EUtopias and Other Futures: A European Journal of Science Fiction

By Péter MARTON ** Join the  European Science Fiction group  on Facebook for related discussions. ** To answer the question raised in the title: I have no idea, other than: "why not." (I did it, anyway.) (Also, keep in mind that in Russia, Christmas Day is January 7, 2020.) This actually sums up the nature of my experience with this movie well: hailed as well as ridiculed as Russia's response to the Marvel superhero universe, Zashchitniki (The Guardians)   clearly entertains more when watched with little to no expectations. Or, basically, as trash, sifting through which one may strike gold sometimes.  Which is not to say that you will strike 24-karat gold in this case — it's just the idea of why you could embark on watching the movie in the first place, or at all. The plot is of the kind that even five-year-old children could quickly come up with, given the right incentives. But that should be no reason to bash this movie too badly. The team behind it ...

Depiction of the Lunar Lander, as it would have been. By Péter MARTON ** Join the  European Science Fiction group  on Facebook for related discussions. ** Israel may be about to become the fourth nation on this planet , after the U.S., the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China to complete some kind of proper landing on the Moon. No simple manoeuvre! You have to transition to lunar orbit, get the descent right, and then find a good landing spot, which tends to be complicated in terrain covered by boulders, craters and extensive fully-shadowed areas where there may be... more boulders and craters. Some issues of typology. Lunar landings come in a variety. They can be manned or unmanned, soft (when you can still take off with what you touch down) or hard (when you touch down hard). If you crash-land, it may still be useful for various purposes but obviously requires less of a fine-tuned ability in approaching Luna. The three nations mentioned above are ...