What do you think of the effort to get the next generation interested in space and space exploration?

[KnightInShiningArmorDis92]

It seems like there is an effort to get the next generation interested or even excited for space.

Or is this part of wider pop culture becoming interested in space again? There was a lot of astronaut stuff that came out last year.

What has led to this explosion in interest? SpaceX and the astronaut movies of the early 2010s, "Gravity", "Interstellar", and "The Martian" leading to renewed interest? Earth becoming depressing that many of us now look to the stars as a place to "escape"?

 

[JimMIA]

You seem to be confusing politics and other branches of the entertainment industry with reality.

Actually most of the recent real interest has been because three of the world's richest men (Musk, Bezos, and Branson) got bored.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Maybe an answer here from last year, KISAD?

https://www.disboards.com/threads/h...e-very-obsessed-with-space-this-year.3818690/

 

[a1tinkfans]

Politics

 

[Carol_]

I heard vocational school is the way to go…

 

[GAN]

We aren't going to be able to live here forever... if you haven't heard, we're going to Mars. So I hardly think it's an effort to get the generation excited -it's more getting them used to their future. As far as Billionaires go, it has nothing to do with boredom... they're taking the initial steps to make it all a reality -at their expense. This isn't some far-fetched goal, the plan is to have people on Mars by 2025 and an actual colony established by 2050.

 

[Mysterian]

It seems like there is an effort to get the next generation interested or even excited for space.

Or is this part of wider pop culture becoming interested in space again? There was a lot of astronaut stuff that came out last year.

What has led to this explosion in interest? SpaceX and the astronaut movies of the early 2010s, "Gravity", "Interstellar", and "The Martian" leading to renewed interest? Earth becoming depressing that many of us now look to the stars as a place to "escape"?

Again you're basing your entire view of the public's interest in space based on select items in pop culture. And you previously presupposed that interest in reality shows equates to a decline in the public's interest in space. For a Science-based topic, there's nothing scientific about these assertations!

Not every piece of space-related pop culture has anything to do with generating public interest in space. Studios are more concerned with sales than your child colonizing Mars.
To generate interest in Space as a way to get you to buy a ticket to a Sci-Fi attraction, studios might do that, but that's different than what your premise suggests.

That's not to say that there's never been media created specifically to get people interested in a cause, but Sci-Fi movies don't all equate to advocating for more space travel or exploring other worlds.
You've previously mentioned shows like The Mandalorian, a show which celebrates Westerns more than getting people into spaceships for Space-sake.

Besides, if they want to get people interested in space, just make them millionaires!

 

[Jennasis]

Still trying to make fetch happen eh?

 

[MrsPete]

I don't think space exploration is particularly valuable in and of itself -- I mean, at least not in terms of us ever colonizing another planet -- BUT when we push space, our brightest young people become excited about science and math, and they create things that are more useful here on Earth.