Next week the world will stop to celebrate 50 years since one of humankind's greatest achievements in putting a man on the moon.
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However, Australia's obsession with space dates back much further than 50 years, with the Aboriginal people considered the world's first astronomers.
Professor of Astrophysics Ray Norris will be in Canberra next week as part of the Canberra's Moon Week celebrations and will be giving a talk about Australia's Aboriginal astronomy history.
Professor Norris said astronomy was an underappreciated aspect of Aboriginal culture.
Aboriginal people would track the stars to navigate across the vast Australian landscape and each star and constellation had a story and a meaning, he said.
Many Aboriginal groups would use the stars as a calendar, dictating when they should move camp, and he said certain groups were even renowned as particularly expert astronomers.
Professor Norris said growing up in England he was fascinated by Stonehenge and the long-dead cultures and their interaction with the skies above.
But the most exciting thing about Aboriginal astronomy, according to Professor Norris, was that it was still a living culture.
He spoke about working with Bill Harney, a Wardaman man from the Northern territory, who could name up to 3000 stars and tell you the story behind each one, something he learned from his grandfathers.
Canberra Moon Week was devised in part by ANU astrophysicist Brad Tucker to celebrate not only Aboriginal astronomy but the moon landing and everything that has happened in the exploration of space in the last 50 years.
There will be scientists who worked on the Mars Rover project, Australia's own astronaut Andy Thomas and activities that not only look at the amazing technology but some of the lesser known aspects of space exploration.
Dr Tucker said it was an opportunity to learn "not just about the science but the people behind the science".
He said it was "crazy" how many world-leading experts in space called Canberra home.
Looking back on the significance of the moon landing, Dr Tucker said it was a way of demonstrating what could be achieved with human creativity when people worked together.
He said it was about so much more than the USA beating Russia, "it was the first time we became Earthlings".
"It's the best of people," he said.
He said in the next 20 years humans were on track to have someone on the moon again, have someone step foot on Mars for the first time and discover signs of life elsewhere in the solar system.
"That will dramatically change how everyone views everything," Dr Tucker said.
Canberra Moon Week runs from July 17 to 21 and details about events and bookings can be found online.