Week 9: Space and Art

To be honest, this week’s lectures are my favorite not only because they are fascinating to learn but also because they gave me hope that anything is possible. For example, half a century ago, no one would believe that an average citizen could travel into space and see what it is like for oneself. Whereas today, it is not just wishful thinking or writer's vision anymore. 

VS UNITY by Virgin Galactic

In 2010, Virgin Galactic announced that they were planning to offer commercial flights into space (Vesna, 2012). Fast forwarding to 2018, Virgin Galactic had just successfully launched its rocket and completed its second supersonic flight at the speed of 1458 miles per hour (Freeman, 2018). The company's founder, Richard Branson, indicated that the commercial space travel might happen sooner than we expected, like within these couple of months (Fenwick, 2018). 

This space travel would be one more step closer to inhabiting in space. After all, with the International Space Station (ISS) is set to be used in 2028, nothing is beyond our imagination anymore. ISS is a habitable space station that located in the lower earth orbit, roughly 270 miles from the earth’s surface (NASA, 2018). It is meant to be a laboratory, observatory, and factory as well a stop for maintenance or transit (NASA, 2009). For Star Trek fans, ISS is like the station where USS Enterprise situates when it is in between missions. 

International Space Station

Star Trek Cast

At this rate, I feel like we are not too far off from re-enacting Captain James T. Kirk in real life. Undoubtedly, we would want to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations and to “boldly go where no man has gone before” (Star Trek, 2009). It would be the beginning of a new era — an era full of new knowledge and unity at last. The human race would finally understand that “the borders that we fought over on Earth are just arbitrary lines” (Virgin Galactic, 2018). It is about us against the unknown.  

USS Enterprise from Star Trek

Work Cited 

Fenwick, Samantha. “Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson readies himself for space.” BBC News. 26 May 2018. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-44257670

Freeman, David. “Watch Virgin Galactic spaceplane's dramatic test flight.” NBC News. 29 May 2018. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/virgin-galactic-spaceplane-completes-another-supersonic-test-flight-ncna878301

Malik, Tariq. VS Unity. 23 January 2008. Photograph. 31 May 2018. Retrieved from https://www.space.com/4869-virgin-galactic-unveils-suborbital-spaceliner-design.html

NASA. “Memorandum of Understanding between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States of America and the Russian Space Agency.” 2009. Retrieved from https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/nasa_rsa.html

NASA. International Space Station. 2018. Retrieved from https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

NASA. International Space Station. 27 May 2016. Photograph. 31 May 2018. Retrieved from https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/mark-zuckerberg-to-connect-with-space-station-astronauts-via-facebook-live

Star Trek. Directed by J.J. Abrams, performances by Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana. Paramount Pictures, 2009. 

Star Trek: The Next Generation. The Cast. 28 Sep 1987. Photograph. 31 May 2018. Retrieved from http://www.startrek.com/database_article/star-trek-the-next-generation-synopsis

Star Trek. USS Enterprise. 2013. Photograph. 31 May 2018. Retrieved from http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/File:USS_Enterprise-E_at_warp.jpg

Virgin Galactic. Vision: Where we are heading. 2018. Retrieved from https://www.virgingalactic.com/vision/

Vesna, Victoria. “Space: Part 2.” Cole UC online. Youtube,11 Mar 2012. Web. 31 May 2018.