Advertisement

The End of the Age of Astronauts

For many people, the single greatest human achievement of the 20th century happened on July 20th,...

Share this article

11.00 27 Mar 2022


The End of the Age of Astronauts



Share this article

11.00 27 Mar 2022


For many people, the single greatest human achievement of the 20th century happened on July 20th, 1969 when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon, and a large proportion of those people probably hope for a similar spectacle on Mars in the coming decades.

But aside from it being cool, is there actually any reason to send humans to these far-flung places?

Britain's Astronomer Royal, Martin Rees, and Astrophysicist & Science Writer Donald Goldsmith consider this very question in their new book 'The End of Astronauts: Why Robots are the Future of Exploration'.

They joined Jonathan to discuss.

Also joining Jonathan to run through the week's top science stories are Dr. Lara Dungan and Dr. Jessamyn Fairfield.

Listen and subscribe to Futureproof with Jonathan McCrea on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

  

Download, listen and subscribe on the Newstalk App.

   

You can also listen to Newstalk live on newstalk.com or on Alexa, by adding the Newstalk skill and asking: 'Alexa, play Newstalk'.


Read more about

Astronauts Donald Goldsmith Futureproof Jonathan Mccrea Martin Rees Newstalk The End Of Astronauts: Why Robots Are The Future Of Exploration

Related Episodes

How to do Stuff: Pretending to...

00:12:19

How to do Stuff: Pretending to be an expert

The Hard Shoulder Highlights

00:12:19


Trump’s first 100 days - how h...

00:24:27

Trump’s first 100 days - how has he done?

The Hard Shoulder Highlights

00:24:27


Knowing all the forms of leave...

00:11:26

Knowing all the forms of leave you can take at work

The Hard Shoulder Highlights

00:11:26


Tech Takeover: Who are ‘Scatte...

00:09:42

Tech Takeover: Who are ‘Scattered Spider’?

The Hard Shoulder Highlights

00:09:42