I prefer the Future I got!

[TomMazanec]

In 1971 I expected there to be hundreds or even thousands of people in space at any one time in half a century, but 99.9999% of humanity would live just as they did then. If you had told me there would be only ten or twelve at most I would have been disappointed indeed! But the Information Revolution has transformed my life and that of billions. I like this better!
Of course, I'm not exactly crazy about covid.

 

[paranoid marvin]

What I want to know is what happened to all the monorails there were going to be? I blame that episode of the Simpsons.

 

[Valtharius]

Let this be the credo of all rational men: it could be worse than this.
@paranoid marvin
I know many people idolize that episode. The only element I liked was Nimoy's guest appearance (which was glorious).

 

[psikeyhackr]

I expected a colony on the Moon by now.
Computers are better than I would have thought.
But I knew there was planned obsolescence in automobiles in 1971 and now we have it in smartphones.

Global warming is no surprise.

 

[psikeyhackr]

I expected a colony on the Moon by now.
Computers are better than I would have thought.
But I knew there was planned obsolescence in automobiles in 1971 and now we have it in smartphones.

Global warming is no surprise.

Speak of the future and it will end.

Michael Collins, Apollo 11 astronaut, dies at 90

Collins himself never stepped foot on the moon, but his accomplishments were part of one of the most famous space missions in history.

www.nbcnews.com

RIJ: Reincarnate in Joy

 

[AstroZon]

I too thought we'd be further along by now, but I could name a lot of accomplishments made between Apollo 11 and now:

1. Skylab, The Space Shuttle, The Space Station, etc. We know what humans can and cannot endure when in space. We also know what space does to equipment, fuel, food, etc.
2. The proliferation of satellites: everything from communication, to sensor arrays, to GPS, to Google Earth, to space telescopes.
3. Unmanned space missions: We've explored every planet in our solar system, the Sun, many major moons, asteroids, comets, etc.
4. Adaptive Optics and other methods for correcting atmospheric distortion on terrestrial telescopes.