Should we go back to the Moon? (Venue: Caffè Nero)

(Scroll down for topic intro)

THE VENUE: Caffè Nero

It's winter so we will meet indoors for the next few months.

When we meet indoors, we run the same event in two locations: Caffè Nero and Starbucks, so as to provide capacity for as many people who would like to attend, without overwhelming any one venue. Thus, there will be two events published, and you can choose which one to attend. Please don't sign up for both. This event is for the Nero location.

We meet upstairs at Caffè Nero. An organiser will be present from 10.45. We are not charged for use of the space so it would be good if everyone bought at least one drink.

An attendee limit has been set so as not to overwhelm the venue.

Etiquette
Our discussions are friendly and open. We are a discussion group, not a for-and-against debating society. But it helps if we try to stay on topic. And we should not talk over others, interrupt them, or try to dominate the conversation.

There is often a waiting list for places, so please cancel your attendance as soon as possible if you subsequently find you can't come.

WhatsApp groups
We have two WhatsApp groups. One is to notify events, including extra events such as meeting for a meal or a drink during the week which we don't normally put on the Meetup site. The other is for open discussion of whatever topics occur to people. If you would like to join either or both groups, please send a note of the phone number you would like to use to Richard Baron on: website.audible238@passmail.net. (This is an alias that can be discarded if it attracts spam, hence the odd words.)

THE TOPIC: Should we go back to the Moon?

Thank you to Richard for this week's topic.

The last Apollo landing was in 1972. The Artemis mission promises a return in or after 2028, while China's Chang'e programme, so far robotic, is planned to extend to a human landing around 2030. Is this what we should be doing? More generally, should we encourage or restrain a tendency to engage in risky, expensive, but magnificent adventures?

Arguments in favour

This is what human beings do. We are a bold, adventurous species. As John F Kennedy said about the first Moon landing programme, we do these things "not because they are easy, but because they are hard".

Everybody's spirits will be lifted, and everybody's psyches affected. Think of the impact of the Earthrise photograph, and of Neil Armstrong's first footprint. The achievement might even help to unite humanity: Armstrong said "One giant leap for mankind", not "One giant leap for the USA". Of course the psychological impact might not be so great this time round.

The technology that will be generated by the pressure to make it happen may have all sorts of other uses. And that pressure will be acute because each nation will want to be first. Maybe this will be a productive use of the human inclination to compete.

Arguments against

The resources to be consumed will be huge, and increased by the fact that at least two countries will be pursuing the same goal with only limited sharing of research results. Maybe we could do something better with the resources.

We will put human beings at great risk. They may all be volunteers, but can they assess the risk properly and make informed choices? And the pressure to be first may lead to cutting corners on safety.

The political decision-making may be dubious. If all goes well, political leaders at the time will feel very grand, and their nation will be able to proclaim its greatness. Should such feelings steer decisions, or would we rather have colder, unemotional decision-making? Or maybe the emotions of the people rather than the leaders - hold a referendum on whether to go to the Moon.

Modern robots would be much easier to send, would be pretty much as effective at collecting data and rocks, and would not put people at risk. But the adventure and the grandeur would be lost. More generally, when faced with the prospect of a bold adventure, should we be sensible and look for the easy way?

Here is how Kennedy saw it in 1962:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_choose_to_go_to_the_Moon