This weekend saw the 50th anniversary of the incredible achievement of man first setting foot on the moon, a target many thought to be impossible for a long time.
To me the beauty of the Apollo 11 mission is not in the simple act of Neil Armstrong's boot touching grey dust or even the internationally famous words that accompanied it, but more the actions, the experiments, that followed.
NASA may well have been tasked with sending men to the moon as part of the testosterone fuelled space race with Russia, but at the heart of Apollo and all the many things that lead to that incredible moment, was a desire to learn - to expand our knowledge beyond our own natural surroundings and see for ourselves all the wonder that the universe has to offer.
I fell in love with space exploration and NASA as a small child, I'm of a lucky generation - born while Concorde still soared in the skies and the Space Shuttles were the magnificent creme de is creme of human achievement.
I loved reading about the history of NASA, about Mercury Seven and the Gemini project, I still recall the terror I felt at reading about the Apollo 1 tragedy for the first time and being profoundly saddened that the names Grissom, Chaffee and White were not ones that had ever been taught to me in school.
Challenger was a name that was familiar to me as a child, even if the individual names of the crew weren't. Reading the full description of what happened that day brought me to tears and I remember being momentarily grief-stricken - not only for the families of those long since lost, but for everyone involved in the programmes, for all those in NASA who stood helplessly unable to do anything in those heart wrenching moments, so unlike the incredible days of Apollo 13 when NASA's tenacity and brilliance was able to perform seemingly miraculous feats to save those three lives.
And when in 2003 Columbia disintegrated on re-entry my heart broke again for more than just the tragic loss of life, just as with Concorde we were witnessing the end of a truly magnificent scientific achievement because the risks had become too high.
But still, despite the mothballing of the Space Shuttles, the dream of space continued with the growing ISS in the sky - a wonderful piece of collaborative work that gives hope to that dream of space stations and starbases from TV and movies.
As we celebrate the gold anniversary of man's first steps on the moon's surface I choose to remember the hard work and sacrife that went in to ensuring those dreams were achieved as well as those that are continuing today to bring burgeoning hopes to reality.
I choose to celebrate the achievements of Neil and Buzz on the surface, the equipment they left and experiments conducted so vital for work over the past 5 decades, and to celebrate the bravery of Michael, waiting up above knowing that there was a potential of having to leave them behind and come home alone if the Eagle couldn't take off.
I never got the chance to shake Neil's hand and the likelihood of ever getting to shake Buzz or Michael's is decreasing every day but I still dream of one day seeing live a launch of a crewed mission, of experiencing weightlessness myself, of maybe even getting to see our incredible planet from orbit.
50 years has now passed since humanities greatest scientific achievement to date, and while there is no denying that science continues to grow and evolve I can't help but feel that the legacy of Apollo 11 has lost momentum, that the world is more interested in "going viral" and science is venturing into increasingly ethically-murky fields of tracking peoples thoughts via biometrics and AI usage.
But there are still people who are captured by the wonder of space, the pure science of physics and the endless questions still unanswered. I hope there are youngsters who have been inspired by the celebrations this week and are part of the generation that exceeds the achievements of Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins.
I've watched some amazing programmes the past few days and have been rereading old textbooks I haven't touched since I transferred off my astrophysics degree some 12 years ago - never has the desire to return to that study been stronger. And I know that there are so many people out there working in those fields right now trying to advance our knowledge and expertise further, waiting for the moment we can make that next giant leap for mankind.
To paraphrase some words from Tom Hanks brilliant portrayal of Jim Lovell; I look up at the moon and wonder, when will we go back, and when will we go further?
#ThankYouApollo11
