The Coming Space Age

Eric C. Anderson has had a variety of tech and entrepreneurial identities, and The Atlantic's James Fallows spoke with him in his role as chairman and co-founder of Space Adventures. That company has made a business of sending customers into space.

The subject of the discussion was the future of space travel:

James Fallows: Space exploration seems to have lost its hold on the public imagination, compared with a generation ago.

Eric Anderson: I think absolutely they are right to feel a little bit disappointed. On April 12, 1961, the first human being, Yuri Gagarin, goes to space. Then, July 29, 1969: We're on the moon. If you and I were doing this interview on July 30, 1969 and you had asked me what space exploration would be like in the year 2013, I would've told you it would be far more advanced than it is now.