This expert guide, written by a major figure at the NASA Marshall Spaceflight Center, presents an authoritative and comprehensive survey of the present-day state-of-the-art in the field of extrasolar and interstellar space exploration, focusing on the most promising techniques. It looks at potential missions and explores the many exciting ideas being developed to probe the planets and nearby stars for signs of life. Because of the tremendous current interest in the search for extrasolar life and extraterrestrial intelligence, this is a timely and illuminating survey.

Inhalt

1 Motivations for Deep-Space Travel.- 2 The Realms of Space.- 3 Tomorrow's Targets.- 4 Space Propulsion Today.- 5 The Incredible Shrinking Spaceprobe.- 6 The Nuclear Option.- 7 Twenty-First Century Starflight.- 8 On the Technological Horizon.- 9 Exotic Possibilities.- 10 Of Stars, Planets and Life.- 11 Life Between the Stars.- 12 Conscious Spacecraft.- 13 Meeting ET.- Afterword.- Nomenclature.