Rape, sex and fisticuffs in space are only some of the musings about what awaits us out there. If that was the strangest story, it might not merit much attention, but it is not.
There is talk of NASA trying to emulate Hollywood, preventing an asteroid from ending all life on earth.
And that’s not all. There is Mars One, a non-profit organization promoting a “one way mission to Mars” in 2026.
At least one candidate wants to have the first baby on the Red Planet. Bad news. Some scientists are saying sex, romance and Mars don’t mix.
A bigger question than “who wants to blast-off with who” is asking “why do we care?”
Following the debacle of Vietnam, we just kind of gave up on Kennedy’s vision of Camelot in space.
America pretty much lost interest in the space race when we won it. Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon in 1969. Then our attitude pretty much became “been there, done that.”
After that our interest in space was, at best, episodic. Everybody paid attention to the Challenger disaster in 1986. The Apollo 13 movie in 1995 may have pulled a bigger audience than the original moon mission in 1970.
Now, all of sudden, we all want to be lost in space again.
In part, that may be because others are making a big deal about making manned space flights, including China, India, and Japan. Maybe we are jealous?
Also we are seeing some unprecedented developments in private sector commercial space efforts. Maybe we think we can make a buck?
Certainly space is back in our imagination. Why else would Disney be interested in cranking out new Star Wars movies other than to cash in on our new lust to go to (and, I guess, lust in) space?
Maybe a little (age-appropriate) discussion of sex and violence isn’t bad. After all, as soon as humans started thinking seriously about going into the great beyond, Hollywood started making films of fighting and wooing there–like Cat-Women of the Moon.
We should be capitalizing on a renewed interest in space to inspire a new generation to study, learn, invent, create and dream.
Whatever it takes to get America thinking big and bold again works for me.
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