Night Waves - 15/11/2007

A keynote lecture delivered before an audience at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking festival of ideas. Professor of Space Science John Zarnecki asks 'Space. Why are we there?'. The 21st century has brought renewed vigour to space exploration, there's even been serious talk of Britain sending an astronaut to the moon. But have we yet answered the fundamental questions of why we want to be there in the first place? John Zarnecki draws on over 30 years of involvement in space missions to attempt an answer.