From the earliest times, humans have looked at the stars and wondered what things were like up there. It might be our greatest achievement that members of our species have walked on the moon, sent back awe-inspiring images of our planet, and learned so much about the great cosmos above.

However, there won’t be much of that Brian Cox wide-eyed wonder here! This talk is about the Space Race and how we ended up watching people float around, bashing out Bowie songs in confined pods.

Politics, war, ideological clashes and an almost endless series of animals getting blasted into the unknown, the Space Race could be as much about dodgy deals, white-washing of people’s pasts, imprisonment, nuclear war and disaster as it could be about exploration, iconic footprints and space puppies.

Come to the Old Monkey and let’s see if they’ve got any appropriately-themed drinks like they did for our Irish History and Pirate talks! Space gin, anyone?