{"id":19740,"date":"2012-04-25T21:43:31","date_gmt":"2012-04-25T13:43:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/science-fiction-writers-inspired-as-asteroid-miners-make-fiction-fact\/"},"modified":"2012-04-25T21:43:31","modified_gmt":"2012-04-25T13:43:31","slug":"science-fiction-writers-inspired-as-asteroid-miners-make-fiction-fact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/science-fiction-writers-inspired-as-asteroid-miners-make-fiction-fact\/","title":{"rendered":"Science fiction writers inspired as asteroid miners make fiction fact"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was the very last question at the news conference announcing Planetary Resources\u2019 plans to find mineral-rich asteroids, pull them into near-Earth orbit, and mine them. Did science fiction play a role?<\/p>\n

The response was an accurate, but unsatisfyingly vague, \u201cScience fiction is fiction right up to the point that it\u2019s science fact.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Greg Bear<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Seattle area, which hosted the official Planetary Resources unveiling and is home to the new venture, is no stranger to science fiction with its healthy fan community and significant concentration of New York Times-bestselling, award-winning writers in Seattle and the broader Washington State.<\/p>\n

So why not ask the writers themselves what role they think science fiction played?<\/p>\n

As a one-time minor short-story writer and former secretary of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), I accessed my memory cube and sent messages through the aether to a half-dozen established writers. What did you think when you heard the announcement? Did you think it was well-past-time, right on time, or earlier than you expected? What immediate science-fiction precursors come to mind, in literature or media?<\/p>\n

On the last, the response was near-universal. Brenda Cooper, novelist, futurist and CIO for the City of Kirkland, summed it up: \u201cAsteroid mining is a standard science-fiction trope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Writer Greg Bear, whose 1985 novel Eon is actually about attempts to claim an asteroid that moves into near-Earth orbit, suggested precursors such as Poul Anderson\u2019s earlier \u201cTales of the Flying Mountains<\/em> and the various asteroid mining stories from folks like Larry Niven.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Kay Kenyon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not all the top-of-mind precursors were necessarily positive. \u201cThe first thing (ominously) I thought of was the spaceship Nostromo from Alien,\u201d acknowledges Kay Kenyon, author of ten novels including the science fiction quartet, The Entire and The Rose.<\/p>\n

Other first reactions varied \u2014 and perhaps reflected the early fascination many had with the genre. Seattle\u2019s Vonda N. McIntyre, well-known for the Starfarers novels and the classic Dreamsnake, says hers was simply, \u201cThey should hire me.\u201d And when pressed, \u201cThey should hire me. Really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Novelist Louise Marley was a bit more philosophical. \u201cI thought: why is everyone so surprised? All the news outlets were carrying this story, but in my community \u2014 the SF community \u2014 this has been expected for decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the overwhelming first reactions from the writers of what-if was delight. \u201cI thought I had fallen into Act 1 of a novel,\u201d says Kenyon. \u201cAfter all the NASA cutbacks and governmental dithering, now comes this private venture talking about mining the resources of space. I just love these guys.\u201d Cooper\u2019s reaction was similar, an \u201centhusiastic screeched-out Valley-girl \u2018sweet!\u2019 I\u2019m still happy about it. And then I thought, \u2018how can I help?’\u201d<\/p>\n

\"William
William C. Dietz <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Several, including William C. Dietz and Kenyon, thought the timing of the announcement was perfect in terms of turning science fiction into science fact. But Dietz, author of more than 40 novels, was already thinking ahead. \u201cWhat if this wild array of space buccaneers succeeds? What will it lead to? Space oligarchs? Operating in a vacuum that\u2019s empty of both oxygen or laws? Still, given the choice, I say go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only one question remained for all half-dozen fiction luminaries. During the Planetary Resources announcement when asked about the derivation of the spacecraft name \u201cArkyd,\u201d the team said its roots were in science fiction, and that \u201creal\u201d sci-fi fans would know.<\/p>\n

Perhaps illustrating that creating futures isn\u2019t quite the same as recalling them, not a single one of the writers did.<\/p>\n

Frank Catalano<\/strong><\/em> is a consultant, author and veteran analyst of digital education and consumer technologies whose GeekWire columns take a practical nerd\u2019s approach to tech. He tweets @FrankCatalano and consults as Intrinsic Strategy. He\u2019s writing this while spending a week immersed in the nerd news flow at GeekWire HQ.<\/em><\/p>\n

[Dietz photo by Joseph Walsh Photography]<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was the very last question at the news conference announcing Planetary Resources\u2019 plans to find mineral-rich asteroids, pull them into near-Earth orbit, and mine them. Did science fiction play a role? The response was an accurate, but unsatisfyingly vague, \u201cScience fiction is fiction right up to the point that it\u2019s science fact.\u201d Greg Bear The Seattle area, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5651,4820,5652,4482],"class_list":["post-19740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-frank-catalano","tag-planetary-resources","tag-practical-nerd","tag-science-fiction"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19740"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19740\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}