This Generation’s Moon Shot
This Generation’s Moon Shot
This Generation’s Moon Shot

This Generation's Moon Shot

In TIME Magazine, Bono challenges the world to act now on poverty and disease. When he was growing up, ...

04 Nov 2005
In TIME Magazine, Bono challenges the world to act now on poverty and disease. When he was growing up, the adventure was to get to the moon.
Today? It's about wiping out disease and extreme poverty.

Here's an extract from Bono's article, click the link to read the whole piece in Time.

'I was a 9-year-old boy in Dublin when a man first walked on the moon. It wasn't just any man - it was an American. I thought I already knew something about America from Elvis, the movies and the hip gear sent home by Irish people who crossed the Atlantic. But now American meant something new. It meant having a sense of infinite possibility, doing the things everyone says can't be done. Even this freckle-faced Irish kid could see that America went to the moon not just because it was a scientific milestone - a career move for the human race - but because it was an adventure.

More than ever, we need to renew that sense of adventure and purpose. Never
before has the West been so scrutinized. Our convictions and credibility are under attack. Who are we? What are our values? Do we have any at all?

We can't answer these questions by going back to the moon. But there is a goal out there worthy of our generation. It's earth-bound this time, but no less exhilarating. It is the defeat of humanity's oldest foe: disease.

Just a few years ago, this was Mission Impossible; today it is tantalizingly within our reach. It is no longer crazy to suggest that we can eliminate tuberculosis and malaria from the planet. It is no longer unthinkable to imagine a world without AIDS or extreme poverty. And this isn't hope talking, or faith. This is hard science pointing us toward a better, healthier world.

In the past year we learned that for the first time there's a vaccine that offers real, if partial, protection against malaria. No more death by mosquito bite is a goal that is within sight. Two new vaccines have been developed for rotavirus, the main cause of diarrheal disease. Today nearly a million people with HIV in poor countries are on lifesaving antiretroviral drugs - more than double the total just 18 months ago.

That's enough to get even a rock star out of bed in the morning.

The question now is whether politicians will prove themselves the equal of scientists. Biomedicine today is where high tech was in the 1990s - it's where the energy and excitement are. But scientists alone can't get lifesaving vaccines and treatments to the people who need them most - not without our help.

Read the rest of Bono's article here.


Keep up with the campaign to fight poverty in Africa here.

MORE NEWS

ALL NEWS
Carnaval De Luz Indie Record Store Edition
CARNAVAL DE LUZ

Limited Edition Third Man Records Yellow Vinyl of New Album Arrives November 13 at Independent Record Stores

30 SEP 2026
Central Bank Deputy Governor Vasileios Madouros presented the coin to Larry Mullen Jr.
50TH ANNIVERSARY

Central Bank of Ireland launches U2 commemorative coin marking 50 years since the band's formation.

28 SEP 2026
Fifty
50TH ANNIVERSARY

Live in Dublin fifty years on. Pat Carty was there for U2.com.

27 SEP 2026
'CARNAVAL DE LUZ' - New Album In November.
CARNAVAL DE LUZ

The band's first studio album in nine years will be released on November 13th. Silencio, second track from...

24 SEP 2026
It’s Arrived (with a surprise)
SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVES

The Days of Ash Propaganda Magazine & EP bundle is here… complete with a bonus Easter Lily edition...

17 SEP 2026
'2027 Persons of the Year'
HEARTS + MINDS

Band to be honoured by Musicares for 'five decades of musical achievement and humanitarian service'

10 SEP 2026
’Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah’
COMPILATIONS

Release of Pogues cover today, Friday, from stellar line up for '20th Century Paddy - The Songs Of...

28 AUG 2026
'Fireflies'
COLLABORATIONS

Out today!  Martin Garrix teams up with U2 on new track 'Fireflies', debuted live with Edge at Tomorrowland...

24 JUL 2026
'In a place called Mexico…'

Behind-the-scenes with band and crew on the shoot for 'Street of Dreams'.

17 JUL 2026
Street Of Dreams - The New Single is Here.
SINGLES

Listen to Street of Dreams, the first single from the band's upcoming studio album.

07 JUL 2026
’BALLROOM BOOM’
TV

'Ballroom Boom' screening at the Galway Film Fleadh this Thursday.

07 JUL 2026
What a wonder. They're calling it "The Obamalisk"
BONO

Bono and Edge performing City of Blinding Lights at the grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center in...

22 JUN 2026
SHOWING 12 OF 4770 STORIES KEEP SCROLLING FOR MORE ↓

Related Topic

LATEST COMMENTS

THE NEW ALBUM
CARNAVAL DE LUZ

The new album. Out 13 November 2026.

PRE-ORDER

SUBSCRIBE TO U2.COM

Special editorial and video, exclusive newsletters and events, 25% coupon for the shop and first access to ticket sales when the band tour.