Space and the ocean share a lot of similarities. Both space and the ocean present abundant opportunity for human exploration and discovery. To prepare for space travel, NASA’s NEEMO simulation requires astronauts to live underwater for a several days. While, the universe is more vast and unintelligible than our ocean, the planets of our solar system have been mapped with higher resolution the sea floor. Fixated on pushing the limits of impossibility, we consistently look to space rather than investigating what remains undiscovered on earth. NOAA has an annual budget of 5 billion dollars, while NASA’s stands at nearly 23 billion as of 2020. Space travel may even be a barrier to deep sea exploration. While SF’s fascination with space has possibly contributed to the neglect of earthly exploration, the genre has had many love affairs with the sea. Giving more attention to underwater SF may help push sea exploration deeper into our collective unconscious. It could be the Marina Trench, not Mars, that holds the hospitable potential for holding future human populations. I found this link (https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/under_the_sea) on The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. If you are interested in underwater SF, check out their list; it is expansive. The ocean deserves some love!