Mythologies carry a lot along with them. On the positive side they give a structure and direction to the conceit of progress. By the same token they can hurt us

Mythologies carry a lot along with them. On the positive side they give a structure and direction to the conceit of progress. By the same token they can hurt us when we project all our hopes into them. The disappointment of a "space-age" generation, who grew up on promises they'd be living on moon-bases and zooming about in spacecraft, turned to emptiness when around 2000 the new millennium turned out to be about just more Earth bound in-fighting. 2001 should have been the great Odyssey, but tuned out to be a drab journey towards neo-fascism and isolation. Psychologically, as a result we started to create our own personal space capsules, cut off from the rest of humanity. The militarisation of space was glorious in 1977. The Battle of Britain redone with X-Wings, in our mythology George Lucas cast space as a battleground "Far Far Away". If the "Home before Christmas" of WW1 is any indication, young men romanticise far away battlegrounds, as do hawks and pacifists alike, because at least they are somewhere else. The reality of space militarisation is unfolding 50 miles above our heads, as spy satellites and drones delivering death from above. For poor, brown people in Overthereistan, space has been the enemy for a decade, and cloud cover is a friend. Colonisation, cooperation, and trade are another part of our mythology. Sworn enemies could unite against a common foe of the void, With infinity in all directions, humans would finally be freed of their petty border disputes and overcrowding amidst infinite resources. But the ISS is coming to end of life, with no replacement in the planning. I was saddened by the effect of the Russo-Ukraine war on the departure of astronauts from the ISS. It seems like a breakdown and taint of parochialism beyond Earth straight from Arthur C. Clarke's story book. Yet I was mocked and down-voted here on HN for expressing the mildest solidarity with Russian geeks who might also be feeling the same disappointment. Around 2000 I also remember feeling that some of most dangerous minds on the planet are lawyers, who at the turn of century were trying to give serious credence to people owning Moon plots. Despite international agreements, territorial disputes over orbital space and ridiculous "claims" to bits of other planets looks set to grow. It is our Kierkegaardian paradox that humankind loves mythologies we can't quite live up to. But that's what mythologies are for I guess.