1) I guess I'm doing a thread about #sciencefiction and #space advocacy and communication. Bleh. Let's start by agreeing #scifi is wonderful. I love it, founded a sf book club at my work, and generally try to keep up with books, films, tv. It's a big part of my life and who I am.

2) But sf references are used way too often in #space advocacy and communication. I understand the impulse: to excite the public, reference something they know, etc. #BabyYoda is everywhere at the moment, but other references abound. There are several problems with this.

3) First, sf isn't real. I know, right? But when you link fictional sf with actual #space achievements, you set yourself up to disappoint those not well-versed in the magnitude of these achievements. Nothing we can achieve is going to SEEM as cool as sf to laypeople.

4) Second and related, comparisons or references to sf detract from explaining why space ops are important and impressive. It's a shortcut, instead of doing the hard but rewarding work of explaining what is happening, and why, and why that's a big deal.

5) #Crew1 isn't cool because there's a toy Baby Yoda on board. It's cool because thousands of people stuck four people on top of a giant reusable rocket and launched it into space to live in a multi-billion-dollar international structure to conduct real science. TALK ABOUT THAT.

6) Third. Maybe you think the cutesy sf references are just the teaser, and "get people interested." They probably do produce clicks and eyeballs! But you know what else they produce? Giggle factor. All of us in the #spaceindustry know what I'm talking about.

7) How many meetings have you had with outsiders that started with a space joke? Some reference to living long and prospering, using the force, or whatever. Maybe you made those jokes yourself. But: do you hear the same kind of jokes when you sit in on meetings on other topics?

8) Sf references do get quick and easy engagement. Like a candy bar. But they reinforce the idea that space ops are by and for a subset of the population. Call us nerds or whatever. Fun to read about for thirty seconds but not truly serious, not core to humanity and survival.

9) I worry that the constant sf references linked to space ops are actually counterproductive and are directly linked to poor funding and changes in direction. Because we imply that this is all just for fun, a little sprinkle of sugar on top of the "real work" humanity does.

10) There are ways to use sf well. As inspiration for ideas, absolutely. To draw analogies to help explain real things, yes! But just slapping pop-culture sf references onto space ops is lazy, counterproductive, and feels a little infantilizing.