WSJ: NASA Tries to Rewrite the Book on Science Fiction

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Subhead: Agency's Partnership With Novelists Will Produce 'NASA-Inspired Works of Fiction'

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304450904579369080192863224

With restraint, I will refrain from editorial comment on the juicy phrase: "NASA-Inspired Works of Fiction."

From the article:/




In William Forstchen's new science fiction novel, "Pillar to the Sky," there are no evil cyborgs, alien invasions or time travel calamities. The threat to humanity is far more pedestrian: tightfisted bureaucrats who have slashed NASA's budget.

The novel is the first in a new series of "NASA-Inspired Works of Fiction," which grew out of a collaboration between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and science fiction publisher Tor.

Sound like riveting reading.

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I should say that the reason I posted this is to probe what other Avalonians think about this. We've often heard witnesses suggest that sci-fi writers are "plugged-in" or "knew something" when they came up with their plots. Witnesses have pointed to writers like Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury and others as conduits for all sorts of scientific or esoteric knowledge that isn't publicly shared by scientists. If that's true at all, this would seem to be an unnecessary action. So now, with this overt effort, what is the real purpose? It's clearly not being done to improve the quality of sci-fi.