To the layman our modes of space travel can seem a little mundane. Giant boosters strapped to a rocket ship or built into it blast gallons upon gallons of fuel to propel the rocket into space. The closest propulsion engines in existence to the imagination of man are the ion engines that propelled the Deep Space 1 and Dawn missions. It’s the imagination of man that fuels the NASA space agency, and it’s the imagination of man that criticizes it at the same time. Because while the imagination of man might provide the drive to go forward, it also provides an unrealistic expectation of results.
Recently at Star Wars Celebration V in Orlando, FL a group of Star Wars filmmakers and fans took the time out of collecting swag and spending money to stop by the NASA booth. They didn’t stop by just to pick up a pamphlet for the Kennedy Space Center, they stopped by to talk space travel. Specifically, faster than light space travel. You know, warp drives. While warp drives appear to have been used in Star Wars, most are familiar with them from Star Trek. Yes, this is another GeekDad post that mentions both Star Wars and Star Trek.