My memories of the moon are vivid. For a long time, I had been bragging to my friends about the fact that I had seen the historic moment when Apollo 11 reached the moon and humanity took its first steps on July 21, 1969, on TV and at home. However, I have never imagined that our country would go to the moon. We’re going to the moon? Unlike me, a person appeared who shouted in a noble and ear-piercing way, ‘That’s why we have to go to the moon.’
Kwak Jae-sik’s ‘So We Go to the Moon’ is a comprehensive gift set about the moon. Expert knowledge such as astrophysics, science and history was combined with humanities knowledge. The greatest virtue of a book is that it is easy and easy to read. It is not difficult even for a natural liberal arts person like me who cannot distinguish between gravity and gravity and is confused between solar and lunar eclipses. True to its title, the book inductively argues the only reason we should go to the moon. While explaining the reality of the Apollo 11 lunar landing conspiracy theory, which is popular when talking about the moon and spacecraft, it also provides insight into how conspiracy theories gain power and captivate the public.
The reasons why the author argues that we should go to the moon are as follows. According to the giant impact hypothesis, which is one of the origins of the moon, we should go to the moon because as knowledge about the moon increases, we can learn more about Earth’s internal phenomena. The ability of ancient people to transport goods from Incheon and Ganghwa Island to various places in Seoul along the Han River waterway was thanks to the use of high and low tides, and this is closely related to the gravity of the moon. Gravity is also involved in the evolution of life, so if we can explore the moon’s past appearance and conditions, it will be a clue to tracing the birth and evolution of mankind. So we have to go to the moon. Also, the Silla people loved the moon to the extent that they built Wolseong and Wolji and even had a song called “Silla’s Moonlit Night.” Heo Cho-hee, known as Heo Nanseolheon, wrote poetry after dreaming of going to the moon at the age of eight, and interest in the moon was so great even during the Joseon Dynasty that topics related to space astronomy, including the movement of planets, were included in the civil service exam. So we have to go to the moon.
The argument does not stop here but takes a more realistic approach. If we work hard to develop satellites with the goal of reaching the moon, science and technology will advance dramatically. In the era of commercial space tourism, lunar exploration plans and the space tourism industry are growth opportunities for private companies. However, the author says that it should be a diverse space development plan centered on private companies rather than a national event or government-led plan. A society that explores the moon and explores and utilizes its space would be a great society full of science and technology and vitality. So that means we have to go to the moon.
In ‘The Human Condition’, Hannah Arendt writes that the history of modern technology originated from efforts to constantly improve the human condition. Therefore, the launch of the Sputnik satellite in 1957 was seen as the culmination of the desire to transcend the human condition, that is, the desire to escape the constrained space and environment of the Earth.
‘So We’re Going to the Moon’ was first published in July 2022. The book states that it is hoped that one day, when a Korean spacecraft will examine the moon and take pictures of the beautiful scenery of Earth seen from the moon, people around the world will be able to use them. Not long after the book came out, the Korean lunar probe Danuri was launched on August 5, 2022, and on August 27, the landing scene of Chandrayaan 3 at the lunar South Pole was filmed and transmitted. This was the moon seen through the eyes of the Republic of Korea. As of this writing, at 10:10 on January 2, 2024, Danuri is moving at a speed of 1.6 km/s 103 km above the lunar surface.
