Science Fiction for Space Sciences Outreach: Perspectives and Future Outlooks

The futures we imagine for ourselves could not vary more, especially with the many uncertainties of how new technologies are going to affect both everyday life and science specifically. Apocalyptic images of scorched Earth are prevalent in popular media, but utopian visions of peace, green cities and peaceful scientific exploration are on the rise as well. These are, so far, realms of science fiction, but at the same time also reflections of the public hopes and fears and also substrates from which arise new ideas, worries, opinions and interests. These narratives, by incorporating scientific concepts and ideas, possess the power to convey science to the public, whether accurately represented or heavily distorted. At a time when distinguishing between information and misinformation and understanding basic scientific methodology are increasingly vital to our society, exploring the role (positive as well as negative) and potential use of fictional narratives in the perception and understanding of science is not just an interesting research avenue, but a necessity.
Here, I will provide a historical as well as present-day perspective of the relationship between science fiction (SF) and space sciences, with particular emphasis on the usage of SF in science outreach and education. Ever since the advent of modern SF, practically hand in hand with the development of modern science, the genre of SF has served as a conduit between science and the wider public and helped shape public opinions about scientific and technological knowledge and possibilities, fostered interest in science and inspired future generations of scientists.
Space sciences in particular have been tackled by SF authors, be it early examples of space travel (after Verne’s and other relatively unrealistic visions came e.g. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the “father of rocket science”, but also an author who used his scientific ideas in utopian SF novels and short stories), envisaging space suits (first in 1898 in astronomer and writer Garrett P. Serviss’ novel Edison’s Conquest of Mars) or encountering life beyond Earth and discovering that we are not alone in the Universe (from earliest proto-SF by Kepler or de Fontenelle to a great number of modern works), and possibly communicating with extraterrestrial life (Carl Sagan’s Contact, exploring the issues of understanding without sharing a common life history and of epistemology, and many other works). These and more are "big questions" appealing to scientists, authors and the public alike, and they carry a substantial potential for outreach and educational efforts.  Even early authors such as H. G. Wells reflected the scientific knowledge and speculation in their work (such as thoughts about the possibility of a civilization on Mars at that time), popularized science and even argued for using more of the language and methods of popular fiction in what we would now call science outreach (Wells 1894).
However, despite this long tradition, there has been little systematic research into the relationship between SF and science and the specific ways SF can influence public perceptions of the field or even potentially sway (e.g. via shaping preconceptions in the minds of policy-makers) the direction of scientific research and technological innovation and to what extent SF is influenced by existing science of its day, newly explored by Puranen et al. (2024) for exoplanets. The educational and outreach potential of SF has been highlighted for the example of Mars fiction by Lockard and Goggin (2023) of Arizona State University.
I will briefly go through the history of SF and space sciences, existing educational and outreach efforts, and specific lessons learned from the SF anthologies of the European Astrobiology Institutes, out of which Life Beyond Us has been presented at the EPSC at its early planning stages (Novakova, 2021). Finally, I'm going to draw potential future directions from these key points, and provide tips for the use of SF in space sciences outreach.

References
Lockard, J., & Goggin, P. (2023). Teaching Mars Literature. Science & Education, 32(3), 821-844.
Novakova, J. N. (2021). Science Fiction for Planetary Science & Astrobiology Outreach: Life Beyond Us (No. EPSC2021-870). Copernicus Meetings.
Puranen, E. J., Finer, E., Helling, C., & Smith, V. A. (2024). Science fiction media representations of exoplanets: portrayals of changing astronomical discoveries. Journal of Science Communication, 23(1), A04.
Wells, H. G. (1894). Popularising science. The Observatory, Vol. 17, p. 291-294 (1894), 17, 291-294.