Sci-fi the first step to space

On April 10, 2008, Yi So-Yeon became South Korea`s first astronaut. She arrived safely back home on April 19 - making international headlines on her trip to space and again on the trip home. There has been much discussion about the media frenzy surrounding this mission. Critics asked whether or not the mission was worth the cost. I wonder how many hearts, hopes and dreams went into space with her.

Every year Northwestern University`s engineering freshman design class begins with a discussion and activity based on Apollo XIII. In 2000, MIT`s sophomore mechanical engineering design project was based on the Sojourner Mars Rover. Around the world, high school and college science and engineering projects are based on space-related activities for one reason: students and professionals in science and technology-related fields are drawn to the challenges, opportunities and dreams of outer space.

The fascination with space develops very early in American children and is nurtured by science fiction (literature, comic books, radio programs, television shows and movies) until the children are old enough to understand the math and physics involved. Although the precursors to science fiction began appearing as early as the 13th century, the genre took off during the Industrial Revolution with stories about space travel being written by Edgar Allen Poe (1852), Jules Verne (1865) and H. G. Wells (1901). It is no coincidence that the first engineering proposals for achieving space flight began to appear in the early 1900s. Robert H. Goddard, who pioneered liquid-fueled rocketry, attributed his interest in space to reading "War of the Worlds" when he was 16 years old. The early to mid-1900s were the heyday of science fiction pulp with Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers and John Carter of Mars entertaining children all over the U.S. Those children were old enough to be engineers on the Apollo missions in the 1960s.

Walking through the halls of MIT, you may (or may not) be surprised to know how many science fiction fans you pass. Heated debates will break out over the scientific or literary merit of a new book, television show or movie. Book shelves are split equally between text books and science fiction and related genres. DVD collections that contain every Dr. Who episode ever made are not unheard of. Classes in comparative media studies are taught on science fiction. Faculty members write books on the subject. MIT even hosts the world`s largest open-shelf collection of science fiction books at the MIT Science Fiction Society Library on the fourth floor of the Student Center. The collection is rumored to host more than 90 percent of all science fiction ever published in English. (Some of the rare books you can`t check out but you`re welcome to stay and read them as long as you want. Beware the late fees!)

Countless numbers of engineers have cited Star Trek`s Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott as their inspiration for becoming engineers. In 1993, the Milwaukee School of Engineering granted the actor who played Scotty an honorary degree in engineering "after a survey of students revealed that a large number of respondents said the character Scotty`s `engineer` title piqued their interest in the field." I credit my father with my choice of career. When I was still very young, he told me that if I wanted to be an astronaut, I should study engineering. But I must admit that my father, who is also an engineer, watched Star Trek with us when we were small. He sometimes let me stay up late and watch the Twilight Zone. (I find it more terrifying now as an adult than I did as a child.) And he fed my science fiction book habit with Heinlein, Herbert and Huxley when my mother would have preferred Shakespeare and Chaucer. These days I read more textbooks on design theory than science fiction novels and don`t have much time for television, but science fiction`s influence on my life and my career cannot be denied.

Korean college students don`t seem to be familiar with Star Trek. (I tried to make a reference to Scott in one of my lectures to no avail. I guess they didn`t get the same benefit of re-runs in the 1980s that I did.) I don`t know if they read Verne, Wells or the countless authors who followed in their footsteps. I don`t know if they dream of the stars. But I do know that anything that makes dreams of space more accessible to children around the world is good for science and technology. Dr. Yi, her family, the Korean Ministry of Science and Technology, SBS, and the Korean people are to be congratulated on a successful mission to space and a safe (if bumpy) return to earth. May there be many more.





Mary Kathryn Thompson, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. She can be reached at mkthompson@an.kaist.ac.kr. - Ed.