“Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood, and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. Remember that our sons and our grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty.” (Attributed to architect, Daniel Burnham)
“Science fiction can be defined as that branch of literature which deals with the reaction of human beings to changes science and technology.” (Isaac Asimov)
Science fiction is described as the literature of ideas providing a sense of wonder. Space exploration was just one of SF’s sub-genres. SF speculated about possible future events based on actual past and present knowledge and the significance of the scientific method. SF’s popularity during the 20th Century owes in part to the respect of science and rapid advances in technology, innovation, and inventions. SF was a predictor of technological progress.
Space exploration was not only an idea in fiction. People dreamed of going into space, to the moon or mars for much of the 20th Century. The Russians kicked off the space race by putting a person in orbit around the earth. The United States soon followed, then dominated. We put humans in space and astronauts on the moon. We sent rovers to Mars. Now, the Chinese are our main competition.
Before we put humans into space, we were putting satellites into space. There are so many there may be a need for space traffic control soon.
The movie 2001 Space Odyssey was a precursor to the space station and the International Space Station. Life imitated art.
This interest in space was not only by governments. People dreamed of space travel for decades. Men with imagination and/or money dreamed of private space travel or space tourism.
This month two men made private space travel a reality. A third will soon join them. On July 11th, Richard Branson went to space with a crew. The flight was short but historic. On July 20th, Jeff Bezos went into space with the youngest and oldest people to go into the ether.
Elon Musk is planning a space flight sometime this year.
What do all three of these people have in common besides hundreds of billions of dollars each? They are men of imagination, vision, and big, bold ideas. They also have big egos, which drives them to innovate. Hell, one would think they came from Chicago.
Their trips and plans stirred controversy from the say no crowd. There was a petition to refuse Bezos re-entry to earth signed by the ignorant and gullible who sign petitions just because. Politicians, comedians, and wanna-be comedians in the news media heaped jokes and derision on the two men.
Others castigated Bezos, Branson, and Musk for spending so much of their money on space when that money could solve some social issues here on earth. These are people with small minds and smaller ideas.
Bezos is the punching bag of the mobs of ignorance due to Amazon, the business behemoth he created. From the ignominious halls of Congress to the unwashed keyboard warrior wad, Bezos is equated with evil and a relative of Satan. Branson comes into his share of criticism as well as Musk.
These three men are doing what only governments do, going into space. They have bigger dreams for space than mere short larks. Space transport, space stations, even space communities. They are futurists. The critics are Luddites.
By the way, hours after Bezos landed, he contributed 100 million dollars each to Van Jones and Jose Andres for their charities. He was roundly criticized for that.
The naysayers donate nickels and dimes to various spurious causes or, worse, to politicians. They believe they know where their money goes. They are naive. What do they do to make life better? The politicians are all talk and no action. The keyboard warriors are clueless. The professional comedians are the only worthwhile people- they make us laugh.
Branson, Bezos, and Musk are disruptors. Their businesses disrupted traditional models and the tech world. Now, they are disrupting the STEM world, space. All the great innovators were disruptors. Edison, Ford, Carnegie, Gates, Ellison, Jobs, Ma, and the list goes on.
We used to celebrate achievement in this country. Now, we criticize, mock, and rant against it. The same people who believe in science with religious fervor are raging against it because billionaires achieved something.
We are entering a new age of big dreams, big ideas, and innovation. Those take big imaginations, significant risks, and big money. If people can create and accomplish things, sharing them with the world, where is the harm?
Bezos, Branson, and Musk are putting their money where their imagination is. The politicians, comedic news pundits, and keyboard social media warriors contribute nothing but poisonous gas.