Should we spend billions looking into deep space?

I will talk about big basic science projects and the huge tax payers money required, and in particular what is involved in setting up and running a large expensive space program, where there is no very obvious return to the man-in-the-street.

This is a very real and important question for humanity. I will discuss and will present a personal view on the rationale of why we should continue to make such investments in basic research and astrophysics and the consequences of this to the general public.

Lucio Piccirillo is Professor of Radio Astronomy Technology at the University of Manchester. Before arriving in Manchester he worked in the Netherlands, France, Italy and USA. His main scientific interests are in the field of cosmology – i.e. the study of the earliest moment of the Universe. His particular specialty consists in developing new technologies to build more and more sensitive astrophysical instruments.