Starmus V announces a star-studded 2019 line-up, featuring five original members of the Apollo Mission crew

Starmus has announced a stellar line-up of Nobel Prize Winners and prominent figures from science and art for its fifth festival, next year. Timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the moon landings, Starmus V will take place in Bern, Switzerland from June 24-29, 2019, and is set to be the biggest yet, featuring Brian May, Emmanuelle Charpentier, Richard Dawkins, Elizabeth Blackburn, Chris Hadfield, Sir Martin Rees and Helen Sharman.

Founder Garik Israelian said the fifth festival will also welcome Bill Anders, Charlie Duke, Rusty Schweickart, Al Worden and Walt Cunningham, five of the original Apollo Mission crew, and is designed to provoke tough questions about our place in the universe. “Next year marks the 50th anniversary of one of science’s most important milestones,” said Israelian. “It’s the right time to question the value of space discovery and how a growing understanding of the cosmos helps humanity to progress.”

Starmus V will welcome 11 Nobel laureates to the stage, as well as luminaries from the worlds of art and music, for discussion, debate and engagement across a broad body of science, from microbiology and biochemistry to astrophysics and neuroscience. The Starmus board (Stephen Hawking, Brian May, Peter Gabriel, Richard Dawkins, Alexei Leonov, Jill Tarter, Robert Williams, David Eicher, Jack Szostak and founder, Garik Israelian) has devised a 2019 programme that brings together the most intelligent, creative and artistic people on the planet.

Starmus is a celebration of scientific collaboration and retains a strong sense of purpose, added Israelian. “Humanity’s biggest and best achievements are a result of scientific collaboration. In the same year in which we celebrate the milestone achievement of the Apollo crew we should remember that the trend towards isolationism takes us further away – not only from further scientific discovery – but also from the essence of what makes us human.

“At Starmus we hope to inspire a new generation of scientists who can help to answer society’s most difficult and pressing questions, from how to reverse the environmental decay of our planet, to finding new planets to colonise.”

The Starmus board will announce a further line-up of speakers from art and music later this year. Tickets will go on sale from 15 June 2018 and can be purchased at www.starmus.com. For more information, visit www.starmus.com.

About Starmus

Since the very first Homo Sapiens looked up at a star-filled sky we have been awestruck by the vastness of the cosmos. Even today we remain humbled by the sheer immensity of space, especially as through our progress in physics and astronomy, we are now aware of the tremendous distances involved – even to our closest neighbouring stars.

Created by Garik Israelian, researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC), the Starmus Festival is a combination of science, art and music that has featured presentations from Astronauts, Cosmonauts, Nobel Prize Winners and prominent figures from science, culture, the arts and music.

The Starmus conferences join Nobel laureates, eminent researchers, thinkers, men and women of science, culture, arts and music to share their knowledge and experiences in the common search for answers to the great questions of today.