Beyond : our future in space
Beyond tells the story of humanity leaving home -- and how humans will soon thrive in the vast universe beyond the earth. A propulsive voyage through space and time, Beyond reveals how centuries of space explorers -- from the earliest stargazers to today's cutting-edge researchers -- all draw inspiration from an innate human emotion: wanderlust. This urge to explore led us to multiply around the globe, and it can be traced in our DNA. Today, the urge to discover manifests itself in jaw-dropping ways: plans for space elevators poised to replace rockets at a fraction of the cost; experiments in suspending and reanimating life for ultra-long-distance travel; prototypes for solar sails that coast through space on the momentum of microwaves released from the Earth. With these ventures, private companies and entrepreneurs have the potential to outpace NASA as the leaders in a new space race. Combining knowledge of astronomy and avant-garde technology, Chris Impey guides us through the possibilities for the next century of exploration. In twenty years, a commercial space industry will be operating. In thirty years, there will be small but viable colonies on the Moon and Mars. In fifty years, mining technology will have advanced enough to harvest resources from asteroids. In a hundred years, a cohort of humans born off-Earth will come of age without ever visiting humanity's home planet. This is not the stuff of science fiction but rather the logical extension of already available technologies
eBook, English, 2016
First edition View all formats and editions
W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 2016
History
1 online resource (xii, 321 pages : illustrations, map)
9780393246643, 0393246647
1335734498
Dreaming of beyond
Rockets and bombs
Send in the robots
Revolution is coming
Meet the entrepreneurs
Beyond the horizon
A plethora of planets
The next space race
Our next home
Remote sensing
Living off-Earth
Journey to the stars
Cosmic companionship
A universe made for us
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