Carl Sagan on Space Travel: A Dandelion Going To Seed

In 1977 Carl Sagan gave the CHRISTMAS LECTURES on space travel. In his final lecture, he spoke about the human race venturing out into space; his words are as relevant now as they were then.
Day 14 of our advent calendar, A Place Called Space.
In 1977 we had begun to tiptoe into space, and felt on the edge of the Universe, about to dive in. Almost 40 years later, we’ve made great progress and large strides further into space, but in some ways have barely got our feet wet. The words Carl Sagan concluded his Lectures on ‘The planets’ with are as meaningful now as there were then.
As we look to send people to Mars and then beyond, are we finally realising Sagan’s vision?
This clip from the 1977 CHRISTMAS LECTURES was animated by the Ri animator-in-residence Andrew Khosravani.
‘A Place Called Space’ is the 2015 Royal Institution advent calendar. Every day in the run up to Christmas we'll be releasing an original piece of content exploring the human experience and cultural significance of space travel. With hand-drawn animations, experiments in zero gravity, interviews with astronauts and creative data visualisations, the calendar will fire you into space every morning.
'A Place Called Space' channels the voices of seasoned astronauts and expert scientists through the eyes of a team of talented animators, film-makers and artists, bringing you a thought-provoking gem to kick-start each day.
Check it out at
With special thanks to our lead supporter, Wellcome Trust /
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