I’m glad to see the 50th anniversary of the moon landings has been given the attention it deserves. This marked a major milestone in our evolution that many today weren’t alive to remember, but they should still look to this for inspiration for the future.

There’s clearly something about today’s achievements that no longer amaze people as they did in the 60s. Progress is all taken for granted now, the sense of wonder has gone and I think it’s killed our ambitions.

It’s todays negative, can’t do, can’t be bothered to do attitude which meant it could never have been the British reaching the Moon first.

After reading The Press article on it (‘My thumb blotted out planet Earth, July 15) you can see why. When the first Brit arrives on another world the opening words will be “One small step for man, one giant carbon footprint for mankind”, followed up by imposing an emissions tax on the next launch.

To think some people today would even bother to ask the question: should we continue our exploration of the universe? Even JFK would have been lost for words responding to such a rhetorical question.

Dr Scott Marmion, Woodthorpe, York