[randallsquared]

Well, in this case, though, the OP is right about extrasolar planet detection, at least as regards science teachers and popsci articles. I remember the general (popsci) consensus of the time being that there was no practical way to image planets of other stars because you'd need incredibly large telescopes in space, and by the time we could build optical space telescopes with mirrors that were hundreds of meters across, we'd have a generally spacefaring civilization that would likely have already started launching probes to the nearest candidates.

Also, the feeling of inevitable doom from resource depletion, pollution, technological stagnation, and political dystopia was quite palpable to many of us growing up in the time. By the mid-80s when I was a teen, it seemed like the way to bet was that no human would leave LEO for many decades, if ever.