Gena was born in the Soviet Union. Though it was already during the decline of the great empire, he managed to see a portrait of Lenin against a red flag, located on the first page of the primer. And, of course, Gena adored everything related to space. He was proud to live in a country with the most impressive list of achievements in astronautics, each point of which started with the word 'first'.
Gena does not remember under what circumstances, but he got a large book about the workings of various mechanisms. Besides information on how a combine harvester works, it talked about the works of Tsiolkovsky and the principle of rocket engines. Now Gena became even more interestedāit began to seem that, maybe someday, he too could take part in astronautics.
Addiction
Then came the books and films. During Soviet times, not much was made or written about astronautics, but at first, Gena had enough. He devoured 'Faiety' and Kira Bulichov, watched films about teenagers in space (forgot the title, it seemed like there was a series), and continued to dream of space.
The 90s came, our information and media landscape expanded, and we, along with Gena, first saw 'Star Wars', read Isaac Asimov and Harry Harrison. In our village library, the selection was poor, and we had no money to buy books, so we settled for what we could find. Unfortunately, most titles have faded from memory. I remember there was a series by Isaac Asimov about some guy who worked as a detectiveāhe investigated crimes on Venus, Mars, and even visited Mercury. There was also a series called 'American Science Fiction'āthin, unassuming books with black-and-white covers. One book featured a main character named Fizpok, who was flying to Earth from a planet where guys threw hand-held nuclear grenades at each other, and along the way, he turned into a human. And 'Solaris'? What could be more beautiful than that book? In short, we read everything we found.
In the 90s, animated series appeared on television. Who remembers "Lieutenant Marsh's Space Rescuers"? Every day, right at 3:20 PM, after the afternoon news, I would be glued to the TV, so as not to miss those 20 minutes of happiness about the endless battles of peopleāordinary and blue, artificial. Who understood how this animated series ended?
But I was still more inclined toward Soviet works. I donāt know about you, but Gena felt and still feels that they had more romance, or perhaps soul. It was they who ignited in Gena a thirst for space.
Thirst
The thirst was so strong that Gena felt it almost literally. He wanted desperatelyā¦ I donāt even know what. Not sure if he knew either. To be in space. To visit other planets, see new worlds, found a colony, befriend the inhabitants of unfamiliar planets, fight with another civilization, witness trees growing from the sky, or from the heads of aliens, or from anywhere. To see what is even impossible to imagine.
There was Gena in the worldāa small, foolish, and naive childāand there was cosmonautics. More precisely, my dreams of it. Gena grew up and hoped. No, not hopedāhe waited. He waited for cosmonautics to finally make that breakthrough that would turn his little boring life upside down. Not just his, of courseābut the whole world, yet Gena, like any child, was self-centered. He waited for breakthroughs in cosmonautics for himself.
Reason suggested that a breakthrough could come from only two sides.
The firstāaliens. A random, unpredictable factor that could change the planetās life. In fact, little depends on humans here. If aliens arrive, there is only to react, and whatever happens, happens. Maybe itāll turn out like with the Martians from "The Phantoms"āfriends arrive, make a lifeless planet habitable, and help escape from the underground. Or maybe, as is popular in Hollywood movies now, like "Skyline," "Cowboys vs. Aliens," and a million others.
The second is the technology of movement. It seems obvious that humanity won't go anywhere, discover anything, or make friends until it learns to move quickly through space. We need an engine that can accelerate to the speed of light or even faster. The second option is teleportation or some of its variants. Well, that's how it seemed to us as kids.
Fatigue
But time passed, and breakthroughs seemed to elude us. I had long since given up on dreams of cosmonautics, got into programming, while Gena continued to wait.
The news showed some cosmonauts, mixed with astronauts, flying to the Mir station as if on a shift. Occasionally, there were mentions of experiments conducted in orbit, butā¦ they seemed rather minor. They had nothing to do with our ideas of space and its possibilities.
The Mir station was successfully sunk, the ISS was built, and everything continued in the same vein. They go there, stay in orbit for six months, fixing something, docking, sealing holes, germinating seeds, congratulating each other on New Yearās, and explaining how hard it is to wash your hair or use the toilet. Satellites are launched in such numbers that itās getting crowded in orbit.
Gradually, Gena began to understand that, in essence, there was nothing to wait for. The plans of astronauts and scientists sharply diverged from ours. Their capabilities and the pace of space exploration no longer matched Gena's expectations.
Thus, almost unnoticed by himself and those around him, Gena grew up. Well, not exactly grew upāhis arms and legs got longer, he started a family, found a job, took on loans, assumed responsibilities, and gained the right to vote. But the inner child remainedāthe one who was waiting.
Surges
In the whirlwind of adult life, childhood dreams began to fade. They awakened rarelyāonly when reading another good book or watching a decent movie about space. I don't know how it is for you, but modern films donāt particularly excite Gena. Take the same 'Star Trek'āeverything seems good, interestingly shot, the plot is captivating, the actors are great, the director is wonderfulā¦ but it's not the same. It can't compare to 'Solaris' (I'm talking about the book).
Only 'Avatar,' 'Interstellar,' and 'District 9' truly stirred the soul.
In 'Avatar', there is a truly different world, a magnificent full immersion into the realities of another planet, even if it features a standard Hollywood story. However, while watching the film, it becomes clear that a significant, if not the largest part of the director's time and soul was devoted to creating this world and showcasing it to us with the best visual technologies.
'Interstellar' is... It is 'Interstellar'. Only Christopher Nolan could portray space and the people who have first ventured into it like this. It's 'Solaris' and 'Escape from Earth' in one bottle, if we compare at the level of emotional vibrations.
