The Future as We've Shown It: The Human Future in Space as Seen in Science Fiction

Historians of the Space Age have pointed to the importance of space popularization, including the work of space illustrators like Chesley Bonestell and his contemporary science fiction authors and filmmakers, in selling a space future to the American public. But what was this future, and who was allowed/expected to participate in it? If space was the next frontier, who would be the pioneers? And what alternative visions of space and the human future in space were available? Moreover, why has the field of space history tended to focus unreflexively on the white producers and consumers of space culture? This paper examines multiple visions of the future, and futurist images, to attempt to answer these questions. Going outside of the traditionally defined space literary cannon, this paper also looks at Latino- and Afrofuturist images in an effort to expand our notion of the cultural meaning and value(s) of American space activity and exploration.