Happy Nice Mall

It was hard to avoid thinking about space in 2021. With the long-promised era of space tourism finally at our doorstep, we’ve entered a new era of space travel, at least for the extremely well-funded. The rest of us are terrestrial plebs with video clips and telescopes. six hour partial lunar eclipse last month, the longest since the Medicis days.

Conspirators and alien enthusiasts were delighted to read the headlines about UFOs at reputable outlets like the New York Times. Thinking about the infinite cosmos also provided a psychological escape from the overwhelming pandemic in which “space” tended to be measured in square feet.

Here are some key points.

Cosmic Country Club

Space has become a retreat for more elite plutocrats from Bohemian Grove this year as two billionaire earthlings – Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson – embark on their first voyages as space tourists, making the term “masters of the universe” a little more real.

in this space raceMr. Branson took first place on July 11, Rising 50 miles above the New Mexico desert on board VSS Alliance, it looked eerily like hood ornament From a 1956 Chevy.

But Amazon’s $200 billion man refused to compromise. Nine days later, Mr. Bezos rose 65 miles above Texas to wear flyboy-dating-cowboy community has not been seen in aviation circles since Slim Pickens in “Dr. He declared his victory by stating that he had truly crossed a line known as “Strangelove”. Karman line 62 miles above sea level into so-called “real” space.

Call Dr. Freud

Yes, the rocket is a phallic symbol. But does it have to be that obvious, like something Carrie Bradshaw might have snatched in the Pleasure Chest?

Mr. Bezos hadn’t made his first 10-minute trip into space when social media exploded with X-rated memes. A porn site has even created a line of sex toys called the Billionaire Flesh Rocket Series.

After the chuckling subsided, engineers noted that the rocket’s bulging tip and wide shaft allowed it to move. Maximum occupancy and also stability on re-entry. No kidding please.

Did ET Call Us?

UFO sightings no longer occupy the same cultural space as Bigfoot or Jim Morrison sightings at Burger King.

federal government in June declassified an intelligence report He admitted that there were no worldly – or at least government – explanations for more than 120 reports.objects in the sky”, as former President Barack Obama put it in “Late Late Show with James Corden.”

Sure, that mysterious Kubrickian sheet metal Probably a work of art or a piece of art in the red canyons of Utah joke, not alien. And one scary radio signal From the direction of Proxima Centauri, unfortunately, probably only human radio frequency interference. Still, given the state of the world, you can’t blame humans for hoping to find intelligent life somewhere in the universe.

space camp

When the United States Space Force announced its spacecraft uniforms In September, “Star Trek” or Netflix show “Space Force,” starring Steve Carell, which parodies the military’s sixth and newest branch.

The asymmetrical navy blue jacket with gray trousers appeared to many observers to have been designed by science fiction enthusiasts. “US Space Forces Will Wear Battlestar Galactica Uniforms” Giant Freak Robot, an entertainment site.

Mars Attracts

The rivalry between the United States and China has gone far beyond national borders. NASA in February perseverance explorer landed on Mars and “Wright Brothers memoir” by launching the first powered flight on another planet (a small robotic helicopter called Ingenuity).

Then in May a rover landed in China called zhurong in a large basin known as Utopia PlanitiaThis ushered in a new era of space rivalry, not only being the first expedition to Mars, but also demonstrating the ability to compete in a space race long dominated by the Americans and the Russians. The Chinese traveler even placed a wireless camera in the red dirt and took a picture of himself. How about 2021. What’s the point of traveling if you can’t take a selfie?

Hollywood in the sky

Space travel movies are as old as cinema itself, thanks to Georges Méliès’ landmark 1902 film. “Moonshot.However, in 2021 Russian film crew For 12 days, he shot scenes from the International Space Station, “The Challenge,” his first feature-length drama featuring scenes shot in outer space.

Time will tell if the movie, which is about a surgeon running into space to save a sick cosmonaut, will become a science fiction classic. But if nothing else, the filmmakers beat the Americans with the punch. (Plans for Tom Cruise action-adventure movie shoots in space were announced last year.)

First Sputnik, now this. At least the Americans got the gold medal in hockey.

Can’t Move Launch Date?

In July, Oliver DaemenAt 18, the son of a Dutch private equity executive, the Blue Origin passenger, who paid $28 million for the privilege, became the youngest person to travel to space when he was forced to leave due to a scheduling conflict. There must have been a dispute.

Trash Where No Man Has Thrown Before

Because humans are humans, we leave a mess wherever we go. one in May Fragment of a 10-deck, 23-ton Chinese rocket It came crashing into Earth from an uncontrolled path, causing some to wonder if it would fall over their heads. Fortunately, he landed harmlessly in the Indian Ocean.

In November, the Russians created another mess when they tested an anti-satellite weapon on a former spy satellite. huge cloud of debris This forced the astronauts on the International Space Station to close the hatches.

Some fear that all this space junk could lead to space travel difficult or even impossible in the future. But maybe there is hope. In March, a Japanese company a kind of space To absorb some of the 3,000 inactive satellites orbiting Earth. I wish we could recycle them.

The Final Frontier at 90

William Shatner, actor who made space travel safe for his sideburns and Beatle boots half a century ago, broke the record oldest person in space Going on a Blue Origin cruise with Mr. Bezos in October.

It was fair to wonder if Mr. Bezos was using his billions to indulge in a childhood fantasy. After all, Mr. Bezos is a confirmed Trekkie who once competed with his fourth graders for the right to play Kirk. “We’d have little cardboard phasers and cardboard knitters, you know,” he said. Washington post in 2016.

Mr. Shatner himself looked like a fan. “Yeah that’s right; I’m going to be ‘Rocket Man’!” he said. tweeted out before the trip. He even promised write a song about experience. Too bad “Space quirk” taken.