Designing & Building Space Colonies-A Blueprint for the Future One of the greatest adventures in the future of humanity will be to construct, work, and live in space based structures. In this book we look at the history of ideas for living in space, proposed space colony designs, and technology. The details of current life support technology on the International Space Station is reviewed, and what technologies will be required for development of large scale space colonies. What other things in terms of financing and materials availability will be needed also. Finally, we conclude with some recommendations to get us ready to build these colonies.

One of the greatest adventures in the future of humanity will be to construct, work, and live in space based structures.In this book we look at the history of ideas for living in space, proposed space colony designs, and technology.The details of current life support technology on the International Space Station is reviewed, and what technologies will be required for development of large scale space colonies.What other things in terms of financing and materials availability will be needed also.Finally, we conclude with some recommendations to get us ready to build these colonies.

In the summer of 1975, NASA brought together a team of physicists, engineers, and space scientists--along with architects, urban planners, and artists--to design large-scale space habitats for millions of people. Space Settlements examines these plans for life in space as serious architectural and spatial proposals.proposals.

Is there life in space? Within the solar system, which we can reach and are now beginning to explore, the answer may be: Nothing but spores and bacteria. Perhaps the answer is: Nothing. Beyond our region of space the answer may yet be: Civilizations and cultures of greatness and magnificence untold. But we have not yet learned to detect them or to communicate with them. As this has become apparent there has been a reaction against many of the more utopian hopes associated with space flight. Less than fifteen years ago John Kennedy could commit the nation to explore "this new ocean," with widespread hope that we were entering a new Age of Discovery. Today it is fashionable to believe that our problems can find solution only on earth and there is nothing in space which can aid us in any way. This is not so. If we cannot find planets fit for us to live on, or if Mars is not up to our fondest hopes - very well. We can take our own life into space. We can build colonies in space, as pleasant as we want and productive enough to markedly improve humanity's future prospects. And, we can begin to do this anytime we please.

This report grew out of a 10-week program in engineering systems design held at Stanford University and the Ames Research Center of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration during the summer of 1975. The project brought together nineteen professors of engineering, physical science, social science, and architecture, and two co-directors. This group worked for ten weeks to construct a convincing picture of how people might permanently sustain life in space on a large scale. The goal of the summer study was to design a system for the colonization of space. This report, like the design itself, is intended to be as technologically complete and sound as it could be made in ten weeks, but it is also meant for a readership beyond that of the aerospace community. Because the idea of colonizing space has awakened strong public interest, the report is written to be understood by the educated public and specialists in other fields. It also includes considerable background material. The technical director, Gerard K. O'Neill of Princeton University, made essential contributions by providing information based on his notes and calculations from six years of prior work on space colonization and by carefully reviewing the technical aspects of the study.

Housing matters, no matter when or where. This volume of collected essays on housing in colonial and postcolonial Africa seeks to elaborate the how and the why. Housing is much more than a living everyday practice. It unfolds in its disparate dimensions of time, space and agency. Context dependent, it acquires diverse, often ambivalent, meanings. Housing can be a promise, an unfulfilled dream, a tool of self- and class-assertion, a negotiation process, or a means to achieve other ends. Our focus lies in analyzing housing in its multifacetedness, be it a lens to offer insights into complex processes that shape societies; be it a tool of empire to exercise control over private relations of inhabitants; or be it a means to create good, obedient and productive citizens. Contributions to this volume range from the field of history, to architecture and urban planning, African Studies, linguistics, and literature. The individual case studies home in on specific aspects and dimensions of housing and seek to bring them into dialogue with each other. By doing so, the volume aims to add to the vibrant academic debate on studying urban practices and their significance for current social change.