CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION I.l THE CONCEPT OF SPACE COLONIES "A number of rockets orbiting the Earth, with all the equipment needed to enable rational beings to exist, might serve as a base for the further dissemination of humanity." So wrote Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovskiy in 1911, in one of the earliest articles on rocketry (1.1). In the sixty-five years since then, the development of mankind's technical abilities has permitted spectacular successes in our space efforts--indeed, many rockets have orbited the Earth. But it is only now that we can conceptually include "all the equipment needed to enable rational beings to exist" in our space hardware. To do so, we have modified Tsiolkovskiy's concept, replacing his "number of rockets" by a space colony. A space colony is a large self-sufficient, self-sustaining, life-supporting structure. Once built, it provides its inhabitants with air, food, water, light, gravity, housing, constant temperature and humidity, protection from radiation a~d meteorites, and facilities for recreation and cultural development. Its material imports are few, and these it obtains by work or barter. The colony recycles its wastes, keeps stable its animal and vegetable populations, and maintains and repairs its structures, It has survival potential, based on a margin of ability beyond mere self-maintenance: it can improve its own design, modify itself, adapt to unexpected situations. And, most important, it can expand, building more space hardware and improved replicas of itself, "for the further dissemination of humanity." We are now able to design and evaluate space colonies from an engineering point of view. This report presents one such design and evaluation.
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