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The other night, while getting the Little Man dressed for bed, I noticed that he had a substantial selection of pajamas that referenced space travel. Rocketships and robots. Sometimes monkeys in rocketships, etc. I aked him, "Do you want to be a space man when you grow up?"
He said: "Yes!" Quite enthusiastically.
Mind you, when he thinks of "space man" he's not thinking about real Astronauts, he's a bit too young to truly grok that. No, to him, it's all Buzz Lightyear and the like. Which is kind of interesting, because it leaves me looking at his three year old self, and wondering, will we even have space travel when my son grows up? I'm sure it must be a similar feeling in a way to how parents of the 50s might have thought about their children's future. Except that I lack the seemingly eternal optimism of those parents of the 50s. With recent changes to US poliitcal policy towards NASA and space, I wonder if there will be any kind of space travel by the time my son is old enough to realize that question. Will we even bother getting off this rock? I propose that this prosepect seems even more science fictional today than it might have appeared to people in the 50s.
I think there's a little something depressing about that thought, as someonw who writes the occasional science fiction story. I know there are those who simply feel that we no longer need to get off this rock. And others who feel that interplanetary travel is pointless, cost prohibitive, and impractical on any level. The science may (or may not) bear that thought out. Certainly space exploration feels more practical from an approach much like the Mars Rovers. Send out a device, get back data. It's simple, and much more pracitcal. Does it push us in the same way as Kennedy's challenge did? Probably not. I don't think it's as culturally sweeping in the way it was throughout the 60s to drive a nation to reach the vast limits of space. To push human presence as far as we could.
In an era where I hear the phrase on my radio "The last scheduled night flight of the space shuttle program," I can't help but feel a little sad that doors appear to be closing on great feats of human ingenuity, without the needs to satisfy some corporations bottom lines. I see what appears to be a closing of a door. I hope that whatever other door opens in its place will be one that gives the next generation inspiriation, hope and dreams. I hope that the only future for space travel does not remain solely in the realm of science fiction.
What about you, did you ever dream of being an astronaut?
He said: "Yes!" Quite enthusiastically.
Mind you, when he thinks of "space man" he's not thinking about real Astronauts, he's a bit too young to truly grok that. No, to him, it's all Buzz Lightyear and the like. Which is kind of interesting, because it leaves me looking at his three year old self, and wondering, will we even have space travel when my son grows up? I'm sure it must be a similar feeling in a way to how parents of the 50s might have thought about their children's future. Except that I lack the seemingly eternal optimism of those parents of the 50s. With recent changes to US poliitcal policy towards NASA and space, I wonder if there will be any kind of space travel by the time my son is old enough to realize that question. Will we even bother getting off this rock? I propose that this prosepect seems even more science fictional today than it might have appeared to people in the 50s.
I think there's a little something depressing about that thought, as someonw who writes the occasional science fiction story. I know there are those who simply feel that we no longer need to get off this rock. And others who feel that interplanetary travel is pointless, cost prohibitive, and impractical on any level. The science may (or may not) bear that thought out. Certainly space exploration feels more practical from an approach much like the Mars Rovers. Send out a device, get back data. It's simple, and much more pracitcal. Does it push us in the same way as Kennedy's challenge did? Probably not. I don't think it's as culturally sweeping in the way it was throughout the 60s to drive a nation to reach the vast limits of space. To push human presence as far as we could.
In an era where I hear the phrase on my radio "The last scheduled night flight of the space shuttle program," I can't help but feel a little sad that doors appear to be closing on great feats of human ingenuity, without the needs to satisfy some corporations bottom lines. I see what appears to be a closing of a door. I hope that whatever other door opens in its place will be one that gives the next generation inspiriation, hope and dreams. I hope that the only future for space travel does not remain solely in the realm of science fiction.
What about you, did you ever dream of being an astronaut?