Space Planes
Dreams of the Near Future Part 1
The New Space Era
According to the BBC, the British Richard Branson announced his intention to make a “space plane” back in 2004, expecting he would have a commercial service available by 2007. But it wasn’t until a few days ago, on July 11, 2021, that his dream began coming true, as he traveled for the first time as a passenger on board Virgin Galactic Unity 22, expecting customers aboard next year.
It was 2014 when Branson’s company, Virgin Galactic, stopped selling the 250,000 USD seats due to a crash that occurred during a test. But alas, here we are again, and a few days ago, the company announced that it would be raising the ticket prices to 300,000 and 400,000 USD expecting thousands of buyers to line up.
However, that wasn’t a full in-space flight; the adventure lasted only an hour, and it was a trip to the “edge of space,” just up to where the sky turns black and you can see the Earth’s horizon curving away into the distance.
Traveling in Dreams
I have a dozen reasons why you should be interested in remembering your dreams, but to name just one, it is because of traveling. As it so happens, I already bought my ticket to a weekend-long trip to the Moon and traveled so much more than what will include the aforementioned 300,000 USD ride.
The first dream I have on record regarding space travel is of March 2003. Sadly, I had begun documenting my dreams only a few months before, and I cannot remember whether I had already experienced this. Scenes of the near future followed randomly, and on December 18, 2005, I went on that breathtaking voyage.
My partner and I were supposed to travel together to the Moon. The trip lasted from that very Friday afternoon till the following Monday; we had already bought our tickets but were running late.
We hurried back home to ready our suitcases only to find that the bathroom was pouring out water and it needed to get fixed immediately. Now I know how fortunate it was for us to decide I should be the one to go: the voyage needed to get documented, and I was far more skilled at that.
I arrived at the lunar station barely on time. I could have decided to leave on the next flight, scheduled to depart only two hours later, but I didn’t want to delay my return, so I boarded right away. Interestingly, the prospect didn’t seem all that exciting to me: flights were already a regular occurrence, and I would have preferred to stay home. Oh, how shortsighted!
Unlike Branson’s space airplane, this was more like a NASA rocket, more like Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin 18-meter spaceship that launches vertically.
Ten passengers or so, each seated beside a window to the left and right, with no less than 1.5 meters between us and a central corridor at least 2 meters wide.
After leaving the atmosphere, the journey seemed endless; we had already crossed six constellations and we still hadn’t arrived to our destination.
As agreed, armed with a pen and a regular notebook, I intended to start writing down my impressions; however, the only entry on my record ended up being: “The only thing about space is this immense feeling of loneliness.” Eternity. Infinity. Vastness. Awe. Ineffable… I can still recall.
How Real is a Dream?
You could say that the experience isn’t as authentic as if it had happened in this physical reality, but allow me to point out that the past produces a very similar feeling, does it not? Ask someone who has lost their memory.
I was just watching the Netflix Series BioHackers. Spoiler warning for Season 2 (Biohackers, Netflix, 2020) in which the main character loses her memories of three months. In Episode 3, upon retrieving a memory, her boyfriend challenges her: “Maybe it is one of your hallucinations.”
Imagine waking up blank one day at twenty-something. Obviously, you have a past, and if you happen to be a lucid dreamer, you would have difficulty telling them apart. If it weren’t for the fact that the mind anchors memories in a time continuum and experiences follow the laws of this third dimension, you would be lost.
You get my point: memories have this very same flavor of dreams; some are foggy, some are much more physical, but neither feels real. The only “real” thing is the present moment; the only thing that feels utterly tangible is the now.
Many of my dreams have left a more profound imprint on me than most of this lifetime’s experiences. I know they were actual journeys and feel as “real” as a memory does — if you know what I mean. Just saying.
Sneaking into the Future
What if space launch facilities became as common as amusement parks? Furthermore, what if they turned out to be as common as shopping malls? Well, I have peeked into something of the sort.
It was also 2005 when in dreams, I was entering the parking lot of the largest mall in Latin America located in the Santa Fe area of Mexico City, up in the hills that surround the immense valley. As I was crossing past the ticket dispensing machine in my car, I saw a space rocket taking off from around an emblematic corporate building of the area nicknamed “El Pantalón.”
The unprecedented happening took me by surprise, but even in my wonderment, I was able to immediately pick up my mobile phone and call the friend with whom I would be having breakfast; she should be arriving at the mall in her own car any minute, and thus be in a great position to take a close look at the spaceship.
As it gained altitude, the front capsule detached from the vessel and continued upwards on its own. I never considered where the expendable launch vehicle would end up crashing. Mhmmm.
In 2006 I had a similar dream.
I went for a walk in my neighborhood; I needed some fresh air after discussing serious matters with my sister but I quickly found myself at what could have been an amusement park.
Curved rails lying alongside a large pool served for the continual take-off and landing of spacecrafts. This ride could have been one of the many attractions -allegedly the main one, and many people were being transported out into space every few minutes.
Possible and Probable Futures
In a way, there is nothing spectacular about these dreams; spaceships have been in our collective imagination since… forever. The Maya seem to have had their own down in Palenque, right? But specifically talking about recent history, Jules Verne published From the Earth to the Moon in 1867, 154 years ago. Ray Bradbury published a story about conquering Mars in The Martian Chronicles in 1950. The Star Wars’ first film, A New Hope, hit the screen in 1977. And to name only one, already in 1997, the film Gattaca depicted a space launch facility continuously carrying passengers to other worlds.
But also, take note that, unlike dreams, both imagination and science fiction involve the mind, however small an intervention it may have. A lengthy dissertation this might turn out to be. For now, suffice it to say that I feel that the realities we visit in dreams are actual potential futures, possible and probable, given the path of human development; I believe that there is a distinctive air of truth to them.
For example, I consider the 2017 episode of Black Mirror, “USS Callister,” to be possible, but it doesn’t strike me like an actual potential future. Watch it! Stunning science fiction.
Well, only a glimpse into the near future, say 25 years from now. Mind you, sixteen years have already gone by!
Aberdeem
Proofreading: Norma Ojeda / Colombia
Thank You
A special thank you note to all those who have kindly supported me in this endeavor; it is invaluable!
Clap
Did you know you can offer as many as 50 applauses for each story? I didn’t.
The Invitation
If you have any related experiences in dreams, please share; they will enrich us all. Otherwise, join, follow, share and if you feel like it, support. Sponsors or investors for The Book of Dreams are very much welcome or you can Buy Me a Coffee.
Background
If you want to know what this blog is about, you may want to read the following post:
If you want to know how the dreaming experience unfolded for me, you may want to read the following post:
If you care to learn about A Thousand Dreams’ origin and destiny, The Launch is the post. The idea came to me two years after I began writing and took shape and gained notoriety really quickly thanks to Adamus Saint-Germain and the Crimson Circle.
And if you want to have fun, take the quiz:
Other than that, in this blog you will find posts about many types of dreams and their relationship to our physical reality. Hope you enjoy them!
Reach Out
Contact me at aberdeem144@gmail.com. I will be happy to hear from you.
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