chock full with spectacular archive material, some of it almost never seen before.
The film still has to debut but we're almost ready with an English version (subtitles and all on-screen Dutch texts translated) for eventual release abroad.
Here's the English trailer:



Some background information about the film:
The film is made in cooperation with the National Spaceflight Museum (NRM) in the Netherlands, where it will be shown at the exhibition floor, where a new display showcase has been created to display all the leftover artefacts of ANS (one of the test vehicles, instruments etc.).

The museum display showcase has been built with money this film project has generated. When we were searching for funding for the film, we had talks with this fund that agreed to sponsor the film on condition we also involved a museum in the project. While I already had a good connection with the NRM (The aforementioned Dutch space museum), everything was arranged quite fast and so we got to make the film and the NRM got this great new specially built display for their ANS artefacts.

The film also features Fokker space engineer Jan de Koomen and astronomer Kees de Jager, who unfortunately both have passed away before they could see the film.

[leovinus]

Looking forward to it. The trailer is not available here in the USA though. It says "video does not exist".

As background, when I did my first internship in the mid 80s at Philips Research (NatLab), the team I worked with worked out of a smaller Philips lab in Geldrop. As a space enthusiast, I was fascinated by the model of the ANS satellite. Seemed like a big chunk of ANS was done at the NatLab/PCG Geldrop though I have no details on the project as it was decade before my time.

On these few pages, there is a photo on page 1 that looks like how I remember the model at the ceiling.

PS: Wouldn't this be better in the "Historical spaceflight" Section?

[Paper Kosmonaut]

Sorry for the inconvenience with watching the trailer. I have made the video accessible to this forum. I wasn't aware the settings were still limited. That now has been solved.

As far as ANS and NatLab Geldrop, you are right. And there is a lot of footage in the film about ANS' instruments made there. For this film, I have interviewed Piet van Otterloo, who later also was involved with building IRAS.

[leovinus]

Now the trailer runs fine, thanks. I had to smile about the 'very Dutch' comments in the style of "OMG, how did we ever do this?". Thanks for posting and putting this together and am looking forward to the full movie.

[Hobbes-22]

Looking forward to this 

[Oersted]

Thanks for your work on this!

Why "the first digital satellite in the world"?

[leovinus]

Thanks for your work on this!

Why "the first digital satellite in the world"?

Indeed, it would be great to learn more about the background of that statement. Hope to hear from the experts. Based on what I read, it seems to go back to two points
(1) the Philips Technical Review, VOLUME34,1974,No.1, article about the on-board computer system says
"At the beginning of the project none of the existing aerospace computers met this combination of requirements"
(2) The on-board computer was reprogrammable on-the-fly. Core storage, 4k, not tape. That capability was used to compensate for the wrong orbit insertion and to update observational targets.

[leovinus]

Thanks for your work on this!

Why "the first digital satellite in the world"?

Indeed, it would be great to learn more about the background of that statement. Hope to hear from the experts. Based on what I read, it seems to go back to two points
(1) the Philips Technical Review, VOLUME34,1974,No.1, article about the on-board computer system says
"At the beginning of the project none of the existing aerospace computers met this combination of requirements"
(2) The on-board computer was reprogrammable on-the-fly. Core storage, 4k, not tape. That capability was used to compensate for the wrong orbit insertion and to update observational targets.

As the Dutch Wiki has dead links at
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomische_Nederlandse_Satelliet
attached here are the individual Philips Tech. Rev. papers from 1973 and 1974 with ANS details for reference.

Extracted from:
https://nvhrbiblio.nl/biblio/tijdschrift/Philips%20Technical%20Review/Philips-Technical-Review-1973.pdf
https://nvhrbiblio.nl/biblio/tijdschrift/Philips%20Technical%20Review/Philips-Technical-Review-1974.pdf

W. Bloemendal & C. Kramer (1973) "The Netherlands astronomical satellite (ANS)" (PDF). Philips Tech. Rev. 33 (5): 117-129.
P. van Otterloo (1973) "Attitude control for the Netherlands astronomical satellite (ANS)" (PDF). Philips Tech. Rev. 33 (6): 162-176.
G. J. A. Arink (1974) "The onboard computer of the Netherlands astronomical satellite (ANS)" (PDF). Philips Tech. Rev. 34 (1): 1-18.
A. C. Brinkman, J. Heise & C. de Jager (1974) "Observation of cosmic X-ray sources with the Netherlands astronomical satellite (ANS)" (PDF). Philips Tech. Rev. 34 (2/3): 43-59.
J. Crucq (1974) "The reaction wheels of the Netherlands satellite ANS" (PDF). Philips Tech. Rev. 34 (4): 106-111.
A. J. Smets et al. (1974) "The optical sensors of the Netherlands astronomical satellite (ANS)". Philips Tech. Rev. 34 (8 ): 208-224.

