In one of those great coincidences today marks the anniversary ofAmundsen reaching the pole and the return to Earth of the last Apollo

The 1911 Polar race was one of the last great earthbound exploration achievements, there was nowhere really remote to conquer (except maybe Everest). In Britain it is more memorable for the failed Scott expedition that was racing Amundsen to the Pole, and the tragic deaths of all four explorers.

In a similar vein, the return of Apollo 17 was the last great space exploration that humans have attempted, and 37 years later we still haven't got any further, nor have we tried. It is as if, getting to the moon was enough and we don't have the stomach to go beyond it.

Like Science Fiction before it, we seem to have left the era of Space Opera behind and moved into Inner Space, focusing on sad, sorry selves our failings and inadequacies, rather that outwards with our visions, ambitions and strengths.

Posted via email from james downes' preposterous nonsense