And 'District 9' just blew my mind. The story is so far removed from traditional views of science fiction ā although, it seemed, the plot lay at our feet ā and so brilliantly shot that you want to watch it a million times. And each time feels like the first. That's something few directors achieve.
But all this is just splashes. On one hand, they are incredibly joyful because they awaken in people like Gena the child and his dreams. On the other hand ā damn, they awaken the child and his dreams! Gena seems to wake up from a boring dream called 'adult life' and remembers... About space, other planets, interstellar travel, new worlds, light speeds, and blasters. And he tries to relate my dreams to reality.
Reality
But what about reality? A trillion satellites, commercial and military. Well, they probably help Gena in some way, but that ungrateful brat is still dissatisfied.
There are some rockets flying. Into space, then back. Some do not come back. Some land on water. Some explode. What does Gena care about that?
Yes, there is space tourism. Some rich folks have been to orbit for a lot of money. But Gena doesn't want to go to orbit. He doesn't even want to go to Mars ā he knows there is nothing interesting there.
There are some robotic devices that are sent to other planets. They reach every other time and send back pictures. Boring, uninteresting pictures. They don't compare to those painted by our imagination in childhood.
Elon Musk seems to want to send people to Mars. When, who exactly, how long it will take, how they'll return, what they'll be doing ā only Elon Musk knows. Gena definitely won't be taken. And he wouldn't go anyway, because it's a surrogate, a deal with his conscience, an attempt to deceive childhood dreams.
Recently, they photographed a black hole. Headlines say it turned out no worse than in 'Interstellar.' Wonderful. That means Gena has seen a black hole several times ā in the cinema and at home, on TV.
The Time of Firsts
I recently met with Gena. We reminisced about the past, laughed, and then the conversation turned back to space. Gena immediately lost his spark, as if we were discussing some incurable disease residing within him. It was clear he was torn by contradictions. On one hand, as I think, apart from me, he has no one to talk to about space, but he really wants to. On the other hand ā whatās the point?
But I decided to help my friend and started a conversation with him. Gena talked non-stop, and I listened, hardly interrupting.
Gena said he was very unlucky with his choice of hobby. He compared it to me ā I dreamed of programming since the 9th grade. He said that, like millions of others, he was misled by the era of firsts.
What this means is clear, I began my explanation from this point. There was a time ā and it was a very short period ā when one discovery followed another, literally in a cascade. And almost all of them happened in our country. In those years, no average person like us could even imagine that these were just the first fruits, and behind them lay, unfortunately, a huge layer of sour milk.
They quickly and effectively did everything they were capable of. They launched a satellite, sent dogs, sent a human, went out into open space, sent a woman, Americans landed on the Moon, andā¦ that's it.
But it was presented to us as if this was just the beginning. It was like ā hey, look at what we're capable of! And this was only what the first ones achieved! What will come next! And it's impossible to imagine!
Imagining is actually possible, and books and movies helped us greatly in this. The first ones did their job, and we were incredibly inspired and began waiting for the second ones. Yet, the second ones never came. Such second ones that wouldn't make the first ones feel ashamed.
Gena sincerely admitted that he has long been envious of me, with a white envy.
Other hobbies
As mentioned above, for some unknown reason, I became fascinated with programming. It was 1998, 'Basic Corvette,' the book by A. Fox and D. Fox 'Basic for Everyone.' And the first ones, like in space exploration ā computers, programs, networks, etc.
But in IT, second, third, and thirty-fifth waves came quickly and overwhelmingly. IT engages the whole world in all its diverse manifestations. And, to be honest, over the past 20 years, IT has advanced far beyond what I imagined at the beginning.
This is what Gena envies. He sees that my childhood dreams have come true ā at least partially. And he is left with nothing.
Nothing left
Unfortunately, it is indeed broken. Recently it was April 12th. Who do we remember and honor on this day? The very first ā Gagarin, Korolev, Leonov, Tereshkova, Grechko.
It seems normal ā to honor the first on a holiday. But itās also normal to remember the second. Who is the second? Who else can be considered among the outstanding heroes of modern space exploration? How many names can you mention ā those who have advanced this science over the past 50 years?
If you are seriously interested in space exploration, you will surely name someone. Gena named a few. But I canāt name anyone except Dmitry Rogozin and Elon Musk. With a sorrowful smirk on my face, of course.
There wouldn't be a smirk if someone, without using a search engine, could name the ministers responsible for sending the first person into space. What has space exploration come to if its face is the First Deputy Prime Minister of the government? Personally, I have nothing against these people ā I understand that they ascended the podium unintentionally. And the most interesting thing happening in this field of knowledge is ā a hole in the hull of the orbital station, about which enough material has accumulated for an entire series.
Petty. Boring. Hopeless.
Gena, like me, is already 35 years old. We were born 20 years after the feat of the First. 50 years in space exploration ā a vacuum. Trivial fidgeting, commercial projects, orbital cold wars, money, profit, intrigue, budgets, theft, crime, effective managers, and, I apologize for the vulgarity, projects.
P.S.
The paragraph above contains my words. I didnāt say them to Gena. Iām sure he thinks the same way, but even our long conversation didnāt bring him to the point where he could stomp his childhood dreams with dirty boots (or polished shoes).
Gena still has hope. Hope for what, I donāt know. Iām sure he wonāt read this articleāitās not his resource. Itās just disheartening for an old friend. Perhaps aliens will come after all?
Source: habr.com
