And when the earth dies, here will be no more supply ships. If we do not have the will and technology to fix up the earth to which we have naturally adapted, what on earth makes you think we can survive on a planet where we do not have earth to breathe?

My late father witnessed the first rocket designs in Berlin in the 30s, lectured the Royal Air Force on reaching the moon in the early 40s, published diagrams on basic rocket design in the early 60s, and was president and chairman of both the astronomical and engineering society for most of his life, etc.

In other words, I have grown up with this stuff.

Our atmosphere is becoming unsuitable for us, and many scientists think we will be extinct within 80 years. Even if we do not, even if there are just a few of us left, therr will not be a sufficiently advanced society to send supplies to Mars.

While all sorts of things are being conceptualized, the reality will be very different. In the 50s and 60s, life was conceptualized as to what it would look like today. All of it was wrong. We are not all flying around in cars, for instance.

My late father lectured to the Royal Air Force in 1945 on what life would look like in 2045. He got about 80% of it right.

The thing that most fascinated me was that there would be a fight between capitalism and socialism.

It is not a lack of imagination on my part that man will never explore outer space — to go where no man has gone before. It is an ability to put all the pieces together and see where they lead — it’s an ability I inherited from my late father.