Neil Armstrong took his ‘one small step’ on the Moon in 1969. And it’s more than 43 years since Apollo 17, the last lunar mission, returned to Earth. You’ve got to be middle aged to remember when men walked on the Moon.
For those who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, spaceflight was futuristic, bordering on science fiction. But to the younger generation, in bizarre contrast, it’s ancient history.
Only twelve years elapsed between the first Sputnik and the first Moon landing. Had that momentum been maintained, there would surely be footprints on Mars by now. But the Apollo programme was motivated by superpower rivalry`; it was a ‘space race’ against the Russians.
Once that goal had been achieved, the motivation for continuing massive expenditure was lost .
Manned space exploits have lost some of their lustre. However today we in the UK can celebrate, as Tim Peake is set to become the first ever Briton to make a space walk outside the International Space Station (ISS).
Space technology has of course burgeoned in the last four decades: we depend routinely on orbiting satellites for communication, sat-nav and weather-forecasting. Unmanned probes have launched telescopes into space, and journeyed to all the planets of our Solar System. But manned spaceflight may seem to have regressed. Hundreds of people have been into space, but have done no more than circle the Earth in a low orbit.
The Internatational Space Station (ISS) is probably the most expensive artifact ever constructed. Its cost, plus that of the US space shuttle which until recently serviced it, runs well into twelve figures. It’s hard to see by what criteria this is money well spent. The scientific and technical payoff hasn’t been negligible, but it’s far lower (and immensely less cost-effective) than unmanned missions have achieved. Nor are these voyages inspiring in the way that the heroic pioneering Russian and US space exploits undoubtedly were. The ISS only makes news when something goes wrong – when the loo fails, for instance -- or when astronauts perform ‘stunts’, such as the Canadian Chris Hadfield’s guitar-playing and singing.
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