From the lofty height of some six decades as a writer of the hardest, most scientifically accurate science fiction, Clement says the early developments in space travel came much faster than he expected.
In fact, while he thought he'd see people in space in his lifetime, he didn't expect it to happen in the 1960s.
He gives the space race between the United States and the USSR a lot of credit for those advances. Sputnik and other early Russian successes, he says, were "a good boot to the pants" for the U.S. space program.
Unfortunately, the space program stalled after Apollo, a situation Clement calls "painful."
Next stop: the moon?
Clement has some sympathy for arguments that money spent in space should be spent for social programs on Earth instead -- but not much. He thinks most of the programs are the result of population pressures, and says he's "generally unsympathetic to irresponsible breeding."
Should manned space exploration get into high gear again, he suggests that we go back to the moon to stay.
"The moon has the resources for a self-sufficient base," he says, "and it's a good stepping off point for further exploration."
The main difficulties facing a revitalized space program, he believes, are political. Since he's worried that the government will not fully support a bold exploration program, he hopes private enterprise will become involved.
A solar system full of life?
Clement is more optimistic about the prospect that life exists elsewhere in the solar system.
He says he's "inclined to think there's
may exist under the icy surface.
However, he believes that biological processes are "natural phenomena," and, as such, he is inclined to think life could occur anywhere sufficient materials are available.
He points to Jupiter as an example of a world with plenty of materials for life -- albeit life very different from Earth -- all constantly churning and recombining in that planet's turbulent atmosphere.
"If I were looking for life with no preconceived notions," Clement says, "I'd look at Jupiter first."
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