III.l: THE COURSE 3.1 CHAPTER III THIS STUDY III.1.1: Course Announcement: The MIT Prototype Space Colony Study, whose results are presented in this report, was done as a course project for 16.86: Advanced Systems Engineering, offered by the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the supervision of Professor John F·. McCarthy, Jr., Director of MIT's Center for Space Research, and Dr. Oscar Orringer, Lecturer in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The following course announcement was posted on bulletin boards prior to registration for the course. 16.86 ADVANCED SYSTEMS ENGINEERING Design of a Space-Based Community Spring 1976 It has been suggested that space colonies could be built at stable points in the Earth/Moon/Sun systel'\. An artificial planetoid could be constructed from raw materials from the Moon or an asteroid. One concept of the planetoid would be a modular cylinder 16 miles long, and 4 miles wide, housing 10,000 people. It would be used to provide solar power for the F.arth and for manufacturing in space. The project this spring will be an engineering investigation of the design, fabrication, and test of such a space-based community. Design requirements and system specifications will be derived from space-colonization concepts which have been suggested by various investigators. A derivative of the space shuttle system will be assumed for transportation. Emphasis will be placed on the engineering aspects of the space-based community itself culminating in a master plan for its development including engineering tradeoffs and economic considerations. Technical aspects of the study will be supported by lectures given by staff specialists and guest lecturers. The project will be a team effort, but the students will form into groups by task and specific technical areas. Tasks will be considered in parallel and iterated to obtain feasible system approaches. A final report will be prepared. Each student will contribute according to his/her interest and assignment. Grading will be on the basis of net value to the project and effort expended. JOHN F. McCARTHY, JR. Professor in Charge
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