Quote:
Originally Posted by JerryLBell
I have been a space exploration and science fiction buff since I was a wee lad. I am SO disappointed in the future we have come to. Where are my space plane rides to huge, rotating-wheel space stations, my weekend jaunts to cities on the Moon, my science outposts on Mars, my manned exploration of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn and more? Heck, where are my flying cars? Not only has 2001: A Space Odyssey let me down but even The Jetsons let me down.
Since folks largely turned their back on travel to the Moon after the Apollo missions, I have felt that the only thing keeping us back was our will to go. Our technology was there, or nearly there, to do all those thingsI mentioned earlier. Everything I read from other space enthusiasts only convinced me further.
But then I started reading A City On Mars by Kelly & Zach Weinersmith. Wowsers. These folks are space enthusiasts like I am but have an understanding of the actual science that is far greater than mine and they have looked at things not with the dewy-eyed enthusiasm of fans like me but with hard-nosed pragmatism and objective reality. Not only am I no longer convinced that we are capable of all of those fanciful things I mention above with technologies, I am also not entirely convinced that we will ever have the technology to do so. That is really depressing for me.
That said, I'm still a space exploration and science fiction buff and hope we will continue with our near-earth manned missions for the great science they do, the inspiration they provide and the shining example of international cooperation they provide. And I'm still gonna read my sci-fi!
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I always enjoy sci / fi movies like "Dune part one" with its high tech scenes. Movies like that are good for the imagination. I prefer to see the movies BEFORE reading the book (probably the opposite of most people). That is what I did with "The Expanse", which I liked very much. In reality, I never expected to see colonies of people on the moon or Mars in my lifetime. But, there has been plenty of scientific change.