8th+grade+-+Golden+Age+of+SF+-+Scientific+Achievements+(5th+block)

The scientific achievements influenced by or reflected in the stories of the Golden Age of Science Fiction.

Cultural Discussion- Scientific Achievements-Space Travel

Ever since the idea of space travel was conjured up in the mind of humans, it has fascinated the mind man for ages and was the topic of many Science Fiction stories before the reality of space travel was reached in the early 1960’s. From then on Science Fiction writing would never be the same. It's influence on the Sci-Fi genre would be astronomical and open doors for authors to come. Space Travel (see Space Exploration) began in 1961 with the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin. His historic flight set the stage for more than the Space Race, but also ushered in New Wave Science Fiction from the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Every Science Fiction writer got the chance to tell their family and friends “I told you so!” Space travel helped to get the big wheels turning on the train of Science Fiction. It helped to kicks start the minds of science Fiction writers. In a way, humans actually being able to travel into space was both a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing because it gave some possible truth to their writing and ideas and didn’t make them seem //so// wacky, but it was also a curse in the same way in that it took away from the wacky, crazy ideas that the authors may have had to begin with.
 * __Maurice Chester__**

http://www.magicdragon.com/UltimateSF/timeline1970.html http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/sts1/gagarin_anniversary.html Lunar Landing Yuri Gagarin