It's never going to happen this way...is it?

[Amaris]

I think it is possible. I think the major change will be in the aliens themselves.
There is a chance that we'll look similar, but evolutionary traits would develop beyond wrinkled noses or pointed ears, I'd wager.

That being said, I believe that if we start truly funding the space programs, push for private enterprise to dive in, and make it a goal, then yes, well before 300 years we could see something along the lines of what we see in Star Trek.

J.

 

[Deckerd]

You know, I actually imagine a future space civilization being very similar to what we see on BSG, the new one.

The problem is, we have mostly only seen BSG's fleet post-holocaust. We've never seen them in their prime, as it were.

I don't. If (and its a very big if) humans ever find another habitable planet outside this solar system, it will be discovered by sub-light travel and they will settle on it and use the hardware to build cities. We are a planet dwelling species. Living in the void will never be an attraction for more than a few scientists and crackpots.

 

[Balthier the Great]

Port and Starborad make little sense in space though. It makes sense in the ocean because you're navigating a 2D space. Space is 3D, so they'll probably ditch that in favor of something more suited to space.

I think we'll have hyperdrives. I doubt we'll ever have transporters -- they aren't really needed. Why transport and risk the accidental loss of your cargo (or worse your captain) when you can take a shuttle?

And no, we aren't going to blow ourselves up by the 24th century. I think we'll eventually come together and live in peace. 80% of the world or so is already pretty peaceful. And we've been trying to create a peaceful planet for a while.

 

[kissthestar]

I wonder if all science fiction isn't just a way for us to beat mortality for a moment by speculating about what will happen next?

 

[kevjulian]

I would like to think that Star Trek is About bettering ourselves. I think that our US Navy and Nasa pay their respects to Star trek in small ways. They look at what our future could be. I tend to sway more towards optimism and hope our world will become more like the federation in the future.

Kev

 

[RandyS]

You know, I actually imagine a future space civilization being very similar to what we see on BSG, the new one.

Actually, I see us evolving more into Babylon 5. In many ways, we already have.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Port and Starborad make little sense in space though.

Not relative to your own ship, they don't.

 

[-Brett-]

Captains? Port and Starboard?

The Bridge?

There are plenty of far fetched ideas in Star Trek, but I don't see what's particularly hard to swallow about these three.

 

[USS KG5]

^^

I love that movie - and yes I know what it means before you all start...

 

[TigerOfDarkness]

You know, I actually imagine a future space civilization being very similar to what we see on BSG, the new one.

The problem is, we have mostly only seen BSG's fleet post-holocaust. We've never seen them in their prime, as it were.

I don't. If (and its a very big if) humans ever find another habitable planet outside this solar system, it will be discovered by sub-light travel and they will settle on it and use the hardware to build cities. We are a planet dwelling species. Living in the void will never be an attraction for more than a few scientists and crackpots.

You seem very sure - what makes you so certain?

Living in space habitats with rotation induced artificial gravity might prove popular - lower gravity would help older people wouldn't it?

Zero-G might prove a fun place to try new sports and 3D-ballets and other stuff that will be obvious when we've done it but isn't now.

Whilst it currently seems like future space missions will be crewed by AIs as Temis the Vorta suggested, I bet there are people who'd do space tourism now, if they could.