Plume of smoke from the burning World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, as seen from the International Space Station. The collision with reality began well before the real 2001 arrived. The real 2001 would be remembered, not for lunar colonies and contact with extraterrestrials, but for a barbaric act of primitive religious hatred. I've learned enough science since 1968 to know that direct contact with extraterrestrials, of the kind depicted in 2001: A Space Odyssey, is extremely unlikely. Robotic space exploration, however, is relatively cheap and abundantly productive.

Source: Huffington Post September 11, 2016 02:26 UTC