10.1 CHAPTER X CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTED RESEARCH X.l: CONCLUSIONS X.1.1: General Conclusion: The study group concludes that, using current technology, it is technically feasible to build and operate a space colony housing 1000 people at LS. This represents an evaluation of the engineering aspects of the problem. However, certain questions concerning human physiology and environment remain unanswered. Some of these problems are listed as suggested further research in Section X.2: SUGGESTED RESEARCH. Beyond this general conclusion, the study group also reached a number of co~clusions tied to certain engineering problems in building and maintaining a space colony, such as energy management, structural integrity, fabrication and assembly, maintenance, and cost. X.1.2: Thermal Effects: ~he management of energy is one of the most difficult engineering problems in space colonies. Specifically, the dissipation of heat from the colony and the maintenance of an interior humidity level comfortable for the population significantly affect colony design. In the MIT Prototype Sp~ce Colony proposed in this study, the difficulty in dissipating.heat through a separate radiation shield was a major factor in changing the proposed colony c~~figuration. And the design level of 60% relative humidity requires 20 cooling dehumidifiers the size of the largest such machines used on Earth. It should also be noted that using these dehumidifiers not only maintains the needed humidity level but also automatically removes the required waste heat from the atmosphere and transfers it to a fluid. This suggests that solving the dehumidification problem in space colonies may solve the waste heat removal problem as well. X.1.3: Structures: The study group concludes that a safe space colony cannot be designed based solely on considerations of static load. Other essential criteria are fatigue, damage tolerance, longevity, ease of repair, and minimum mass. To deal with fatigue and
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