Its 2022 and I can remember when that sort of date was considered Buck Rodgers territory.
When Science Fiction writers considered the future, they tended to think in the terms they were familiar with. Space exploration would be similar to our age of exploration where early discoveries were followed by actual colonization.
They tended to underestimate the cost of such a thing and the difficulty of settling on a hostile planet.
While some of the things they imagined might be possible, no one wants to pay for them or live in them considering an error is disastrous leaving you on a hostile planet without much expectation of help.
Despite science fiction imaginings, we can only travel through space similar to how we travel on earth, one mile at a time, making trips to other solar systems or galaxies incredibly difficult.
It might seem like a good thing theoretically but in practice we don't see any profit in it nor any real military advantage.
I'm in favor of exploring Space and the unknown but I think we need to figure out a benefit besides curiosity to justify it. Maybe mining will make it worthwhile if in fact there is anything we could mine profitably.
It doesn't seem any closer now than it did back when we were writing the Sci Fi stories.
Its not enough Science for the Fiction.
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