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Beyond dares to imagine a fantastic future for humans in space -- and then reminds us that we're already there.Human 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 home -- and how humans will soon thrive in the vast universe beyond the earth.A dazzling and 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.