[theothermkn]

FTA:

> Imagination is our window into the future.

Maybe. But the outlook is from the past, and is subject to the past's failures and to failures of the imagination that are due to the juvenile foible of nostalgia. These posters are, after all, riffs in the genre of travel marketing, which is designed to sell the experience of a place as more than it is; they push a particular and motivated hyper-reality. This betrays their appeal as a longing to be deceived, a longing that is all too happily filled by the marketing arm of JPL.

The very idea that "space travel" is anything like "travel" in the vacationing sense is mere wordplay. Who among us can take 4 years off to "vacation" to Mars? Or 3 for Venus, to stare at the clouds? Who among us wants to die of embrittled bones and radiation sickness in a tin can?

No proper vision of the future can come from the myopic eyes developed in the dim light of popular history. These posters are adolescent fantasy, and mature minds knowingly smirk at the naivete of those so stunted as to be taken in.

EDIT: FWIW, I expect the down-votes. Bringing reality into a discussion about space fantasy always brings down-votes. It's a measure of the quality of discussion on HN.

[TheCoreh]

Intercontinental travel was once like this, too. Take several months to make a horrible journey that could very well kill you. Now you can do it in under a day, safely, for a very reasonable price, with just a mild discomfort.

I think the point of these pieces is to make us think about the possibility that some day technology will have advanced so much that this is possible. Maybe we'll get there faster, or we'll develop a way to live longer so it won't matter.

[gervase]

Or maybe not - the Grand Tour[1] was historically restricted a wealthy elite, after all. I guess it depends on the time scale of the perspective.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Tour

[theothermkn]

> Intercontinental travel was once like this, too. Take several months to make a horrible journey that could very well kill you.

Which is why there aren't travel posters for those journeys in that era.

> I think the point of these pieces is to make us think about the possibility that some day technology will have advanced so much that this is possible.

I agree. But my point is twofold. One, these journeys will never be possible in that way. (The energy requirements alone for that kind of fast travel is an insurmountable barrier, just due to the square term in .5mv^2, and anything of non-negligible mass that is moving that fast is an interplanetary doomsday weapon.) Two, these pieces draw a false parallel between the romance of steamer travel or early train/air travel and the harsh realities of space travel.

And, to forestall a cliche by doubling down, I'm siding with the people who say "it will never happen."

[dan353hehe]

I don't think I have ever heard anyone say "juvenile foible of nostalgia" before in my life.

I have generally found that when people become art critics and try to describe why the like/don't like a certain piece, it tells more about them as a person then it does about the piece.

I think the best description of why the posters were created is:

> As you look through these images of imaginative travel destinations, remember that you can be an architect of the future.

They are simply trying to encourage people, probably younger people, to realize that things that are impossible today, don't necessarily have to remain that way. But who knows, maybe I just have a "stunted" mind.

[theothermkn]

> I have generally found that when people become art critics and try to describe why the like/don't like a certain piece, it tells more about them as a person then it does about the piece.

For example, your comment reveals that you prefer casting aspersions on a person over addressing the substance of a remark, especially when that remark challenges a cherished belief. It also reveals that you feel you are unable to cope with the realities of the present without your unrealistic fantasies about the future.

I like this game!

[mikeash]

Yes, because it's the hallmark of a mature mind to smirk at other people's fantasies.

Can I safely assume that you count yourself among those "mature minds"?

Truly mature minds don't need to diminish others in order to make themselves look better.

[theothermkn]

Anyone who faces the daunting complexity of space travel, its hazards, its complete and utter alienness, or even the unavailability of a convective environment for heat transfer, anyone who does that and then resorts to 1920s-era travel poster riffs should expect the occasional smirk.

The deluded have no say in whether the serious are amused by them.

[mikeash]

Making fun of people doesn't become a mark of maturity just because you use dispassionate language and complex vocabulary.

But hey, if it makes you feel better about yourself, go for it.