These images make me want to play space orbital sim city.
Space Colony Art from the 1970s
71–80 of 135 posts
Re: Space Colony Art from the 1970s
#72This artwork reminds me of a book from my childhood, the ‘Usborne Book of the Future’. In addition to being richly illustrated, it predicted a lot of the technology we would have today, as well as described problems society might face in the future.
It’s archived online here: https://archive.org/details/Usborne_Book_of_the_Future_1979_...
Re: Space Colony Art from the 1970s
#73We are so driven by settling other planets, which of course I think we should do, that we forget that space habitats might be a more economical and also healthier first step into space. Apart from the ones depicted in these images I'm more in favour with starting with cheaper techniques where we could wire up an initial station to a wire/tether, and put a weight (or another small station) at the other end, have them…
I think that is why Nasa's Havoc mission is maybe the best idea yet... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-vK9pqonAE You still have to maintain the floating city like you would an orbital one, but you get the extra added benefits... Venus makes the most sense to me... You get the benefit of gravity similar to earth, 70~ deg f temp and gases that allow you to maintain pressure and possibly harvest for fuel...
I've been trying to figure out how effective solar power would be at the height you'd put a floating city. You're closer to the sun than Earth, much higher than Earth's surface, but in a very dense atmosphere...
Re: Space Colony Art from the 1970s
#74I’m almost positive one of those was from National Geographic’s Our Universe. When I was a kid I must have read it a hundred times. The drawings were truly awe inspiring. In fact just googling it and seeing the cover art brought back so many memories.
A book could never mean as much again in this age.
Re: Space Colony Art from the 1970s
#75I’m almost positive one of those was from National Geographic’s Our Universe . When I was a kid I must have read it a hundred times. The drawings were truly awe inspiring. In fact just googling it and seeing the cover art brought back so many memories. A book could never mean as much again in this age.
Yes! I loved that book. Many of these pictures are in there for sure. I actually recently got a copy of the book used and in excellent condition. My mother donated most of my books as I outgrew them over the years. My 8 year old daughter recently got interested in space so we read it cover to cover. While dated (and blatantly incorrect in places) it still managed to spark that same awe and wonder in her that it did in me. I’m so glad to have found this copy. Such a great book.
Re: Space Colony Art from the 1970s
#76I actually think a ring or cylinder in space is a more practical idea than colonizing mars, because 1) you can get 1g earth gravity, 2) transportation to any other floating habitat or asteroid in the inner solar system is easy, 3) you have to build some kind of pressurized dome on mars anyway and 4) it’s easier to resupply from earth
Re: Space Colony Art from the 1970s
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
You don't want rings, you want O'Neill cylinders. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O%27Neill_cylinder
Arthur C Clarke and 'Rendezvous with Rama' seems suspiciously absent from discussion about "O'Niell" cylinders :P
Re: Space Colony Art from the 1970s
#78I used to use one of these as my wallpapers. A friend was bugged that had been using it for years so he gave me a nice print of it and I switched to a different image from this archive :P
Re: Space Colony Art from the 1970s
#79Loved the space colony with the hang glider.
That one caused me to consider a 2001-style rotating space station — would it be possible to ride your bike counter to the rotation of the wheel and cancel the centripetal force?
I reasoned that you could but that your direction of travel, tangential to the inner surface of the wheel, would still keep you "grounded".
A simple ramp though should allow you to launch yourself "hub ward".
Am I missing something?
Re: Space Colony Art from the 1970s
#80So optimistic. I loved the 70's. It was what drew me into the idea of a "brave new future" (no sarcasm intended).