THE JOURNAL OF ASTROSOCIOLOGY VOLUME 1

This concept for a solar probe was re-imported back from spaceflight to science fictionwith Danny Boyle film Sunshine (2007), where, like the Solar Probe Plus mission, a spacemission to the near-sun environment is designed with a large solar shield behind where thespacecraft can remain at moderate temperature.VI.The FutureScience and science fiction continue to maintain their dialogue, with many, perhaps amajority, of scientists and engineers working in the aerospace field admitting to an inspiration inscience fiction, while science fiction writers continue to have a fascination with the spaceprogram. Science fiction has continued its press outward into the future, with visions of travel farbeyond the destinations yet visited by spacecraft. The technological predictions of science fictioninclude relatively “near term” visions such as human missions to Mars and beyond, spacecolonies, artificial intelligence, space elevators, bio-engineering and nanotechnology; and muchlonger term visions including interstellar travel by warp drives and wormholes, time travel,teleportation, and alternate universes, along with concepts of a technological singularity, inwhich the very nature of humanity may be changed. There is certainly no end of inspiration leftin science fiction, and a large number of concepts left for scientists and aerospace engineers toexplore.© 2015 Astrosociology Research Institute67