[Paper Kosmonaut]

Indeed the ANS was the first satellite with a re-programmable digital coomputer on board that did the housekeeping as well as the data gathering of the scientific experiments and transmitting them to Earth. There wasn't a satellite in 1974 (when ANS was launched) that had the same capabilities. NASA still used tape for data storage. This is something the film also elaborates on a little more.
 
Philips was really proud of this computer. NASA predicted that, given the requirements the Dutch needed for this computer it would weigh 22 kilograms and would use about 100 watt. But there only was 8 kilo and 8 watt available, so NASA said it couldn't be done. But Philips built it anyway and the end product weighed 7.9 kilo and used 8 watt. And it worked perfectly.
The only glitches there were during ANS' lifetime were from ground-based equipment. And of course the faulty orbit caused by the Scout launcher.

[woods170]

Looking forward to it. The trailer is not available here in the USA though. It says "video does not exist".

As background, when I did my first internship in the mid 80s at Philips Research (NatLab), the team I worked with worked out of a smaller Philips lab in Geldrop. As a space enthusiast, I was fascinated by the model of the ANS satellite. Seemed like a big chunk of ANS was done at the NatLab/PCG Geldrop though I have no details on the project as it was decade before my time.

On these few pages, there is a photo on page 1 that looks like how I remember the model at the ceiling.

PS: Wouldn't this be better in the "Historical spaceflight" Section?

Emphasis mine.

Yeah...the document in that link contains an image that we shot back in 2006. "WE" being the Nationaal Ruimtevaart Museum (NRM), situated in the Aviodrome aerospace museum in Lelystad, the Netherlands. We've had the ANS backup flight model mounted from the ceiling of the Aviodrome since 2004. In 2006 NRM shot a few images to enhance the Wikipedia page on ANS. NRM released the original image to the public domain and it has been popping up here-and-there on the internet ever since.

That particular image and a few more below:

[leovinus]

Looking forward to it. The trailer is not available here in the USA though. It says "video does not exist".

As background, when I did my first internship in the mid 80s at Philips Research (NatLab), the team I worked with worked out of a smaller Philips lab in Geldrop. As a space enthusiast, I was fascinated by the model of the ANS satellite. Seemed like a big chunk of ANS was done at the NatLab/PCG Geldrop though I have no details on the project as it was decade before my time.

On these few pages, there is a photo on page 1 that looks like how I remember the model at the ceiling.

PS: Wouldn't this be better in the "Historical spaceflight" Section?

Emphasis mine.

Yeah...the document in that link contains an image that we shot back in 2006. "WE" being the Nationaal Ruimtevaart Museum (NRM), situated in the Aviodrome aerospace museum in Lelystad, the Netherlands. We've had the ANS backup flight model mounted from the ceiling of the Aviodrome since 2004. In 2006 NRM shot a few images to enhance the Wikipedia page on ANS. NRM released the original image to the public domain and it has been popping up here-and-there on the internet ever since.

That particular image and a few more below:

Thanks for sharing. One clarification question please. I read somewhere about a "spare" for ANS. Is that the same as what you call "backup flight model" at NRM in Lelystad? And therefore, what was on exhibit at PCG Geldrop in the 80s was also the spare ANS (and not some other model) ? Thanks.

[woods170]

Indeed the ANS was the first satellite with a re-programmable digital coomputer on board that did the housekeeping as well as the data gathering of the scientific experiments and transmitting them to Earth. There wasn't a satellite in 1974 (when ANS was launched) that had the same capabilities. NASA still used tape for data storage. This is something the film also elaborates on a little more.
 
