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Beyond: Our Future in Space

Page 33

by Chris Impey


  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 Braun, Wernher, 28, 30–36, 38, 76, 140, 166–67, 269

  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

  Whittle, Frank, 69

  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

  Humble Before the Void

  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,

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