Science fiction invites us to imagine the universe as it could be, and to find our place in it. "To boldly go," as one show put it.
In a 1968 episode of Star Trek, the writers dreamt up a new engine called an ion engine, a fanciful form of propulsion.
Some years later NASA, inspired by Star Trek, decided to prototype the engine and it worked. It's often quoted as an example of science fiction inspiring science.
These days, Dr Brad Tucker and Dr Natasha Hurley-Walker are highly regarded scientists: experts in their fields of astrophysics and radio-astronomy.
But once upon a time, they were young people, wondering what their future would hold.
In the Drawing Room, they share their inspirations and the way it impacts their work today.