Nature begins the first of two summer events with the Nature Debate: Racing to the Moon, 7pm. May 11th, 2009. Kings Place, London

Four decades after the first Moon landings, the original space-racers have been joined by China, India, South Korea, even Nigeria. But is there any point to further Moon missions? What more can we learn from human spaceflight? Does human space exploration need countries to cooperate, or does it benefit from the oxygen of international conflict and mistrust?

Come and join this lively debate on colonizing the Moon and beyond between scientists and commentators.

Host: Nick Campbell, Managing Editor, Nature

Panelists:

Kevin Fong, Chair, UK Space Biomedical Advisory Committee
Oliver Morton, Chief News and Features Editor, Nature and author, Mapping Mars
Professor Sir Martin Sweeting, Founder and Chairman, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd
Chair: Christine McGourty, Science Correspondent, BBC News

To book tickets and find out more, visit the Kings Place website