Only posting a link!
This is from Nov of 2006, but I thought it worth rereading:
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1106/pjohnson.php3
Esteemed historian Paul Johnson (author of MODERN TIMES) says that the human race would be wise to invest in a space program and study the means for evacuating the Earth in case the planet Bellus or Bronson Alpha or Mongo should collide with us. I submit to you that science fiction is no longer aside from the mainstream.