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:: 30.AUGUST.2010 :: Commentary #377

Am I too old or overweight to board a spaceship?

The University of Colorado (CU) at Boulder sent me a clear message last week. Nobody from CU called me or sent an email. But two recent CU’s press releases forced me to think about what I do and about my future.

The first press released announced the “discontinuance of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication,” to be replaced by a program on information and communication technology. The reason is clear: the role of the press and journalism has changed. And you can’t argue with that.

I spent almost 25 years as a professional journalist and journalism is a significant portion of what I do every day. For that reason, the “discontinuance” the journalism school at CU-Boulder forced to think about the future of my career. And it seems it is not a bright one, not at least for me.

According to Futurist.com, journalism is one of the occupations that will disappear in the near future, together with teachers, truckers, car dealers, and real estate agents. To that list, Forbes.com adds machine operators, appliance repair persons, and local artists.

What kind of jobs will replace journalism and the other occupations now marching to the twilight of history? I found the answer in the second press release issued last week by CU-Boulder, where it was announced CU and seven other universities are now part of a program to develop commercial space travel.

This is not science-fiction. The new Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, created by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is part of the Office of Commercial Space Transportation, created in 1984.

Since then, this office issued licenses to more than 200 companies and approved the construction and operation of eight spaceports. The situation is similar to what aviation was during the first few decades of the 20th century.

So, while I am looking for stories and news – and all indications are this is something will soon disappear- other are building spaceports and studying the launching and operations of commercial space vehicles, or writing the laws and regulations for those vehicles.

I wonder if one day there will be a place for me to write for Mars Today or for The Voice of the Moon. But I wonder even more about how I will adapt to a future that, because it is closer than ever, I feel it very distant.

Perhaps I am too old or too overweight to board a commercial spaceship. Or perhaps the “discontinuance” of my profession and the arrival of a future where it seems there is no place for me are the least of my worries.

According to information released last week by Australasian Science, astronomers are predicting that a massive solar storm will hit our planet in 2012 with the force of 100 million hydrogen bombs, enough to potentially cause worldwide chaos.

I wonder how much a ticket to the Moon will cost in late 2012 and if they will allow me to board the spaceship with my book about the Mayan prophecies.