What Will Happen To Science Fiction When We Realize Interstellar Travel Is Nearly Impossible and Interplanetary Travel Is Impractical? (James Wallace Harris, 8/20/26, Classics of Science Fiction)
I asked my friend Mike the other day, “What’s going to happen to science fiction when readers realize that interstellar travel will be next to impossible, and no one will want to live on the Moon or Mars?” He answered back, “Nothing will happen to science fiction; it’s only stories.” But I replied, “But some people read science fiction because they believe that someday humans will colonize the solar system and eventually the galaxy.” And he replied, “Nobody really believes that. It’s just fun stories.” I thought for a few seconds, “Don’t you think Star Trek fans believe in their hearts that the final frontier is humanity’s future?” Mike said, “No, I don’t.”
I think Mike is far more realistic than most people.