Beyond: Our Future in Space

Beyond dares to imagine a fantastic future for humans in spacexand then reminds us that wexre already thereHuman exploration has been an unceasing engine of technological progress from the first homo sapiens to leave our African cradle to a future in which mankind promises to settle another world Beyond tells the epic story of humanity leaving homexand how humans will soon thrive in the vast universe beyond the earthA dazzling and propulsive voyage through space and time Beyond reveals how centuries of space explorersxfrom the earliest stargazers to todayxs cutting-edge researchersxall 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 DNAToday 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 raceCombining expert knowledge of astronomy and avant-garde technology Chris Impey guides us through the heady possibilities for the next century of exploration In twenty years a vibrant 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 humanityxs home planet This is not the stuff of science fiction but rather the logical extension of already available technologiesBeyond shows that space exploration is not just the domain of technocrats but the birthright of everyone and the destiny of generations to come To continue exploration is to ensure our survival Outer space a limitless unknown awaits us illustrations.