Those magnificent businessmen in their flying machines

Billionaires Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson and Yusaku Maezawa have all recently travelled outside the Earth's atmosphere. (Illustration by Suneesh K.)

Men are from Mars, women are from Venus. The sexist truisms of John Gray’s 1992 book title, which immediately found a permanent place in relationship lexicon, could well transform into a literal take-off one of these days. Living on different planets is increasingly a feasible plan now that galactic trips are here. Imagine future rows where one can say, ‘I can’t stay on the same planet as you!’ and take off to Pluto.

Billionaires Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos and Yusaku Maezawa have zoomed off on supersonic joyrides in recent times. We may well vacate Earth soon and set up home on other heavenly bodies if we are to believe them boys. They all have space tourism companies dying to double up as packers and movers – first they take us on a drive around the stars, then they help us settle down there. Is this doable or just a macho brag? Only time travel will tell.

While Elon Musk would like us all to shift to Mars by 2026, to go from a single-planet species to a multi-planet species, Jeff says Earth will turn into a natural reserve, exclusive and special. He sees us – the common people – working and breeding on some other planet in the near future. Meanwhile, Richard’s space tourism company Virgin Galactic has already sold over 100 tickets for space trips at $450,000 apiece…

Also read: 'Will we be on Mars in 2032?' asks Elon Musk. 'Depends on you', responds Twitter

All we know as of now is that these little jaunts by them, while well-publicised and glam, don’t give us the same high as the very first and historic ones. They are no Neil Armstrong or Yuri Gagarin. That was magic, this is… commerce? Tossing candy at each other while free-floating in space and making mundane post-landing speeches seem to be the sum total of the newer trips, fuelled by PR pics. Big boys, big toys. How much of what they promise is true, how much is wishful thinking from wanting to make childhood fantasies come true?

Astronomy and space technology could well come together in the near future to usher us into a new world out there. Future generations may well wake up on the ninth cloud down the line. Perhaps that may be the only way to outrun the pandemic. And supposing this does happen in our lifetime, stepping into space – will we take to it like ducks to water or feel like fish out of water?

All mysteries will definitely come to a complete standstill. If we can one day purchase property between those twinkling stars, what then will ever be exotic to us? What will the poets talk about? They will have to stop gabbling about the moon and the stars and the blue, blue sky. Clouds will no longer be cotton candy, not when rockets pierce through them in a jiffy. Beauty metaphors will come up blank: comparisons to the moon or sun won’t flatter.

Looks like ‘love you to the moon and back’ will no longer mean ‘happily ever after’ or ‘forever’. That would henceforth describe a one-night stand.