Limit

Acknowledgements

Various textbooks, documentaries, photographs and films were a great help to me when I was writing this book – so many that it would be impossible for me to list them all here. I should like to thank the authors, journalists, scientists, photographers and directors whose discoveries flowed into my research all the more emphatically for their work.

But Limit would not have come into being if some remarkable people hadn’t given up their time to me.

My knowledge of astronauts, space stations, spaceships, moon bases, satellites, interplanetary communication, the incidence of lunar helium-3 and the technology required for its extraction, space law, the Moon itself and the future of manned space travel was considerably enriched by:

Thomas Reiter, ISS and Mir astronaut, Chairman of the German Aerospace DLR Porz

Kerstin Rogon, Thomas Reiter office, DLR Porz

Dr Wolfgang Seboldt, Space missions and technology, DLR Porz

Dr Reinhold Ewald, Mir astronaut and physicist

Professor Ernst Messerschmidt, astronaut and physicist

Dr Eva Hassel-von Pock

Dr Paolo Ferri, head of solar and planetary missions, ESA Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt

Dr Frank-Jürgen Dieckmann, Spacecraft Operations Manager for Envisat and ERS-2, ESA Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt

Dr Manfred Warhaut, Head of Mission Operations, ESA Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt

Professor Dr Tilman Spohn, Head of the Institute of Planetary Research Management, DLR, Berlin

Dr Marietta Benkö, specialist in space law, Köln

Ranga Yogeshwar, physicist and presenter

The oil and gas sector, business structures and prognoses, but also the growing market in alternative energies, was brought closer to me by:

Werner Breuers, Chairman of LANXESS AG

Wahida Hammond, Skywalker, Köln – with extra thanks for contacts and simply being Why

I learned a lot about modern communication technology, the internet of tomorrow, IT security, holography and virtual environments from:

Dr Manfred Bogen, Head of Virtual Environments at the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems, Sankt Augustin

Paul Friessem, Head of Department, Secure Processes and Infrastructures, at the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology, Sankt Augustin

Thorsten Holtkämper, Project Manager, Virtual Environments, at the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems, Sankt Augustin

Roland Kuck, Project Manager, Virtual Environments, at the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems, Sankt Augustin

Thomas Tikwinski, Project Manager, NetMedia, at the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems, Sankt Augustin

Jochen Haas, Simply Net Data Services, Köln

I was able to deepen my understanding of architecture and urban planning, particularly about urban development in China, but also about slums, thanks to:

Professor Dr Eckhard Ribbeck, City Planning Institute, Stuttgart University

Ingeborg Junge-Reyer, mayor of Berlin and Senator for Urban Development

The present and future state of forensic medicine were brought to life for me by:

Dr Michael Tsokos, Director of the Institute of Forensic Pathology at the Charité, Berlin

I was given information about the past, present and future of China, about Chinese manners and names, and the status quo of Chinese pop music by:

Mian Mian, author and scene icon, Shanghai

Wei Butter, Master of Arts, Asian Languages, Bonn

Facts about mercenaries, private security services, arms technology, police and detective work were communicated to me by:

Peter Nasse, Head of Personal Security Management Services, Köln

Uwe Steen, Public Relations, Köln Police

Special thanks to:

Gisela Tolk, judge and passionate sinologist, who tirelessly collected material about China for me

Maren Steingross, who summarised my Chinese research and thus got it into my head

Jürgen Muthmann, who read more newspapers in a week than I do in a whole year, and drew my attention to a lot of things that I would otherwise have missed

Larissa Kranz for being such a great dining companion

You can get a bit unsociable when you’re writing fat books, which is down to a perceived distortion of space and time. For example, you could swear you’d been out with your best friend only the previous week, until he points out on the phone that you haven’t seen each other in six months. Dear people who are important to you engage in dialogue with each other about the question of which galaxy their physically and mentally absent friend, relation and husband may currently be travelling in. In fact I did go missing for a long time, but never heard a word of reproach. Instead I enjoyed two years of sympathy, support and patience. I owe my friends and family a debt of gratitude for that! More than anything else I’m glad to be able to spend more time with you all again – particularly since I hate sitting alone at my desk! If there were no laptops, high-performance batteries and extension leads, author would be the worst job imaginable for me. I like being around people too much, so I’ve got used to writing in public, surrounded by music, street noises and conversation. As a result, large parts of Limit were written in the establishments of restaurateur friends of mine, whose ministrations had considerable influence on the result.

I am particularly grateful to Thomas Wippenbeck and his great team at Restaurant Fonda in Südstadt, Köln, where I spent so much time that in the end I risked being mistaken for part of the furniture and stacked up with the chairs at night. I was also well looked after in the Spitz, whose friendly staff defended my regular table with knife and fork against all other guests. I was always given a welcome by the Sterns in the Vintage and Romain Wack in Wackes. Sometimes I simply had to get out of Köln and headed for the island of Sylt, where I received perfect treatment both from Johannes King and his team at the Söl’ring Hof and from Herbert Seckler, Ivo Köster and their team at the Sansibar.

I would like to thank the brilliant, committed staff at my publishing house, and quite particularly you, Helge, for your friendship and invaluable confidence.

But my ultimate thanks is for you, Sabina. However much I may have enjoyed travelling to the Moon in my mind – the best thing was always looking back at the Earth. Because that’s where you are.