SPACE SETTLEMENTS: A DESIGN STUDY

NASA SP-413

Edited by Richard D. Johnson, NASA Ames Research Center Charles Holbrow, Colgate University

Scientific and Technical Information Office 1977 NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION Washington, D.C.

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 Stock No. 033-000-00669-1 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 76-600068

Authored by the Participants of THE 1975 SUMMER FACULTY FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM IN ENGINEERING SYSTEMS DESIGN

under the sponsorship of: NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION and AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR ENGINEERING EDUCATION

and directed by: AMES RESEARCH CENTER and STANFORD UNIVERSITY

Foreword

The question, "What is feasible?" can be finally answered only by future historians. If in the 14th and 15th Centuries when new technology first made transoceanic voyages possible, European rulers had inquired what they should do with this new capability, no man could have been long-headed enough to perceive all the possibilities, nor persuasive enough to communicate his vision to others. We now realize that technology is but a part of any broad stride taken by man. A perception of advantage to be gained, resolve, organization, and a continuity of effort — some of the elements that must combine with technology to effect a major human advance — is indeed vital.

Space exploration, an active pursuit for less than two decades, has already displayed an extraordinary power to alter our viewpoints and stretch our minds. The concept of spacecraft Earth, a sphere of finite resources and ominous pollution, became pervasive and powerful at the same time we first received good photographs of our planetary home. The study summarized in this volume is another mind-stretcher. As explained on the following page, settlement in space is not an authorized program, and no man can now say if or when such a dazzling venture may be formally undertaken. But by their efforts to put numbers on an idea, to assess the human and economic implications as well as technical feasibility, the participants in this effort have provided us with a vision that will engage our imagination and stretch our minds.

James C. Fletcher Administrator National Aeronautics and Space Administration October 1, 1976

Preface

The following 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. This program, sponsored jointly by NASA and the American Society for Engineering Education, brought together nineteen professors of engineering, physical science, social science, and architecture, three volunteers, six students, a technical director, 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.

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. A table of units and conversion factors is included to aid the reader in interpreting the units of the metric system used in the report.

The goal of the summer study was to design a system for the colonization of space. The study group was largely self-organized; it specified important subsidiary goals, set up work groups, and elected its project managers and committee heads. There were three project managers; each served for three weeks during which he assigned tasks, coordinated activities and developed the outline of the final report. As a consequence of this organization, the report represents as nearly as is possible the views of the entire study group. The conclusions and recommendations are the responsibility of the participants and should not be ascribed to any of the sponsoring organizations; NASA, ASEE, or Stanford University.

An effort of the magnitude of this design study could not have been possible without major contributions by many individuals. The co-directors, Richard Johnson of NASA and William Verplank of Stanford, made available to and guided participants in the use of the resources of the Ames Research Center and Stanford University. Their continuing helpfulness and timely assistance were important contributions to the successful conclusion of the project.

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.

So many able and interesting visitors contributed to the study participants' understanding of the problem of designing a workable system for colonizing space that it is not feasible to thank them all here. Nevertheless, it is appropriate to acknowledge those from whom the study group drew especially heavily in the final design. In particular Roger Arno, Gene Austin, John Billingham, Philip Chapman, Hubert P. Davis, Jerry Driggers, Peter Glaser, Albert Hibbs, Arthur Kantrowitz, Ken Nishioka, Jesco von Putkammer, and Gordon Woodcock are thanked for their help and ideas.

The assistance of Eric Burgess, who made major contributions to the editorial work, is also gratefully acknowledged.

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS IN THE NASA—ASEE ENGINEERING SYSTEMS DESIGN SUMMER PROGRAM

June - August 1975

Faculty Fellows

ABO-EL-ATA, MAMDOUH Division of Engineering San Francisco State University San Francisco, California 94132

FOX, JOEL Mechanical Engineering University of Hawaii Honolulu, Hawaii 96822

GIESBRECHT, MARTIN Department of Economics and Administration Wilmington College Wilmington, Ohio 45177

HANNAH, ERIC Physics Department Princeton University Princeton, New Jersey 08540

HEPPENHEIMER, THOMAS Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences California Institute of Technology Pasadena, California 91125

HILL, PATRICK Architecture & Environmental Design California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, California 93401

HOLBROW, CHARLES Department of Physics & Astronomy Colgate University Hamilton, New York 13346

HUBBARD, MONT Mechanical Engineering University of California Davis, California 95616

HUDDLESTON, JR., TED Chemical Engineering University of Mississippi University, Mississippi 38677

JEBENS, HAROLD Civil Engineering University of Wisconsin-Platteville Platteville, Wisconsin 53818

LOPEZ, DAVID Dept. of Management & Organization University of Washington Seattle, Washington 98195

