I am someone who in theory is very interested in the idea of space exploration: on one level I really get the ‘because it’s there’ attitude, and I absolutely think that For Science is a good reason to do difficult things. On the other hand, the sheer amounts of money that are being and have been spent on getting a tiny number of people into space and keeping them safe are eye-watering; earthly health and education and public transport infrastructure all feel like a much (much) better idea. And so Andrew Dana Hudson’s essay about how and why space exploration is functionally dead right now feels timely, as does its question about why SF writers like to keep writing about it (to which there are many possible answers). Definitely something to ponder.