Reaching for the stars in the Age of Traveller Power

“That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”….Neil Armstrong

Now we see a resurgence in the space story – the Mars rover recently captured imagesof the red planet that were so clear it could have been in our backyard. People were fascinated, and immediately conspiracy theories on alien sightingsin the red rocks, or a Star Wars-style cruiser visible in the background, abounded.

The New Horizons spacecraft also sent home pictures of Pluto from the far reaches of our solar system. It’s hard not to get a tingle when you think of the human ingenuity and effort that’s gone in to this. Now Buzz Aldrin is telling us he wants to colonise Mars by 2040. Wow.

So where has this renewed fascination with space come from?

Perhaps it’s the vast unknown and the excitement of reaching ‘where no man has gone before’, but I think it’s got to do with our ambition to constantly reach new frontiers. And of course, good storytelling.

Have you ever checked out the NASA Instagram page? They treat us to breathtakingly awesome pictures of some remote galaxy, phenomenon or an amazing feat that wows us, every single day. They really have captured the heart and minds of the everyday person and brought back the Golden Age of (Space) travel.

OK, so we’re a long way from the Age of ‘Space’ Traveller Power, but by playing on the core of human ambition, excitement by the unknown and explorer DNA, we will get there.

Today, technology is taking us further but is still a barrier. It’s clear that some big leaps in innovation are needed. Amadeus may not be playing in the ‘space’ space – who knows, maybe one day? Nevertheless there is still plenty that can be done to innovate travel without leaving the atmosphere. We’ve already made many great leaps for mankind with our technology innovations through the years and I’m sure the future will be no different.

This definitely is not a small step but a gigantic leap for mankind!