Why America went to the Moon and Why they haven't gone back.

Wed, Mar 8th 2023 at 12:50 pm - 2:00 pm

Gerard DeGroot explained

Why America went to the Moon and Why they haven't gone back. -

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'How America went to the Moon and haven’t gone back' was the title of a fascinating talk by Emeritus Professor Gerard de Groot of the University of St Andrews. Professor de Groot explained how Wernher Von Braun, who assisted the Nazis develop the V2 rockets in WW2, went to the United States at the end of the war and was involved in the design of rockets for the Americans in the ‘space race’ with the Russians which took place following the launch of Sputnik by the Russians in 1957. Subsequent years saw each country trying to outdo the other with a series of space launches, firstly of a dog into space by the Russians, followed by a series of flights both manned and unmanned through to the American moon landing in 1969. Each time a new 'first' was achieved by one country the other needed to go one better. The financial cost of this 'space race' was enormous, punctuated by spectacular new successes and, regrettably, a disaster which took the lives of the crew on a manned American flight. The huge cost of manned space flight saw new achievements such as the ability to launch and return manned flights from and to earth, but this was at the cost of reduced investment in other areas such as communication, weather forecasting and deeper space exploration, resulting in the decision not to return to the moon. The Vote of Thanks for an inspirational talk on space exploration history was given by Alan Constable.

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