It’s a well-known joke in science fiction fandom circles that the silliest thing about the Star Trek franchise is the lack of seatbelts on various Starfleet craft. That said, in the 1960s, Star Trek was also one of the first mainstream science fiction TV series that actively consulted with real scientists, including experts at the Rand Corporation and NASA. By the 1970s, the inspiration of boldly going where no one has gone before resulted in the first space shuttle being named Enterprise, and in the 1980s, it was a sci-fi actor, Nichelle Nichols, who led the crusade to recruit female astronauts and people of color to NASA’s shuttle program. To put it another way: sci-fi clearly has had an impact on the history of spaceflight, but what about the other way around? Has popular science fiction gotten closer to mirroring real-life spaceflight?
If you asked that question 20 years ago, the answer would be maybe not. Because while huge sci-fi franchises broke into the mainstream in the early 21st century, it’s not like the MCU or the first 2009 J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot were super-concerned with accuracy or real space science. (What is “red matter,” anyway?) Historically, pop sci-fi's role in real space advancements was that of an ideological cheerleader, and if fans wanted harder SF, they’d generally have to turn to the printed word. But since the twenty-teens, a science fiction paradigm shift has occurred, with bigger and more mainstream projects focusing on space storytelling that hews closer to real science.
