Recently Mars has been in the headlights of the media for a number of reasons – Elon Musk and Space X; NASA, Orion and the SLS; and even Boeing. Add to that the successful movie adaptation of The Martian and many other forms of media. Its no surprise that any space geek would get excited about a potential Mars Manned Mission in our lifetime. Going to Mars will be the hardest thing we have done as species. It will take massive government and public funding and interest. Unfortunately it means that a catalyst, such as The Cold War or The Space Race, won’t be around and instead, governments will have to work together. As we have seen, humans work best when they are working against someone else. History has taught us that. Once the Americans won the Space Race, funding and interest dried up.
But what if the funding and interest hadn’t dried up? Sure, you could argue that we wouldn’t have the Shuttle. But what else would be different? What if after the Moon landings, public interest continued to rise? The US government had poured even more money into NASA? NASA, Roscosmos and JAXA had all banded together realizing that humanities destiny lay among the stars?
Currently, I am putting together a short story about such an alternative future. One in which Apollo 17 was not the last on the Moon, but the last of the single nation landings. Where politicians valued technological advancement, space exploration and uniting the human race instead of ensuring they get elected for another four years.
Once it is done, I will publish it on here, under my short stories section. I will also attempt to chronicle the process, the thoughts behind it. A sort of behind the scenes look if you will.
It will be an experiment. Lets see if it pays off.
Categories: Blog
