[Stu from NYC]

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!

Think of how far technology has come in the past 100 years and I am confident we will be able to travel far into space.

However unless we are able to figure out warp speed engines we will be limited to just a few planets.