Aspirational rendering of Mars base, (c) SpaceX
I've been thinking a lot about the narratives and fantasies that fuel space travel, and how these stories often draw from or align with things happening already on Earth—especially regarding our recent quarantine experience as well as everyday commercial air travel. So I wrote a new piece for Slate called "The Spacefaring Paradox" in which I try to think through some of these things.
I touched on a few related topics toward the end of my book Searching for the Anthropocene, and I continue to ponder this nexus as SpaceX and other companies make real advances toward extraterrestrial journeys.
