About Satellite 6

A Word from the Venusian Congress Chair

When Mad Elf, our Webmaster, asked me to write an introduction for the Satellite 6 website, it was very tempting merely to copy over what I wrote for Satellite 5, with the word ‘five’ scored out and ‘six’ written above in crayon.

Lazy… yes, but in essence accurate. We want to stay true to our overall aims of bringing conventions full of ‘Science Fiction, Science Fact and Science Fun’ and I am confident that we will achieve this. Our Guest of Honour, Paul McAuley, has been producing top quality, hard SF now for more years than would be polite to mention whilst we will be involving many professional scientists in the programme.

As for SF fun… that is down to you. At previous Satellite Conventions you have built-your-own mars-bar launching trebuchet, performed live action space invaders, Found Uranus (with Both Hands), and chaotically constructed space-ships. This time, well, we shall see — so give us your ideas. The bar has been set pretty high but I know you can beat it (or else invent some SF-themed limbo dancing game and go under it!)

Following the tradition of our previous conventions, we have a particular planetary theme to focus our thoughts on. This time round it is Venus, the Planet of Love, romantically written about by so many writers... until the grizzly truth of the surface conditions where we would be simultaneously burned, crushed, suffocated and poisoned, was shown to us. So there is much to discuss both around the science and the fiction of our nearest planetary neighbour.

In the past we have hosted conventions that have been fun, educational and thoughtful. So if you think that, in this world of post-Brexit futures and indy-ref debates, the surface of planet Earth is looking about as grim as the surface of Venus, put your blues away for one weekend and come along and join us for another great Satellite Convention.

Michael Davidson