"This is the moment of the homogenization of the world, when the diversities of societies are eroding, when a global civilization is emerging. There are no exotic places left on Earth to dream about. And for this reason there remains an even greater and more poignant need today for a vehicle, a device, to get us somewhere else. Not all of us; only a few – to the deserts of the Moon, the ancient seacoasts of Mars, the forests of the sky. There is something comforting in the idea that one day a few representatives of our little terrestrial village might venture to the great galactic cities."