“That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind”
said the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong
Now many years on from Neil Armstrong’s words when he first set foot on the moon in 1969, the exploration of space has taken scientific investigation far and wide in both our universe and into an understanding of universes beyond our own. We hear words like ‘black holes’, ‘gravitational waves’ and ‘dark matter’ but most of us do not understand what these really mean. Should this exploration and discovery fill us with admiration and cause us to hope for more and more understanding of what is out there beyond our own world and our solar system?
Should we be concerned by the vast amounts of money such research demands at a time when 50% of our planet’s people still live in severe poverty and 80% live with significant poverty? Does space exploration distract from this appalling human reality?
Then of course, there is the sheer beauty of outer space. Is this accidental or designed?
What do you think?
Questions we might discuss are:
- How do you feel about space exploration?
- Thinking back to the first moonwalk in 1969, do you agree that it was a “giant step for mankind”? In what ways has that event benefitted mankind?
- Do you think it is justifiable to spend billions of dollars on this kind of scientific exploration while so many people in the world still live in poverty?
- If you had the chance to go to Mars, would you accept the opportunity? Is there anywhere else in space you would like to go?
- When you look up at the night sky, at the stars and planets, what do you think about and how does it make you feel? Who or what do you praise for such beauty?
- Do you believe that there are other creatures, other beings living on other planets? Is it important to you that we try to find out?
- Have you ever witnessed an eclipse or any other unusual space event? How did it make you feel?
- Do you believe that the world and all that it is in it was created by God, by a scientific reaction or some other event or process? What convinces you?
Come and join our Talk About on Monday 8 March at 7.30 pm, share your idea and make friends.
The Zoom ID and passcode are:
ID: 981 9526 9164
Passcode: letstalk