In November, writer Andy Weir released a new novel, Artemis, about a settlement on the moon. His first book, The Martian, which you may remember from the blockbuster movie version starring Matt Damon, was powered by plot-driving engineering mishaps and triumphs. Artemis instead gave Weir a chance to unleash his inner “economics dork,” he says. This fall, Editor in Chief Katherine Mangu-Ward talked with the author about what he thinks the political economy of the moon would look like.
Q: You’ve described yourself as being a writer of hard science fiction, which is a sub-genre that’s been neglected of late.
A: There isn’t nearly as much of it out there as I’d like, because that’s what I’d like to read. I’d actually, deep down, hoped that the success of The Martian would encourage copycats. As for the other sci-fi that exists these days, I feel like it’s been hijacked by these dystopian misery worlds where only teenagers can save us from the government, and those are just not the stories I like.
Q: But what if only teenagers can save us from the government?
A: Well, that would be a world I don’t like, I guess.
Q: What would your NASA look like in an ideal world?
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