Space Settlements

spreading life throughout the solar system

A billion years ago there was no life on land. In a phenomenal development, by 400 million years ago land life was well established. We are at the very beginning of a similar, perhaps even more important, development. Today Earth teems with life, but as far as we know, in the vast reaches of space there are only a handful of astronauts, a few plants and animals, and some bacteria and fungi; mostly on the International Space Station. We can change that. In the 1970's Princeton physicist Gerard O'Neill, with the help of NASA Ames Research Center and Stanford University, discovered that we can build gigantic spaceships, big enough to live in. These free-space settlements could be wonderful places to live; about the size of a California beach town and endowed with weightless recreation, fantastic views, freedom, elbow-room in spades, and great wealth. In time, we may see millions of free-space settlements in our solar system alone. Building them, particularly the first one, is a monumental challenge. If this sounds exciting, read on.

Basics

• Who? Pioneers at first, billions of ordinary people later.
• What? Gigantic rotating, pressurized spacecraft the size of towns or even cities.
• Where? In orbit; near Earth at first.
• How? Solar energy, lunar and asteroidal materials, and lots of hard work.
• Why? To grow.
• When? Good question, when do you start working on it?
• How much will it cost? A lot ... unless

NASA Ames Space Settlement Contest

• Contest information.
• Teacher's page.
• Continuing Education. A list of colleges and universities where you can prepare for space colonization work.

Online Space Settlement Books

• NASA Ames/Stanford 1975 Summer Study.
• Space Resources and Space Settlements NASA Ames 1977 Summer Study.
• Space Resources Overview NASA-California Space Institute 1992 Summer Study.
• Space Resources Volume 1, Scenarios NASA-California Space Institute 1992 Summer Study.
• Space Resources Volume 2, Energy, Power, and Transport NASA-California Space Institute 1992
• Space Resources Volume 3, Materials Nasa-California Space Institute 1992
• Space Resources Volume 4, Social Concerns NASA-California Space Institute 1992
• CoEvolution Book on space settlement edited by Stewart Brand and published in 1977. This work contains arguments for and against space colonization, very interesting.
• Dr. Gerard O'Neill's space settlement testimony before Congress 23 July 1975. This lays out early thinking about the feasibility and value of free space settlements.
• Entering Space by Robert Zubrin.
• The High Frontier by Gerard K. O'Neill.
• The Millenium Project by Marshall Savage.
• Colonies In Space A Complete online book by T. A. Heppenheimer.

Images

• NASA Ames summer studies (1970's).
• Kalpana One space settlement images and video.
• Images of the moon from the National Space Science Data Center.
• Asteroid and Comet Fact Sheets.
• Bryan Versteeg's space settlement 3D and video art.

Translations

• Ukrainian

Other Space Settlement Web Sites

• Free-Space Settlements by Al Globus. This site holds a large number of papers by Al Globus and collaborators on free-space (orbital) settlements, asteroid mining, and space solar power. Al Globus is the head judge of the annual NASA Ames Student Space Settlement Design Contest.
• High Frontier Computer Game. Design and operate your own space settlements in this high fidelity game.
• International Space Station (ISS). This is the closest thing we have to a space settlement, six people living and working in space rotating every six months or so.
• Space Studies Institute. SSI was established by Gerard O'Neill. It has sponsored important research towards space settlement and organized a premier series of conferences on the subject.
• National Space Society. Join the vision and put Space in your future.
• The Space Settlement Institute. Finding ways to make space settlement happen in our lifetimes.
• the Space Setlement Initiative. Founded by Alan Wasser, former CEO of the National Space Society proposes legislation authorizing lunar land claims recognition to help catalyze private sector investment in building permanent settlements.
• The Artemis Project to establish a self-sufficient lunar colony.
• Isaac Asimov on space settlement.
• Burning the Cosmic Commons: Evolutionary Strategies for Interstellar Colonization. A paper by Robin Hanson
• Mike Combs' Space Settlement FAQ.
• Mike Combs' space settlement page.
• Freeluna.com dedicated to the proposition that the colonization of outer space is critical for the long term survival of the human species, and that colonization of the moon and the exploitation of the moon's natural resources is one of the best first steps in that incredible journey off planet.
• Adaptation of Stereolithography to the In-Situ Construction of Lunar Basalt Structures A novel method of basalt casting with applications towards semi-autonomous robotic processing is presented by William Clawson.
• P.E.R.M.A.N.E.N.T. the Projects to Employ Resources of the Moon and Asteroids Near Earth in the Near Term.
• Space ColonyH. Try this psychologically-based, problem-solving leadership game set in space.
• Spaceflight or Extinction A civilization restricted to the surface of a single planet has inevitable threats to its long-term existence. Natural threats such as epidemics and impacts from space objects, and man-made threats such as nuclear and biological war, will be joined by new threats from emerging sciences and technologies.
• Space Quotes to Ponder What famous people (and some not famous) have said about why humankind must expand into space.
• The Space Frontier Foundation.

Miscellaneous

• A Futurist Perspective For Space by Dr. Kenneth J. Cox, (kenneth.j.cox1@jsc.nasa.gov), June 2001. (pdf file)
• Isaac Asimov on space settlement.
• SpaceSettlers. A site devoted to space settlement discussion.
• The Space Show. The Space Show focuses on timely and important issues influencing the developmentof outer-space commerce and space tourism, as well as other related subjects of interest to us all. These are highlights associated with the design contest that were reported to NAS management.
• Videos of weightless living.
• Annotated bibliography.
• Ringworld: a Java applet to interactively explore some aspects of living in a rotating environment, particularly jumping off high platforms and throwing balls.
• Links to solar sail web sites.
• Lewis One space settlement design: intended to improve on the 10,000 inhabitant designs of the mid-70s depicted in the artwork (see above). The new design features large shielded micro-g construction bays, low-g agriculture near the rotation axis to reduce the length of cylindrical settlements, large micro-g visitor and recreation areas, space viewing, and low-g recreation.
• Space Settlement papers
• Paper: "AsterAnts: A Concept for Large-Scale Meteoroid Return and Processing Using the International Space Station," Al Globus, Bryan Biegel, and Steve Traugott.
• Space playgound a zero-g playground designed by four, five, and six year olds at the Santa Cruz Children's School.
• General Public Space Travel and Tourism
• Related web sites.

Parting Words

Arthur C. Clarke once wrote that new ideas pass through three periods:

• "It can't be done."
• "It probably can be done, but it's not worth doing."
• "I knew it was a good idea all along!"

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