Real Life Science Fiction

One of my favorite (possibly THE favorite) reading (and writing!) genres is science fiction. There is just so much freedom in that field: a boundless, open, unconstrained freedom to create worlds and fill them with your dreams. Two of my three most promising books are science fiction in classification, the When Worlds Collide trilogy and the novel Relentless(working title), as well as the short story "Symbiont". But beyond that, my memories drift to the books I have lived in: complex and beautiful worlds following invigorating characters, the end result one which could not be produced if not for the freedom of the science fiction genre. (That said, however, I must stress that a story's realism is important to me as well.) Timothy Zahn, Anne McCaffrey, and many, many more authors all have my respect and admiration for their fantastic feats. (Also, I must add, the best sci-fi films are those lovely, quaint, old black-and-white ones, like the original The Day the Earth Stood Still. )

But it seems to me that science fiction authors of this era live in a revolutionary day and age where the dreams of those who came before are starting to become realities. I came across this article earlier today: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110224/ap_on_sc/us_space_shuttle
It is a discussion and celebration of the last space flight of the space shuttle Discovery. In it, nearly two-thirds of the way down, is a line or two about NASA retiring the space fleet by presidential order (Discovery is going to the Smithsonian after it returns from this flight on March 7) and letting private businesses (!!!) take over orbital flights. NASA's efforts will be centered on reaching Mars and asteroids. Our reach into the vast blackness is expanding. Also was a comment that the shuttle is carrying a robot (namely R2, which cracks me up) to the space station--and apparently Twitter is still available on the ISS!

http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/raw-video-shuttle-discovery-s-final-launch-24307276

It seems to me like impossiblites are becoming realities. But this isn't a sad post, don't get me wrong--while these new revelations may close some doors in the hallway of imagination, it opens countless others. The science fiction is genre is in for a change, that's for sure!

See ya, Space Cowboy!