Uranus:
probes to, 52
as uninhabitable, 125
V-2 ballistic missile (Retaliation/Vengeance Weapon 2), 30–36, 33, 47, 48
vacuum:
as lethal, 54, 108
rocket function in, 30
of space, 70, 108, 126, 195, 222
Vanguard rocket, 36–38, 269
Van Thillo, Mark, 194
Vega (star), 236
Venera 7, 51
Venus:
Earth compared to, 171, 215
fly-by of, 51
nanobot exploration of, 182
probes to, 40, 51, 184, 270
property rights on, 145
as uninhabitable, 124
Verne, Jules, 26, 28, 117, 183, 239
vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) rockets, 103
Very Large Array, 236
videoconferencing, 176
video games:
evolution of, 175–77
simulation compared to, 261
Vietnam War, 158
Viking probes, 51, 52, 164, 176
Virgin Atlantic airline, 87
Virgin Galactic, 88–89, 88, 101, 105–6, 113
Virgin Group, 87
Virgin records, 86–87
virtual reality, 176–77
volcanoes:
on Earth, 119, 202
on Io, 53, 177
as source of heat energy, 124
super-, 245
Volna rocket, 184
Vomit Comet, 114
von Kármán, Theodore, 141
von Littrow, Joseph, 238
von Neumann, John, 227, 258–59
von Neumann probes, 227, 258
Voskhod 2 spacecraft, 108
Vostok 1 spacecraft, 40–41
Voyager 1, 52, 53, 121, 121, 125, 219, 225
Voyager aircraft, 83
Wakata, Koichi, 273
Wallace, Alfred Russel, 164
Wang Yaping, 142–43
Wan Hu, 21–22, 22, 24, 31, 139, 141
warfare, rockets in, 22–24, 30, 32–34
War of the Worlds, The (Wells), 164
warp drive, 228–29
Warwick, Kevin, 206–8
Wasp 18b (exoplanet), 132
water:
acidification of, 195
as biomarker, 217–18
on Earth, 172
on Europa, 125
on exoplanets, 132
on Mars, 124–25, 163–66, 165, 170, 172, 173
on Moon, 159–61
as requirement for life, 123–25, 132, 214, 217
in space travel, 116, 159
Watson, Thomas, 213
weaponry:
nuclear, 36, 38
technological roots of, 22–24
weightlessness, 54, 88, 114, 167–68, 200
Weisman, A., 293
Welles, Orson, 164
Wells, H. G., 28, 164
Wells, Spencer, 7
White, Ed, 43
White Knight, 85
White Knight II, 88
Wigner, Eugene, 227
wind tunnels, 84
Wolfe, Tom, 272
Woman in the Moon, 28
women:
in space programs, 73, 74, 142–43
see also specific individuals
World War II, 30, 33–35, 33, 108, 141
World Without Us, The (Weisman), 293
wormholes, 255
“Wow!” signal, 237
Wright brothers, 69
X1 Robotic Exoskeleton, 205, 206
X-15, 71–72, 82, 85
X-37, 72, 85
XCOR, 101
Xie Haisheng, 143
Xi Jinping, 143, 144
X-planes, 71
X Prizes, 84–85, 88, 91–93, 92, 97, 147, 156, 161, 273–74, 280
Yahoo search engine, 79
Yang Hui, 24
Yang Liwei, 142
Y chromosomes, 6
Yeager, Chuck, 71, 73, 84, 272
Yeager, Jeana, 84
Year Million, 250
YouTube, 95, 213–14
Z-2 spacesuit, 195–96
Zero G Corporation, 93
zero gravity, 54, 93, 101, 148
physiological effects of, 114–15, 167–68
sex in, 200, 214
Zhang Yuhua, 162
Zheng He, 109
Zip2, 95
Zond 5, 49
Zubrin, Robert, 166, 168, 169, 174, 223
ALSO BY CHRIS IMPEY
Shadow World
Dreams of Other Worlds
How It Began
How It Ends
The Living Cosmos
Copyright © 2015 by Chris Impey
All rights reserved
First Edition
For information about permission to reproduce selections from this
book, write to Permissions, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.,
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110
For information about special discounts for bulk
purchases, please contact W. W. Norton Special Sales
at specialsales@wwnorton.com or 800-233-4830
Book design by Ellen Cipriano
Production managers: Devon Zahn and Ruth Toda
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Impey, Chris.
Beyond : our future in space / Chris Impey. — First edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-393-23930-0 (hardcover)
1. Astronautics—Forecasting—Popular works. 2. Astronautics—
History—Popular works. 3. Manned space flight—Popular works.
4. Outer space—Exploration—Popular works. I. Title.
TL793.I468 2015
629.401'12—dc23
2014046924
ISBN 978-0-393-24664-3 (e-book)
W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.,
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110
www.wwnorton.com
W. W. Norton & Company Ltd., Castle House,
75/76 Wells Street, London W1T 3QT