Philips was really proud of this computer. NASA predicted that, given the requirements the Dutch needed for this computer it would weigh 22 kilograms and would use about 100 watt. But there only was 8 kilo and 8 watt available, so NASA said it couldn't be done. But Philips built it anyway and the end product weighed 7.9 kilo and used 8 watt. And it worked perfectly.
The only glitches there were during ANS' lifetime were from ground-based equipment. And of course the faulty orbit caused by the Scout launcher.

Yeah, the ANS OBC was a masterpiece of engineering. Naturally, from the outside it looked quite uninspiring. Just a rectangular black box.
The memory blocks were one of the very first (if not THE first) application of solid state memory on a spacecraft on-board computer.

[woods170]

Looking forward to it. The trailer is not available here in the USA though. It says "video does not exist".

As background, when I did my first internship in the mid 80s at Philips Research (NatLab), the team I worked with worked out of a smaller Philips lab in Geldrop. As a space enthusiast, I was fascinated by the model of the ANS satellite. Seemed like a big chunk of ANS was done at the NatLab/PCG Geldrop though I have no details on the project as it was decade before my time.

On these few pages, there is a photo on page 1 that looks like how I remember the model at the ceiling.

PS: Wouldn't this be better in the "Historical spaceflight" Section?

Emphasis mine.

Yeah...the document in that link contains an image that we shot back in 2006. "WE" being the Nationaal Ruimtevaart Museum (NRM), situated in the Aviodrome aerospace museum in Lelystad, the Netherlands. We've had the ANS backup flight model mounted from the ceiling of the Aviodrome since 2004. In 2006 NRM shot a few images to enhance the Wikipedia page on ANS. NRM released the original image to the public domain and it has been popping up here-and-there on the internet ever since.

That particular image and a few more below:

Thanks for sharing. One clarification question please. I read somewhere about a "spare" for ANS. Is that the same as what you call "backup flight model" at NRM in Lelystad? And therefore, what was on exhibit at PCG Geldrop in the 80s was also the spare ANS (and not some other model) ? Thanks.

The backup flight model was indeed the "spare" for ANS. And yes, it was on exhibit at PCG Geldrop in the 80s. The NRM has the "spare" ANS on indefinite loan from Philips since the early 2000s. Philips at the time did not know what to do with it but was very keen to get it on public display. That's how it ended up at NRM exhibition in the Aviodrome where close to 3 million people (over the last 17 years) have now viewed it with their own eyes.

The "spare" ANS also was hung from the ceiling of the Evoluon in Eindhoven for a few years in the very early 80s. Check out the (rather poor) image below:

[woods170]

And given the fact that a lot of members of this forum come here for technical information... some specs of ANS

check the images below.

Edit: @Paper Kosmonaut: sorry for hijacking your thread.

[woods170]

Thanks for your work on this!

Why "the first digital satellite in the world"?

Indeed, it would be great to learn more about the background of that statement. Hope to hear from the experts. Based on what I read, it seems to go back to two points
(1) the Philips Technical Review, VOLUME34,1974,No.1, article about the on-board computer system says
"At the beginning of the project none of the existing aerospace computers met this combination of requirements"
(2) The on-board computer was reprogrammable on-the-fly. Core storage, 4k, not tape. That capability was used to compensate for the wrong orbit insertion and to update observational targets.

Emphasis mine.

The ANS OBC was carefully programmed with an initial observation programs to be run after launch. However, the Scout launch vehicle screwed up targeting during first stage boost phase. Second, third and fourth stages of Scout were all 'dumb' and just carried out their original programmed flights. The primary result was ANS ending up in a wrong orbit. The secondary result was that the original observation programs in the OBC became useless. Instead of a nice circular sun-synchronous orbit, ANS ended up in a highly elliptical syn-synchronous orbit. Parts of the orbit came dangerously close to the Van Allen belt.
However, due to having a re-programmable OBC the ANS mission was saved. The entire core logic behind the observation program was rewritten in just a few days, allowing the satellite to largely shut down upon dipping into the Van Allen belts, as well as the SAA. By executing the majority of the observation while in the ascending and descending parts of the orbit, it was possible to execute almost 90% of the previously planned observation program.

Philips' brilliant OBC saved the mission that otherwise would have to be reflown using the spare ANS flight model.

[leovinus]

Thanks for your work on this!

Why "the first digital satellite in the world"?

