2050: Space Odyssey - Future Prospects in Space Studies

The film of the British director Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey, which was released in 1968, one year before the first manned space flight to the Moon, surprises even many people today with its predictions about the technological level humanity will reach in space adventure. In the movie, humanity established colonies on the Moon and Mars in 2001, started space mining, regular cargo and passenger space flights began between the Earth and the colonies, and research began for the creation of new colonies on other planets of the Solar System. It is also envisaged that humanity has gone a long way in terms of robots, artificial intelligence, space engines, and many more areas.

Kubrick is correct in most of his predictions; however, he may have been wrong about the calendar for about 50 years. Progress has been made in artificial intelligence, robots, spacecraft, and many others, however, it is understood that humanity will need some time to create a “Space Odyssey” in many areas, especially the colonization of space. When the advances in nanotechnology, additive manufacturing, microelectronics, materials science, robotics, and other information technologies, as well as developments in space launch vehicles and space transportation vehicles, are considered, it is possible to predict that by 2050, the general landscape in space will be similar to the space shown in Kubrick’s movie. The aim of the study is to convey the predictions about the progress that are believed to be made in the field of space until 2050...