Zero Draft
Carina Soriano
English 1103H
Professor Presnell
12 November 2012
Zero Draft
Personal Experience
One of my earliest memories was when I was about five and my parents were watching the original Star Trek, though I didn’t know what it was at the time. I’m not sure what episode it was, but it had lots of shiny props and exciting noises and a big ship to stare at endlessly. That is probably the first real experience I had with science fiction of any sort. Though that sort of movie was and still is common in my house today, I think being exposed to certain things, in this case science fiction and my fascination with space, at an early age has made me more receptive to them at a later age also. I still enjoy reading the latest science news and anything to do with NASA has me glued to my TV screen. I also wanted to become an aerospace engineer at one point, but had to change plans when I found out I was not so good in math. My point is that being exposed to and encouraged to read and view things that were space-related has led to a broader interest in this topic as I age.
My Question
Can the physics and technology of Star Wars be used for modern day space exploration?
The Technology
While there hasn’t been any major technological breakthroughs using ideas from the technology of Star Wars, since we don’t see any cops wielding lightsabers, or any large spaceships floating around and making day long trips to other galaxies yet; in some small ways, technology from the movies has been adapted or transformed to work for us in space. One good example of this is found in the article Star Wars, Star Trek, and NASA, and is known as the PSA, made by NASA and modeled after the floating sphere Luke Skywalker uses to practice training his lightsaber skills on in Star Wars.
In the NASA article entitled, From R2-D2 to Curiosity: Good Fiction to Great Science, the Mars rover Curiosity has been compared to R2-D2 in that it can study Mars by using multiple tools such as drills, cameras and lasers similar to R2-D2. This is just another example of how far technology has advanced in our current day and age to a point that never would have been considered when Star Wars was born.
My final example would be that of the laser blaster, developed further in the article ‘Star Wars’ becoming real, which talks about how laser blasters are becoming more of a close goal, than a distant, futuristic technology. There is much interest in this technology especially from the military and defense groups associated with governments.
The Physics Behind it
In the article, Combining Forces-Boston Museum Exhibit Melds Science and Fiction of ‘Star Wars’, The Boston Museum held an exhibit of props and costumes and even some of the science and technology behind Star Wars. Originally, George Lucas did not design the series as a science fiction story, but rather as fantasy films. But technology has developed at such a rapid pace that it has nearly or in some cases surpassed what Lucas originally imagined up. Unfortunately technology hasn’t advanced quite far enough in the bigger issues that could be used to make space flight a more realistic future.
In addition, teachers are finding it harder to get kids excited about science today because of the growth of the rate of technology. Kids get bored quicker now and have shorter attention spans than in the late 20th century, when there wasn’t as much technology. In Fantasy spurring an interest in physics, Matt Froment, a young science teacher working at a middle school, describes the challenges he and other science teachers face in getting kids excited about science since they are the future scientists and boundary-pushers.
The Future?
One thing that definitely has to be considered with all the development of these potentially dangerous technologies is how they will be used and governed in the future. In “Whoever Owns Space Owns the World”: Star Wars or Star Peace?, the United States and Russian governments show that there is a potential for wars in space just because of the technologies and products being used to get us there. Is there a real threat for this? If so, should we halt development of these tools?
English 1103H
Professor Presnell
12 November 2012
Zero Draft
Personal Experience
One of my earliest memories was when I was about five and my parents were watching the original Star Trek, though I didn’t know what it was at the time. I’m not sure what episode it was, but it had lots of shiny props and exciting noises and a big ship to stare at endlessly. That is probably the first real experience I had with science fiction of any sort. Though that sort of movie was and still is common in my house today, I think being exposed to certain things, in this case science fiction and my fascination with space, at an early age has made me more receptive to them at a later age also. I still enjoy reading the latest science news and anything to do with NASA has me glued to my TV screen. I also wanted to become an aerospace engineer at one point, but had to change plans when I found out I was not so good in math. My point is that being exposed to and encouraged to read and view things that were space-related has led to a broader interest in this topic as I age.
My Question
Can the physics and technology of Star Wars be used for modern day space exploration?
The Technology
While there hasn’t been any major technological breakthroughs using ideas from the technology of Star Wars, since we don’t see any cops wielding lightsabers, or any large spaceships floating around and making day long trips to other galaxies yet; in some small ways, technology from the movies has been adapted or transformed to work for us in space. One good example of this is found in the article Star Wars, Star Trek, and NASA, and is known as the PSA, made by NASA and modeled after the floating sphere Luke Skywalker uses to practice training his lightsaber skills on in Star Wars.
In the NASA article entitled, From R2-D2 to Curiosity: Good Fiction to Great Science, the Mars rover Curiosity has been compared to R2-D2 in that it can study Mars by using multiple tools such as drills, cameras and lasers similar to R2-D2. This is just another example of how far technology has advanced in our current day and age to a point that never would have been considered when Star Wars was born.
My final example would be that of the laser blaster, developed further in the article ‘Star Wars’ becoming real, which talks about how laser blasters are becoming more of a close goal, than a distant, futuristic technology. There is much interest in this technology especially from the military and defense groups associated with governments.
The Physics Behind it
In the article, Combining Forces-Boston Museum Exhibit Melds Science and Fiction of ‘Star Wars’, The Boston Museum held an exhibit of props and costumes and even some of the science and technology behind Star Wars. Originally, George Lucas did not design the series as a science fiction story, but rather as fantasy films. But technology has developed at such a rapid pace that it has nearly or in some cases surpassed what Lucas originally imagined up. Unfortunately technology hasn’t advanced quite far enough in the bigger issues that could be used to make space flight a more realistic future.
In addition, teachers are finding it harder to get kids excited about science today because of the growth of the rate of technology. Kids get bored quicker now and have shorter attention spans than in the late 20th century, when there wasn’t as much technology. In Fantasy spurring an interest in physics, Matt Froment, a young science teacher working at a middle school, describes the challenges he and other science teachers face in getting kids excited about science since they are the future scientists and boundary-pushers.
The Future?
One thing that definitely has to be considered with all the development of these potentially dangerous technologies is how they will be used and governed in the future. In “Whoever Owns Space Owns the World”: Star Wars or Star Peace?, the United States and Russian governments show that there is a potential for wars in space just because of the technologies and products being used to get us there. Is there a real threat for this? If so, should we halt development of these tools?