Week 9: Mind over Matter: How Imagining Space Preceded and Inspired Innovation

This week’s unit ended our class at the famed “final frontier” of outer space – an area of exploration so near to our hearts and minds that its thematic presence continues to dominate all forms of American pop culture today. From captivating cinematic masterpieces like Gravity, Interstellar, and the recent Star Trek and upcoming Star Wars film installments to the catchy pop music hits of artists such as Katy Perry (E.T.) and Lady Gaga (Venus), art has continued to take inspiration from the celestial heavens and transform the otherworldly into creative genius. But while it is easy to see how much our conceptualization of space has influenced artistic outlets and culture, it is harder to grasp the immense impact humanity’s creative contributions to these outlets have had on (and, perhaps to take a more neutral stance, could/could have had on (d)) real innovation. Analyzing examples brought to my attention throughout this unit, I will explore the concept of artistic imagination preceding tangible and theoretical scientific innovation through two concepts: the “space elevator” and “warp speed” space travel.

This illustration of a theoretical model of a space elevator shows how high such a structure could stretch. Surely, much taller than the Eiffel Tower (below). (above: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator#/media/File:Space_elevator_structural_diagram--corrected_for_scale%2BCM%2Betc--regenerated_as_SVG.svg; below: http://cnet4.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/2015/02/25/49752f72-14d6-4033-af9c-88d40611d3c7/5ddb05cc300e5515c348d0d60f4e9e42/eiffel1.jpg)

This structure, made of carbon nanotubes of buckminsterfullerene, is one proposed material to be used to build the space elevator. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator#/media/File:Kohlenstoffnanoroehre_Animation.gif)

The “space elevator” as a concept has its early roots in Russian scientist’s Konstantin Tsiolkovsky’s vision stemming from the Eiffel Tower. Struck by the beauty of such an immense structure reaching for the heavens, Tsiolkovsky originated the idea in modern thought. The immense symbolism of a structure such as the Eiffel Tower, built as an artistic representation of modernity (with practical use, of course) for the World’s Fair, inspiring such an innovative scientific concept is powerful. The great irony of this inspiration is in the reality of current proposals to build a space elevator, which utilizes a variant of buckminsterfullerene – a substance described in my last blog post whose name takes inspiration from the work of architectural visionary Buckminster Fuller.

Another concept with inspiration from artistic venues is warp speed travel – a concept made popular by the “warp drive” of the Star Trek universe. Through warp travel, a spacecraft enters a parallel “warp tunnel” to travel faster than the speed of light, making travel through interstellar space both possible and efficient. This idea, long a staple in science fiction (including in the inferior, copycat structures of Star Wars), was granted some theoretical scientific validity in 1994 by physicist Miguel Alcubierre in his paper on a theoretical “Alcubierre drive”. Although this type of structure is not currently possible, the sheer imagination behind this concept in science fiction propelling such scientific innovation is absolutely bewildering.

The original cast of Star Trek, a.k.a. the best sci-fi series ever. Period. (This only reflects the opinion of the blogger and is not meant to reflect any sort of factual information). (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2d/ST_TOS_Cast.jpg)

In this illustration, the space in the bubble is "unwarped", while the space outside is "warped" in order to make travel more efficient. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warp_drive#/media/File:Star_Trek_Warp_Field.png)

References

"CODED UTOPIA." Continental Drift. N.p., 27 Mar. 2007. Web. 30 May 2015.

Dunbar, Brian. NASA. NASA, n.d. Web. 30 May 2015.

Rosen, Rebecca J. "What If NASA Could Figure Out the Math of a Workable Warp Drive?" The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 28 Nov. 2012. Web. 30 May 2015.

"60,000 Miles Up: Space Elevator Could Be Built by 2035, Says New Study | ExtremeTech." ExtremeTech. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 May 2015.

Tate, Karl. "The Evolution of U0027Star Treku0027(Infographic) | Star Trek TV Series & Films | NASA & Star Trek, Science Fiction TV & Films | Space.com." StarTrek4Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 May 2015.