Indeed, it would be great to learn more about the background of that statement. Hope to hear from the experts. Based on what I read, it seems to go back to two points
(1) the Philips Technical Review, VOLUME34,1974,No.1, article about the on-board computer system says
"At the beginning of the project none of the existing aerospace computers met this combination of requirements"
(2) The on-board computer was reprogrammable on-the-fly. Core storage, 4k, not tape. That capability was used to compensate for the wrong orbit insertion and to update observational targets.

Emphasis mine.

The ANS OBC was carefully programmed with an initial observation programs to be run after launch. However, the Scout launch vehicle screwed up targeting during first stage boost phase. Second, third and fourth stages of Scout were all 'dumb' and just carried out their original programmed flights. The primary result was ANS ending up in a wrong orbit. The secondary result was that the original observation programs in the OBC became useless. Instead of a nice circular sun-synchronous orbit, ANS ended up in a highly elliptical syn-synchronous orbit. Parts of the orbit came dangerously close to the Van Allen belt.
However, due to having a re-programmable OBC the ANS mission was saved. The entire core logic behind the observation program was rewritten in just a few days, allowing the satellite to largely shut down upon dipping into the Van Allen belts, as well as the SAA. By executing the majority of the observation while in the ascending and descending parts of the orbit, it was possible to execute almost 90% of the previously planned observation program.

Philips' brilliant OBC saved the mission that otherwise would have to be reflown using the spare ANS flight model.

Is there are written account or article of those "Oh, sh*t" days (highlighted in your post) ? Who was involved with the rewrite? I think I saw TU Delft mentioned but no names. How much code was changed? How was the update tested?

[leovinus]

[snip]

Some background information about the film:
The film is made in cooperation with the National Spaceflight Museum (NRM) in the Netherlands, where it will be shown at the exhibition floor, where a new display showcase has been created to display all the leftover artefacts of ANS (one of the test vehicles, instruments etc.).

[snip]

PS: Will it be possible to see the full movie online (for those of us who can't easily visit the museum) ?

[Paper Kosmonaut]

Thanks for the extra and detailed enlightenment, Woods170! It's good to let people know what 'we' created back in the 1970s. (-:

As an addition to what Woods wrote: The NRM now not only has the backup fight article, they also have the structural test article. Another one is located in the Uniberity Museum of Groningen, where they keep the thermal test article.

@Leovinus: I cannot promise you anything, but it might be possible in the nearby future you will be able to see the film online on a pay-per-view channel of the film's producer, Stichting Beeldlijn. (They will ask just a very small charge.) IIRC, they are working on that right now. If that has been realised, I will surely mention it here. I'll also make sure there will be an English version available, because I think (hope..) there also will be some interest in the film across the border.

[woods170]

Thanks for the extra and detailed enlightenment, Woods170! It's good to let people know what 'we' created back in the 1970s. (-:

As an addition to what Woods wrote: The NRM now not only has the backup fight article, they also have the structural test article. Another one is located in the Uniberity Museum of Groningen, where they keep the thermal test article.

@Leovinus: I cannot promise you anything, but it might be possible in the nearby future you will be able to see the film online on a pay-per-view channel of the film's producer, Stichting Beeldlijn. (They will ask just a very small charge.) IIRC, they are working on that right now. If that has been realised, I will surely mention it here. I'll also make sure there will be an English version available, because I think (hope..) there also will be some interest in the film across the border.

Emphasis mine.

I'm pretty sure that is not the thermal test article, but the Electrical Model. Besides the Flight Model the Electrical Model was the only ANS model which was fully equipped with every piece of avionics, electronics and test versions of the science instruments; exactly like what is present in Groningen.

The proof for my statement will be in the YoYo box mounted to the ANS model in Groningen. From archive images from the early 70s there is a very distinct difference between the YoYo box of the Thermal Model and the Electrical Model. I would have to see it with my own eyes, or get some good images of the "Groningen" version, to determine which model is actually present in the museum in Groningen. But my money is on it being the Electrical Model.

[Oersted]

Thanks for your replies regarding the Philips computer. I myself was the proud owner of a Philips Videopac gaming console in the 1980s. Good stuff :-)

BTW, I like your retro style for the ANS movie. Well done!

[Paper Kosmonaut]

I'm pretty sure that is not the thermal test article, but the Electrical Model. Besides the Flight Model the Electrical Model was the only ANS model which was fully equipped with every piece of avionics, electronics and test versions of the science instruments; exactly like what is present in Groningen.

