Van Walt equipment goes to Mars

March 27, 2012

It is the 40^th anniversary of the launch of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, the iconic David Bowie album which was certified platinum and gold in the UK and US and today a commemorative plaque was unveiled (by Gary Kemp of Spandau Ballet) in central London, where the photograph on the cover of the album was taken. 

The lyrics of the title track Ziggy Stardust feature many references to Mars and the fact the character Ziggy was a human manifestation of a Mars alien being who is attempting to present humanity with a message of hope in the last five years of Earth’s existence:

Ziggy played guitar, jamming good with weird and gilly

And the spiders from Mars. He played it left hand

But made it too far

Became the special man, then we were Ziggy’s band.

What, you may ask, has any of this got to do with environmental monitoring equipment from Van Walt well, it’s about coincidences. We have just had visitors from Elstree Studios, where they are working on a film: The Last Man on Mars and they were looking for environmental equipment – sampling equipment – to use in the film for scenes where the hero is taking samples from the surface of the planet.

 So on a day when many Bowie fans are celebrating Ziggy Stardust as one of the best albums of all time (In 2006, the album was chosen by TIME magazine as one of the 100 best albums of all time) here at Van Walt we’re celebrating selling equipment for use on Mars!