zlacker

>>belter+(OP)
It’s so inspiring when you see how these things are just built to last.

quote: “In the past, engineers have compared keeping the probes operational to keeping an old car running. The tech is severely outdated, yet it keeps ticking over – a trend often seen in the spacecraft of past decades.”

At some point us humans will probably simply have forgotten how to maintain them.

>>alex_s+O5
The Foundation series covers this as well though I can't really recommend the book series. I tried a re-read when the TV show came out and felt pretty icky with how women were portrayed in the books. Also they aren't as good I remember. The TV completely diverges from the books but in a good way IMHO. Normally that bothers me a lot but after rereading the first book again I think I prefer the TV show.

>>joshst+9X
I loved the series as young teen but rereading the first book was a disappointment. I'll be checking out Foundation after I finish Silo.

>>pstuar+Ua1
Space opera is my favorite genre but I've failed to get through the Foundation series probably 20 times now so this may be terrible advice but it's recommended to not read them in publication order by Asimov himself.

This has a good breakdown: https://www.reddit.com/r/Asimov/wiki/seriesguide/

edit: Somehow I got Foundation mixed up with Banks' Culture series. I think I have gotten through most of Foundation if not all but I've had a hard time with the Culture series, there I usually start with Player of Games..

>>swozey+Vj1
The Culture series is good but I've struggled with getting through it all as well. If you like space opera I can highly recommend the Honor Harrington series, the first book being On Basilisk Station [0]. This has held up for me for well over a decade and I've reread the entire series (~14 books IIRC) at least 4-5 times. I've heard it described as "Horatio Hornblower in space" but I never read that series so I can't speak to that.

[0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35921.On_Basilisk_Statio...

>>joshst+zn1
Incidentally, On Basilisk Station is a free e-book at the publisher's website [0]. They also have an online HTML version [1]. So you can try the first book in the series to see how you like it before purchasing any of the others.

[0] https://www.baen.com/on-basilisk-station.html

[1] https://www.baen.com/readonline/index/read/sku/0743435710

>>a_e_k+Eh2
I'm a big fan of the audiobooks for this series as well, the narrator does a very good job IMHO.