Musings on space travel, science fiction, and the radiant future
Space navies are among the great tropes of science fiction. Countless works transplant the traditions, tactics, and structures of maritime forces to space opera settings: Star Trek has Starfleet, Space: Above and Beyond has the equivalent of World War II carrier battles, and of course Warhammer 40,000 goes full-on Age of Sail with floggings and... Continue Reading →
Sometimes, the underdog really does win against the odds. Sometimes, a small, plucky band of visionaries, armed only with a dream, really can rise to dizzying heights and reshape the world into something better. Sometimes, their success is so profound and transformative that later generations think it was inevitable all along. Mars One was not... Continue Reading →
Hello, all! This will be something of a silly post today, discussing a film that's a little hard to classify. Is it fantasy? Sci-fi? Comedy? Alternate history? Steampunk? Well, this tale of adventure through a clockwork universe is all of the above, an enchanting and beautifully animated voyage into space as it was once understood.... Continue Reading →
Everyone knows space fighters are an absurd idea, right? It's practically the first rule of hard science fiction: this isn't Star Wars you're writing, so no fighters, period. They make no economic or military sense, and they're exceedingly small and vulnerable, and they're not nearly as maneuverable as you'd think because space has no air... Continue Reading →
I originally had another topic planned for today---it was written and scheduled, and of course I will still upload it at some point---but then my area had a rare winter storm, blanketing everything in ice and snow, and I thought to myself that it would be appropriate to do a blog post on Europa, one... Continue Reading →
Space is rather more prosaic than we usually see in fiction. Star Trek postulates a galaxy stuffed to the brim with exciting bumpy-forehead humanoids; we're much more likely to find pond scum. The more nightmarish sci-fi visions are probably off the table, too---a lifeform from a totally different planet would be unable to parasitize a... Continue Reading →
Another short post this week1. Today, we will be exploring what has become a common theme on this blog, or rather a common destination: Neptune. Neptune is indisputably the Spooky Planet. If the Solar System had a haunted house, this would be it---a cold, dark, storm-wracked world made extra fascinating by its sheer remoteness. Only... Continue Reading →
I would like to begin this post by acknowledging a grave failure: a recent shortage of Soviet-related posts. It is simply an intolerable situation. The Soviet space program is a cornerstone of this website, but the last time I wrote anything about it was in November! So, to rectify this, I will today discuss one... Continue Reading →
"Only the incredible, unhuman massiveness of these vast stone towers and ramparts had saved the frightful thing from utter annihilation in the hundreds of thousands—perhaps millions—of years it had brooded there amidst the blasts of a bleak upland. 'Corona Mundi . . . Roof of the World . . .'" Long ago, in a simpler, more wholesome era---fall 2011, to be... Continue Reading →
I don't think I've really made it clear on this blog before, but I am, in fact, a huge Trekkie. Been one ever since I can remember. In kindergarten, I spent a day painting my rendition of the duel between the Enterprise and the Reliant, and in third grade, I would zealously record reruns of... Continue Reading →
Let's Get Off This Rock Already! 