(1999) pencil on paper. At Newark airport, embarking on the first leg of my trip to Aussiecon. I attended the World SF Convention through most of the 1990s, falling around the time of Labor day each year, which meant that I never went to the annual Space: 1999 convention scheduled for the same days. This year was of course going to be a special one.

Airport technology of the late 60s onward was the stuff of science fiction, when airports became practically sealed environments from the moment you entered the ticketing concourse until you set foot on the aircraft via a telescoping jetway. That was one of the things that made Moonbase Alpha's landing pads seem believable, an extension of the present day where the future is now.

And being aboard a jetliner, you're practically in a spacecraft or submarine already - a pressurized vessel that contains an artificially maintained livable environment for the duration of your travel though an otherwise unlivable environment.