Based on what you say here, it definitely is the electrical model, because it indeed is fully equipped and it has the yo-yo-box. I was told by others it probably was the thermal one and I trusted them. I never should trust people anyway... Nevertheless, Good to know! Thanks.

@Oersted:
We have tried to give the entire film that retro-feel. We didn't touch up all the archive film footage to keep that authentic look and we only used music from that time. That helps a lot.

[woods170]

I'm pretty sure that is not the thermal test article, but the Electrical Model. Besides the Flight Model the Electrical Model was the only ANS model which was fully equipped with every piece of avionics, electronics and test versions of the science instruments; exactly like what is present in Groningen.

`Based on what you say here, it definitely is the electrical model, because it indeed is fully equipped and it has the yo-yo-box. I was told by others it probably was the thermal one and I trusted them. I never should trust people anyway... Nevertheless, Good to know! Thanks.

Well, courtesy of one of my co-volunteers at NRM I got my hands on some high-res images of the 'Groningen' model, from a visit in 2016. In combination with some digging in the archives I was able to piece together the origin of the 'Groningen' model.

And what they have in Grongingen is NOT the Electrical Model and also NOT the original Thermal Model.
The 'Groningen' model is actually the Thermal Model v2.0.

This needs some explaining. The first Thermal Model went thru thermal vacuum testing in Germany in 1972. Unfortunately, the first Thermal Model got contaminated with tiny droplets of lubricant oil, courtesy of a 'dirty' vacuum pump of the thermal vacuum chamber in Germany.

This original Thermal Model was thoroughly cleaned afterwards and modified to support final high-fidelity thermal vacuum testing at ESTEC, in 1974.

But, late in preparations it was found that some contamination still existed in the modified Thermal Model (aka Thermal Model v2.0). ESTEC was not willing to run the risk of cross-contaminating its (then state of the art) HBF3 facility. And thus the final thermal vacuum testing had to be done with a pristine version of ANS.
The Proto-Flight model (what we now know as the "spare" ANS or "backup flight model") was tied up in final ACS testing at the time, as well as serving as the ground-support "twin" for the Flight Model.
This left only the Flight Model itself available for the final thermal vacuum test.

The side effect was that the modified Thermal Model (aka Thermal Model v2.0) was never actually tested again. Instead it became available for PR & Public Display purposes. A display case on castor wheels was constructed around for those purposes. Below this post are a few images of it on display at a unknown location.

It is this modified Thermal Model that today sits in the museum in Groningen. So, Paper Kosmonaut had it right; it is the Thermal Model, albeit not the original one.

What threw me off initially is that the 'Groningen' model features a nearly complete set of external sensors, avioncis and science instruments hardware. Completing the setup to Flight Model standards was part of the modification after the first Thermal Vacuum test. Something I wasn't aware of until earlier today, when I read about in the personal memoirs of one of the ANS team members. And it explains why the 'Groningen' model is fully equipped with all the hardware, while the original Thermal Model wasn't.

The only thing that I can't explain is how the 'Groningen' model ended up with flight-like solar array panels, while earlier in its public display career it had development solar array panels. At some time they have must been switched out.

[Paper Kosmonaut]

Wow, Woods, that is some deep digging. Great story! Maybe I should make a film of it... (just kidding...)
Thanks again for the enlightenment!

[woods170]

This documentary premiered today in the movie theater of the Aviodrome aerospace museum in the Netherlands. And damn it was good! Premiere was combined witn an ANS reveal event of NRM.

Job well done by Jasper and Lotte. Kudos to Beeldlijn for production and financing.

It is set to have a second premiere in Groningen in mid-april and will eventually become available for-rent online.

[leovinus]

This documentary premiered today in the movie theater of the Aviodrome aerospace museum in the Netherlands. And damn it was good! Premiere was combined witn an ANS reveal event of NRM.

Job well done by Jasper and Lotte. Kudos to Beeldlijn for production and financing.

It is set to have a second premiere in Groningen in mid-april and will eventually become available for-rent online.

Yesterday, I checked the stichtingbeeldlijn.nl website but the full ANS movie is not for rent or sale yet. And eagerly awaiting the release to Vimeo or similar.

