Parallels between the Apollo programme and modern spaceflight-why this time everyone's got to come along for the ride

"We were primed for adventure. We valued our freedom more highly than we valued our safety or our income. Perhaps that same spirit will have to return to the culture before we can enter a new Golden Age of space exploration" - Don Eyles, Apollo Guidance Software Engineer

If any of you were like me and glued to the launch coverage of SpaceX's Crew Dragon Demo 2 mission, you might have been somewhat moved seeing Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, two fathers with young sons, risking it all on top of a rocket no human had ever ridden atop of before and successfully make it into orbit. For the United States, it was the first time a new manned space vehicle was launched since John Young and Bob Crippen flew the space shuttle Columbia in 1981. Surprised at how enthusiastic I was over the whole endeavour, I followed the mission in the days before and after launch, taking in every little detail NASA had to offer. And It got me thinking, why would anyone in their right mind get excited over a metal tube filled with unstable liquid being launched into the sky?

For centuries, the idea of space travel has fascinated scientists, engineers and anyone with a penchant for exploration. To achieve it represents conquering some of the most difficult technical obstacles to be found in worldly physics. Added to that, there is something inherently appealing in accomplishing a goal that's considered impossible. So, it might be wondered, if we can figure out a way to send people around the earth every 90 minutes at over 17,000 mph then perhaps, the same logic can be applied to our own personal terrestrial endeavours. That, in a nutshell, explains why the continued advancement in spaceflight is important. Not for the immediate and visible achievements of any given mission but because it instils a spirit of aiming high and breaking boundaries, applicable to all walks of life. But spaceflight isn't cheap, frequently leaving citizens questioning whether funds may be better spent on more socially just causes. It's a route fraught with sensitivities, both culturally and politically.

Though the 1960s may have been considered a golden age for technological advancement, the space race occurred under the turbulent clouds of the Cold War, the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement. It is no coincidence then Damien Chazelle's film "First Man" offered a nod to the times with Gil Scott Heron's "Whitey on the Moon" spoken word poem featuring prominently; or Todd Douglas Miller's Apollo 11 documentary with its neatly placed audio clips of news reports on the Vietnam War and Senator Ted Kennedy's controversial car accident leading to the death of his co-occupant Mary Jo Kopechne. Political controversies, civil unrest, global instability, rocket launches - all sound familiar?

If we are to avoid a future period of stagnation in space exploration (one similar to the risk-averse post Apollo era) and the loss of society-wide benefits such endeavours can bring, then it is up to everyone reaping those benefits to not just continue to push the boundaries but to find a way of bringing everyone else along for the ride - figuratively. With the dawning of commercial space flight and the opening of the market to a global community, the opportunity to do so is at its greatest since 1969. As the philosopher George Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."