As others on this thread have said, the whole “we have to go to the moon before we go to Mars” argument is completely specious. We don’t test our unmanned Mars probes on the moon before sending them to Mars. Because why should we? There is no reason; the two bodies do not present similar technical problems. (And as we…

Oh look, another film exploiting the memory of collapsing city buildings on September 11.

Agree with you on all of that. (I suppose I could have written, ‘the *fetishization* of the notion of “the privatization of space” is stupid and naive.’)

Among other problems, the story of Lucy was *barely* feature length material; the movie felt like a padded short. And if there’s going to be a new protagonist with an escalating intelligence, will they do that “10%... 20%... 30%...” count-up gimmick again? Worked reasonably well once, but wouldn’t work twice. And if…

Puts me in mind of the early days of NASA, with all those rockets blowing up on the pad. (Although to be clear, I think the whole “privatize space” concept is stupid and naive.)

Well, apparently you beat her to the punch in politicizing it.

Prefer it to Khan, myself.

Let us not forget The Demolished Man, Bester’s other key novel from the ‘50s. The Stars My Destination gets more press, but The Demolished Man has the same general pizzazz and it’s more urban/noir than Stars. (I’ve always preferred it to Stars myself.)

As my grandiose moniker would suggest, I approve this selection.

Even though I came a generation later then the original target audience, I had a copy of By Spaceship to the Moon when I was very young and it was absolutely enthralling. Incredible power in those paintings.

Considering how many ship- or Federation-threatening situations the Enterprise confronts with each passing week, I’d say any job at all. (I have a pet theory that the Enterprise is infamous in Starfleet as the “death ship.” If all the ships in Starfleet regularly faced the same number and magnitude of troubles as the…

If space travel is about scientific discovery, our robots are only going to get better. So if colonizing space isn’t about ensuring the survival of humanity, there’s no compelling rationale left.

Personally I prefer the Director’s Cut. The Final Cut has what feels to me like unnecessary fiddling.

Agreed. It’s a slog.

Yes, I’ve seen the film twice and may see it again. It definitely has that “see it again and again” pizzazz I associate with “Star Wars.”

Many, many thanks for your wonderful writing — and good luck.

You are forgiven.

“This is *my* goddamned yellow Nerf football.”

Very much agreed.

Fun article. In that top pic the plane looks like such a “Gerry Anderson”-like vehicle.