The Resurrection Of Public Interest In Space

     A few weeks ago I was toying with the idea of writing an article about the decline of good sci-fi and and the loss of public optimism it represented. The catalyst for the article was the launch of J.J Abrams Revolution. I, like many others, found the show very disappointing and it stirred me to think that Revolution and the latest crop of post-apocalyptic sci-fi today represented an overall pessimism in peoples' vision of the future. It seemed the idealized adventures of a better time and place were gone. Shows like Star Trek and and Firefly had been replaced by a plethora of gritty, depressing shows set in the ruins of the twenty-first century. Maybe those shows that made us look forward to the future really are gone but lately I've been convinced that while TV looks more and more grim, (both in it's subject matter and it's overall prospects as a medium) public opinion appears buoyed by the anticipation of a new space age.

     I'm not entirely sure where this new-found interest has come from. Certainly Nasa's budget cuts amidst a crippling recession and the economy's wider stagnation can't be very inspiring. Many plans to visit the Moon and Mars, while interesting, come with the depressing reality of a thirty-fifty-year time-frame. On the other hand, the success of the Mars Science Laboratory (made visible thanks to twitter) might be doing something to tug peoples attention back to space. Similarly, the YouTube exploits of former ISS commander Chris Hadfield has put a human face on the space program. Before Hadfield many people felt disconnected from the space program. As the Simpsons aptly put it in '94, in the public mind at least, crews were made up of  "a mathematician, a different kind of mathematician, and a statistician".
Arguably the 90's were the lowest point of public engagement in space exploration. The shuttle was old enough for people to be bored with low earth orbit missions, there were few exciting new missions on the horizon and Apollo was a distant memory. Also, there wasn't today's internet-borne association between "science" and "cool". Today, many people like to think of themselves as a 'geek' in some form or another. While true geeks would decry them as phonies jumping on the geek chic bandwagon, pretend enthusiasm for space and science is still positive. It creates a wider acceptance in the public consciousness and will hopefully, for many people, translate in to genuine interest. "I Fucking Love Science" on Facebook is a perfect example of this effect. It currently has over 5 million likes and posts a mix of genuine science stories and upsettingly messianic photos of Neil deGrasse Tyson accompanied by "inspirational" quotes. The huge gap in likes between the links to physics lectures and...well... this  illustrates my point quite well. For whatever reason, the general public appears to be becoming gradually more excited about science, and, particularly, space travel.
     The rekindling of hopes for a new space age isn't just limited to wistful imaginings. Lately, there's been quite a few developments in real space travel that all seem to hint at the sci-fi future we were promised by the likes of Star Trek. I've already written about the commercialization of space travel and the possibilities being created by the likes of Space X, Virgin Galactic and Planetary Resources but some people are already making plans for much more adventurous and inspiring undertakings. Mars One is currently looking for applicants for a one way trip to Mars only ten years from now. Misgivings about the technology needed aside, it's a hugely ambitious project, and, apparently, they're having no trouble finding candidates, despite the chances of it being a no return trip. As Stuart Clark points out in the Guardian the biggest challenges for such a mission are the relentless radiation we currently don't know how to shield against and the problem of landing an estimated 40 tonne capsule when we only have the capability to land one tonne. It is, however, possible that those issues will be solved or at least mitigated before the launch window in 2023. Another plan, somewhat less audacious, but not without it's own dangers, is Inspiration Mars' plan to fly two Americans within one hundred miles of the planet. The crew, one man and one woman, will spend 500 days inside a capsule to orbit Mars just once. Essentially they will fly out from Earth, arrive at Mars, slingshot around the planet and return to Earth. It will take over a year and a half. It seems like a big investment of time and money, but may end up being well worth it. Having human beings out of earth orbit for the first time. orbiting another world and sharing those experiences with the rest of us could have a profound effect on how we all see space travel. It will become a source of optimism and adventure that everyone can get excited about.