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Space Colony Art from the 1970s

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Re: Space Colony Art from the 1970s

#21

Post by philwelch »

benj111 wrote: post #5

How 'serious' were these pictures? Was this something they were seriously expecting in the coming years? I'm mindful of the fact that man had basically gone from just achieving orbit, to landing on the moon in a decade, so anything could have seemed possible at that stage.

Until Kennedy radically accelerated the schedule for the first moon landing and set that as a singular goal, the plans for the space program involved almost as much infrastructure building as exploration. Here's a 1955 television program where Wernher von Braun presents an earlier, more complicated plan for a Moon mission, complete with a nuclear-powered toroidal space station: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXIDFx74aSY

Re: Space Colony Art from the 1970s

#23

Post by exochrono »

Oh man - I feel a lot of history with these images - they actually inspired one of the first online businesses I tried to make.

I wanted to put one of these images on my wall, but they were niche enough that I couldn't find anybody selling them. I printed one myself using Zazzle, but then I started thinking that it would be cool to create a place where anybody could share cool niche images they found and have them automatically be available as a poster. I built my site - https://postercoop.com - over a couple of months at the beginning of last year.

Per probably the second-most common fate of hacker projects (after not getting finished at all), I lost interest before doing much marketing or figuring out any sort of product/market fit, but it definitely an empowering experience to at least see a project through to going live on the internet and learn for myself that "build it and they will come" is for the most part a wishful fantasy :D

Re: Space Colony Art from the 1970s

#24

Post by skriticos2 »

_iyig wrote: post #11

O’Neill cylinders were the template for space colonies in the Mobile Suit Gundam anime, going all the way back to the series premiere in 1979. One of many details which lent the show an air of gritty realism, despite its colorful giant robot fights.

That's why they reminded me of the series immediately. :) One of my favorites.

Re: Space Colony Art from the 1970s

#25

Post by jakeinspace »

planktonite wrote: post #20

There’s an under appreciated problem with spinning space stations: they would be set off balance by uneven distribution of weight around the ring. This would make small scale rings a bit problematic because people and stuff need to move around. Rings the size of halo would have enough mass that the movement of people wouldn’t be enough to matter.

Could possibly use some sort of active control system of counter masses, like water in a lattice of piping.

Re: Space Colony Art from the 1970s

#27

Post by hutzlibu »

CapitalistCartr wrote: post #22

People raised in Space are going to wonder what we found so enticing about living dirtside, "Fun to visit, but why anyone lives like that is beyond me. We have perfect weather, a beautiful environment, and we're already halfway to anywhere we want to go."

Well, a snowstorm can be beautiful, perfect weather - to feel alive.

A sunny beach is nice. But all day, every day?

Boooring.

I like to travel. I like to see new things, experience new situations - a small space station where I would have to live forever, I would consider a hell in prison.

Unless that space station travels around the planets ... where you can visit and explore them ..

Re: Space Colony Art from the 1970s

#28

Post by jayd16 »

planktonite wrote: post #20

There’s an under appreciated problem with spinning space stations: they would be set off balance by uneven distribution of weight around the ring. This would make small scale rings a bit problematic because people and stuff need to move around. Rings the size of halo would have enough mass that the movement of people wouldn’t be enough to matter.

Does it really matter if the axis of spin is in the exact center for a space station? The station would wobble, but would you feel it?

Re: Space Colony Art from the 1970s

#29

Post by Pharmakon »

planktonite wrote: post #20

There’s an under appreciated problem with spinning space stations: they would be set off balance by uneven distribution of weight around the ring. This would make small scale rings a bit problematic because people and stuff need to move around. Rings the size of halo would have enough mass that the movement of people wouldn’t be enough to matter.

An issue with larger rings is that the downforce felt around the ring would vary based on your position within a segment. While it would be a more subtle gradient than a smaller ring, and so less nauseating, it would mean that living and working space would vary in terms of perceived gravity. Another problem is transportation, with the fastest way to cross the ring being across a “spoke” with a gravitational gradient that goes to zero and back. To be fair that could also be a benefit, if people can get used to it.
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