A strange little side quest
Balloons may feel immediate, but the ideas around space have been evolving for a very long time. The Moon orbits Earth at an average distance of about 385,000 kilometres, and surface gravity there is roughly one-sixth as strong as Earth's. The timeline takes another interesting turn: A major archery competition held at Finsbury in England in 1583 drew about 3,000 participants. So a round of Balloons is not just a quick distraction; it is a tiny stop on a much longer space timeline.
