Here’s something about me that you might not know: I used to be a Physics major. I started out my university career taking courses like astronomy and calculus, before I realized that a creative writing/English degree was a much better fit.
But those two areas are closer than you might think.
You see, I write science fiction. I grew up watching Star Trek: The Next Generation. Anecdotal evidence suggests that an awful lot of real scientists have a similar story. So I had dreams of becoming an astronaut, or at least a SETI scientist or an astrophysicist. Sadly, I didn’t love doing science enough — I’d rather write fiction about it instead.
Space science still captures my imagination, though. I love seeing news items like this:
India blasts off in race to Mars with low-cost mission
Or this:
Kepler space telescope finds Earth-size, potentially habitable planets are common
Or best of all, this:
I will admit that last one left me teary-eyed. Scientist or not, I’d still sign up for a Mars mission in a heartbeat. I know, there’d be cramped quarters and discomfort and probably no return journey. I don’t care. Someday, if space tourism comes down in price from, er, astronomical to just really steep, I’ll do whatever I must to get there.
In the meantime, I’ll be cheering for movies like Gravity (see my review here) and people like Canadian astronaut/guitarist/photographer Chris Hadfield and extreme skydiver Felix Baumgartner — in other words, anything or anyone that keeps space in the public eye, captures the imagination, and keeps people dreaming of the stars.