Fred Hoyle once said that space isn't at allIt's only an hour's drive away if your car could go straight upwards.

remote

Explanation:

The given quote was stated by Fred Hoyle. The quote was published in the Column of 'Saying of the week' in The Observer on 9th September 1979.

Sir Fred Hoyle was an English astronomer and mathematician who opposed the theory of Big Bang. He proposed a new theory stellar nucleosynthesis.

Fred, through this quote, wanted to tell about the impossibility of deep-space travel. The quote is ironic. By stating that the space isn't remote and just an hour's drive away gives the ironic tone to the quote. After studying the space and theorising that it is continuously expanding, Fred reveals that travelling into deep-spaces in the universe is completely impossible.

The word that's missing from the quote is 'remote.'

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