SAN ANTONIO — When Spock said “to boldly go where no one has gone before,” he must have been talking about SpaceCon San Antonio, right?
Villains and heroes, senior citizens and children all shared their passion for space at this convention in San Antonio this past weekend.
What many people told Spectrum News is the love for space is reminiscent of what the U.S. saw in the 20th century with race to space.
“People would dream about going to space, but now it’s more real,” Victor Rodriguez said. “Now it’s becoming a reality with SpaceX here in Texas.”
Rodriguez and his daughters Chloe and Sophia love everything about space.
“We are huge ‘Star Wars’ fans, since we were born (because of) this man,” Sophia and Chloe said.
Rodriguez said it’s a specific era.
“The original ‘Star Wars,’ the OG ones,” Rodriguez said jokingly.
The sisters were asked if they would fly into space. Sophia said no, but she knows her sister Chloe wouldn’t be scared.
“I’m the first one in line,” Chloe said.
The fascination with space is even helping Texas Children’s Hospital thanks to a “Star Trek” booth, which accepted donations at the convention. It was a booth run by USS Zavala, a Houston “Star Trek” fan club.
“Being at these cons, obviously we like to see the talent, but when we go out, we are giving back to the community almost every time,” Julie Jones said.
They saw hundreds of people in three days, and more foot traffic means more donations for a cause.
“Just space in general is something that [is] intriguing to a lot of people,” Chris Bess, a Disney employee said. “We do see a lot of it motion pictures and in TV shows.”
Folks even tune in to the news to see rockets launch.
The convention also had a lot of Victor Wembanyama jerseys. Wemby, who many believe is from another planet, likely would have been at SpaceCon, but he was next door at the Frost Bank Center putting up 31 points, snatching 14 rebounds and blocking six shots.
SpaceCon was more than enough evidence that the love of space will be here for generations to come.