The year is 1963.

Lawrence of Arabia wins the Oscar for Best Picture. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech ... and JFK is shot and killed in Dallas. Valentina Tereshkova the first woman in space, returns to Earth, but it will be six years until we land on the moon.

Humanity seems to be largely moving forward… reaching up.

In the wake of these advancements five thinkers were asked ‘Has humanity’s conquest of space increased or diminished our stature?’ 

Sixty years on, as part of World Space Week, the Wheeler Centre is discussing the question.