Reaching for the Stars: A Brief History of Sci-Fi Space Travel
Since time immemorial, humans have gazed into the night sky and found reason for awe and hope. The grandeur of space has always made life on Earth feel fragile, even petty. Does it matter that Lover of Pigs has hoarded half of the tribal harvest and didn’t declare his inheritance of three goats? Will cutting down all the trees for firewood bring on devastating climate change? Can the elders be trusted with the apparatus of village-gossip collection? None of it seems very important when the night sky is glittering overhead.
The stars have shaped our thinking – from the earliest religions to the latest bestselling sci-fi novel. Stephen Hawking’s plan to laser propel tiny spacecraft towards Alpha Centauri doesn’t only sound like sci-fi, it is an idea straight from the pages of David Brin’s Existence, among others. Despite Hawking’s longstanding worries that any contact with aliens might not turn out well for humanity, the lasers used will be visible across the entire universe. Hopefully they’ll attract the attention of some advanced civilisation. Or at the very least, somebody more friendly than the Vogons from Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, ready to bring down their municipal boot heel on weaker species.
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