The Influence of Mass Media on Society’s Views of Space Travel during the Cold War -- Space and Media -- The use of space in a meaningful manner as part of popular culture in the form of the science fiction film -- The Role of Space in Aesthetic and Practical Design of Automobiles -- Space Robots -- Artificial Gravity in Popular Culture -- Youngsters, Dreams and Motivation for Space Exploration -- Clowns in Space -- Keeping the Torch Burning for ‘Good Science’ in Popular Culture: Video Games, Space, and Education -- Regarding Influences of Space on Popular Culture via the Medium of Science Fiction -- Unspoiled Space: The Use of Space in Popular Culture as a Caution against Environmental Degradation on Earth -- Predictions of Science fiction that came true -- Seven Billion Deer in the Headlights Humankind’s reactions and solutions to a large impact event, according to Hollywood -- Hope at the Frontier: Firefly and the Value of Space Exploration -- Space Activities of Animals in African Fairytales.

This book provides detailed insights into how space and popular culture intersect across a broad spectrum of examples, including cinema, music, art, arcade games, cartoons, comics, and advertisements. This is a pertinent topic since the use of space themes differs in different cultural contexts, and these themes can be used to explore various aspects of the human condition and provide a context for social commentary on politically sensitive issues. With the use of space imagery evolving over the past sixty years of the space age, this is a topic ripe for in-depth exploration. The book also discusses the contrasting visions of space from the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the reality of today, and analyzes space vehicles and habitats in popular depictions of space from an engineering perspective, exploring how many of those ideas have actually been implemented in practice, and why or why not (a case of life imitating art and vice versa). As such, it covers a wide array of relevant and timely topics examining intersections between space and popular culture, and offering accounts of space and its effect on culture, language, and storytelling from the southern regions of the world.