[Hobbes-22]

I had the opportunity to see this documentary today at the NRM, along with a presentation by Woods170 about the hardware built for the ANS project, and a chance to see the new ANS exhibit.

The documentary is excellent; the main focus is interviews with some of the main players, interspersed with archive footage of the construction and launch. I really enjoyed getting to know more about the project.

I think I might build my own model of ANS...

[leovinus]

This documentary premiered today in the movie theater of the Aviodrome aerospace museum in the Netherlands. And damn it was good! Premiere was combined witn an ANS reveal event of NRM.

Job well done by Jasper and Lotte. Kudos to Beeldlijn for production and financing.

It is set to have a second premiere in Groningen in mid-april and will eventually become available for-rent online.

Yesterday, I checked the stichtingbeeldlijn.nl website but the full ANS movie is not for rent or sale yet. And eagerly awaiting the release to Vimeo or similar.

Still nothing :/

[Steven Pietrobon]

The video link for trailer seems to be dead. Here's an updated link.

[Steven Pietrobon]

Here's a link to the full video that I found at https://www.papermodelers.com/forum/pasa-paper-aeronautical-space-administration/51223-ans-first-dutch-adventure-space.html but the password Suitcase satellite doesn't work. :-(

https://vimeo.com/deloods/ansfeaturesubs
-> https://vimeo.com/video/696493378

[Paper Kosmonaut]

The password still is what you mentioned, though. So it should be accessible.
I can place a direct link here for easier access:
https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/696493378
password: Suitcase satellite

--Edit--
I checked it on another computer from another IP and it absolutely works.
so, enjoy as long as it lasts.

[Steven Pietrobon]

Steps I needed to take to see the video! I think the problem is that Vimeo does not work properly with the browser I'm using.

1) Enter password at https://vimeo.com/deloods/ansfeaturesubs I get the error message "This video is password protected. Enter the password to view it. You can also try logging in or contacting the creator to gain access."
2) Log in
3) Go to https://vimeo.com/deloods/ansfeaturesubs

[Paper Kosmonaut]

It works all right in Firefox.

[Steven Pietrobon]

It works all right in Firefox.

The latest version of Firefox doesn't work on my computer.

[Paper Kosmonaut]

The latest version of Firefox doesn't work on my computer.

I think it actually might be a settings issue on your device... I mean, the film is up for about two years now and I have never had any problem. Vimeo should be workng in every browser on every platform.

I hope it will work out well.

[Paper Kosmonaut]

It works all right in Firefox.

The latest version of Firefox doesn't work on my computer.

Steven, I got in on Google with the supplied password (previous post).  I can't download it, so I'll screen-record a copy for you tonight when I go to sleep and upload it to YT (unlisted), I'll provide a like to you in about 12 hours.

Please don't. There is a reason I switched off downloads.
I am the maker of this film and these kinds of things are making me taking it down.
So I beg you, DON'T. COPY.

[catdlr]

It works all right in Firefox.

The latest version of Firefox doesn't work on my computer.

Steven, I got in on Google with the supplied password (previous post).  I can't download it, so I'll screen-record a copy for you tonight when I go to sleep and upload it to YT (unlisted), I'll provide a like to you in about 12 hours.

Please don't. There is a reason I switched off downloads.
I am the maker of this film and these kinds of things are making me taking it down.
So I beg you, DON'T. COPY.

OK, I will not screenscrap.  I never saw this thread.  Sorry Steven P.

[Steven Pietrobon]

OK, I will not screenscrap.  I never saw this thread.  Sorry Steven P.

No worries. I actually did manage to watch the video using my antiquated browser. A big thanks to Paper Kosmonaut for making the video available to view!

[woods170]

I had the opportunity to see this documentary today at the NRM, along with a presentation by Woods170 about the hardware built for the ANS project, and a chance to see the new ANS exhibit.

The documentary is excellent; the main focus is interviews with some of the main players, interspersed with archive footage of the construction and launch. I really enjoyed getting to know more about the project.

I think I might build my own model of ANS...

On May 7th this year the documentary was shown to an audience of NVR members at TU Delft. And I gave my presentation (updated with the latest data) about the ANS hardware again. Both were very well-received. I got lots of good questions from the audience and a bunch of Fokker Space old-timers (people who built ANS in the early 1970s), who were present, gave me their seal of approval afterwards.