Will my Great Grandchildren GO to the Moon?

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The cheeky young blighter! I know I’m old, but!

I was in summer shorts sitting in the garden talking to a grandchild. I have a scar on my leg from a dog bite. He asked about it, I joked “It’s a war wound” He said “Canon ball or Arrow”?

I’ve seen much change and progress in my 90 years, and when any of my 4 great grandchildren ages 1 to 5 call in, I look at them and think what advances will they see in their lifetime.

My mind boggles at the prospect, because if the speed of change that has occurred during my 90 years from 1926, continues exponentially, then my mind goes into fantasy land as you will see.

To illustrate this speed. I have in my imagination my 90-year-old great grandpa looking at me as a five-year-old in 1931 and wondering what I will see. (Imaginary also because I could not trace my father’s grandad)

With his thinking conditioned by the comparative minor technological advances he had seen since his birth in 1841, he would have no idea that his great grandchild (me) would see the comic book science fiction stories of rocket ships taking man to the moon come true.

Man On The Moon

In 1969 I watched spellbound, nerves on edge, the landing happening in real time, through another marvel of my age, television.

Viewers saw the moon landing craft, weight considerations allowing just enough fuel to go down and back, hesitate above the designated touch down, and move hesitantly across the moon surface, with searchlight seeking a level place to put the flimsy looking landing legs down. Phew, hot sweats, and I was safe at home in my armchair!

After what seemed an age, astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon surface, to take, as he famously described, one giant leap for mankind, whilst the mother ship orbited overhead waiting to take him back to earth.

Moon Landing Live Video Recording- Click to Play-

My Great Grandad would not have seen any big ‘Hold The Front Page’ sensational technological changes like that, or the explosion of change brought about by the invention of the internet and world wide spread of instant telecommunication.

Does The Past Predict The Future?

I am fascinated with what the next 100 years will bring for our children. All the indications are that it will be sensational, because of the recent rapid transformation of people’s lives in a relatively short time span,

One good invention always spawns others and the communication breakthrough started ever wider spreading ripples of enterprise and innovation.

What you don't know about you won't miss

As well as being a force for good, wider access to knowledge has brought unrest as well to deprived parts of the world.

In a small way I can relate to this by comparison with life in the village where I grew up in the 1930s. We were content knowing little of what was happening beyond our village.

We didn’t know it, but by today’s standards our living conditions were hard. Paraffin oil lighting, a trek to the bottom of garden for the hole in the ground toilet.

My grandchildren have no idea of such conditions, and when I try to tell them, their eyes roll upwards in a ‘Here we go again’ expression.

The best and funniest example of ‘In my day’ hardship stories is a Monty Python sketch.

In the late 30s my family did get a wireless. Great excitement listening to an evening news bulletin of what was happening in other parts of the country.

As schoolchildren one of the highlights was the annual day trip to the seaside. Excitement built as the day approached and became so intense that sleep was impossible the night before.

Contrast that to my grandchildren and contemporaries with trips to Disneyland and other glamour destinations. I’m not envious. Scarcity made our one day out so pleasurable, whereas familiarity for children today denies them that intense excitement.

Project forward to my grandchildren’s grandchildren and the mind boggles at where their school trips will take them. Logic says it has to be outer space.

Predictions

A BBC News Magazine invited 100 year predictions from its subscribers.

Here are the top 6 entries (Contributors in brackets) with comments by Ian Pearson who is a future technology consultant and conference speaker, and Patrick Tucker, a spokesperson for the World Future Society and deputy editor of The Futurist magazine.

1. Oceans will be extensively farmed and not just for fish (Jim 300)
IP: Likelihood 10/10. We will need to feed 10 billion people and nature can't keep up with demand, so we will need much more ocean farming for fish. But algae farming is also on the way for renewable energy, and maybe even for growth of feedstock (raw materials) or resource extraction via GM seaweed or algae.

2. We will have the ability to communicate through thought transmission

IP: Likelihood 10/10. Transmission will be just as easy as other forms of brain augmentation. Picking up thoughts and relaying them to another brain will not be much harder than storing them on the net.

3. Thanks to DNA and robotic engineering, we will have created incredibly intelligent humans who are immortal (game over)
IP: Likelihood 9/10. It is more likely that direct brain links using electronics will achieve this, but GM will help a lot by increasing longevity - keeping people alive until electronic immortality technology is freely available at reasonable cost.

4. We will be able to control the weather (mariebee_)
IP: Likelihood 8/10. There is already some weather control technology for mediating tornadoes, making it rain and so on, and thanks to climate change concerns, a huge amount of knowledge is being gleaned on how weather works. We will probably have technology to be able to control weather when we need to. It won't necessarily be cheap enough to use routinely and is more likely to be used to avoid severe damage in key areas.

5. Antarctica will be "open for business" (Dev 2
IP: Likelihood 8/10. The area seems worth keeping as a natural wilderness so I am hesitant here, but I do expect that pressure will eventually mean that some large areas will be used commercially for resources. It should be possible to do so without damaging nature if the technology is good enough, and this will probably be a condition of exploration rights.

6. One single worldwide currency (from Kenny’s Heroes)

PT: Great try! The trend on this is actually more in the opposite direction. The internet is enabling new forms of bartering and value exchange. Local currencies are also now used by several hundred communities across the US and Europe. In other words, look for many more types of currency and exchange not fewer, in the coming decades.

Steemians will like 6 won’t they ?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16536598

I am disappointed with the predictions above, and I’m sure Steemers will have much bolder and imaginative futuristic visions.

I couldn’t find a mention of faster travel. I have from time to time seen references to new aero engine technology that will dramatically cut travel time.

Trumpet Fanfare - My Prediction

Star Trek ''beaming '' people through space could become a reality in the far future.

Travellers would enter a Teleportation Booth or Hall. They would be processed into dots similar to the way television pictures are converted into dots and transmitted to receivers where they are processed back to normal.

This possibility is supported by the leader of a landmark teleportation experiment who said “Nothing in the laws of physics prevents the teleportation of large objects, including humans”.

I am so certain this will happen that I would bet a substantial sum on it, but I haven’t worked out how I will collect my winnings!

A sure sign there is intelligent life out there - They haven’t been in touch with us! (Anon.)

Credits. Baby - Meme Crusher
Caveman Wheel – Outsourced
Beam Me Up.- Google Free To Use.
Monty Python - YouTube Link
Up Vote - Screen Shot
Resteem Screen shot