MARUYAMA, MAGOROH Systems Science Portland State University Portland, Oregon 97207

MORGAN, DONALD Industrial Engineering Department California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, California 93407

OWEN, GORDON Division of Engineering San Francisco State University San Francisco, California 94132

POLLACK, BARY Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences University of California Berkeley, California 94720

RICHARDS, JR., ROWLAND Civil Engineering University of Delaware Newark, Delaware 19711

RUSSELL, ALLAN Department of Physics Hobart and Wm Smith Colleges Geneva, New York 14456

SUTTON, GORDON Department of Sociology University of Massachusetts Amherst, Massachusetts 01002

VOLTMER, DAVID 121 Electrical Engineering East Pennsylvania State University University Park, Pennsylvania 16802

Students

BRODY, STEVEN 54-620 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

BUGOS, BEVERLY (Hazelton) Aeronautics & Astronautics Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

DREXLER, ERIC Aeronautics and Astronautics Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

HOPKINS, MARK Department of Economics Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

SPERBER, B. RAY Department of Physics Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

WINKLER, LAWRENCE H. Aeronautics & Astronautics; Life Sciences Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

Visitors

MACHOL, ROBERT Management Science Northwestern University Evanston, Illinois 60201

SKLAREW, RALPH Xonics 963 Dunlin Circle Westlake Village, California 91361

JONES, ROBERT T. Code D Ames Research Center Moffett Field, California 94035

Technical Director

O’NEILL, GERARD K. Department of Physics Princeton University P.O. Box 708 Princeton, New Jersey 08540

Co-Directors

JOHNSON, RICHARD D. Chief, Biosystems Division Ames Research Center Moffett Field, California 94035

VERPLANK, WILLIAM Mechanical Engineering Stanford University Stanford, California 94305

CHAPTER 1: The Colonization of Space

We have put men on the Moon. Can people live in space? Can permanent communities be built and inhabited off the Earth? Not long ago these questions would have been dismissed as science fiction, as fantasy or, at best as the wishful thinking of men ahead of their times. Now they are asked seriously not only out of human curiosity, but also because circumstances of the times stimulate the thought that space colonization offers large potential benefits and hopes to an increasingly enclosed and circumscribed humanity.

Permanent communities can be built and inhabited off the Earth. The following chapters present a detailed description of a system for the colonization of space. It is not the best system that can be devised; nor is it complete. Not all the important questions about how and why to colonize space have been posed. Of those that have, not all have been answered satisfactorily. Nevertheless, the 10-week summer study is the most thorough and comprehensive one made to date. On its basis space colonization appears to be technically feasible, while the obstacles to further expansion of human frontiers in this way are principally philosophical, political, and social rather than technological.

THE OVERALL SYSTEM

The focus of the system is a space habitat where 10,000 people work, raise families, and live out normal human lives. Figure 1-1 shows the wheel-like structure in which they live. This structure orbits the Earth in the same orbit as the Moon in a stable position that is equidistant from both Earth and Moon. This is called the Lagrangian libration point, L5. The habitat consists of a tube 130 m (427 ft) in diametral cross section bent into a wheel 1790 m (over 1 mi) in diameter. The people live in the ring-shaped tube which is connected by six large access routes (spokes) to a central hub where incoming spacecraft dock. These spokes are 15 m (48 ft) in diameter and provide entry and exit to the living and agricultural areas in the tubular region. To simulate Earth's normal gravity the entire habitat rotates at one revolution per minute about the central hub.

Much of the interior of the habitat is illuminated with natural sunshine. The Sun's rays in space are deflected by a large stationary mirror suspended directly over the hub. This mirror is inclined at 45° to the axis of rotation and directs the light onto another set of mirrors which, in turn, reflect it into the interior of the habitat's tube through a set of louvered mirrors designed to admit light to the colony while acting as a baffle to stop cosmic radiation. With the help of abundant natural sunshine and controlled agriculture, the colonists are able to raise enough food for themselves on only 63 ha (156 acres). The large paddle-like structure below the hub is a radiator by which waste heat is carried away from the habitat.

Abundant solar energy and large amounts of matter from the Moon are keys to successfully establishing a community in space. Not only does the sunshine foster agriculture of unusual productivity, but also it provides energy for industries needed by the colony. Using solar energy to generate electricity and to power solar furnaces the colonists refine aluminum, titanium, and silicon from lunar ores shipped inexpensively into space. With these materials they are able to manufacture satellite solar power stations and new colonies. The power stations are placed in orbit around the Earth to which they deliver copious and valuable electrical energy. The economic value of these power stations will go far to justify the existence of the colony and the construction of more colonies.

Principal components of the overall space colonization system and their interrelations are shown schematically in figure 1-2.

DESIGN GOALS

This system is intended to meet a set of specific design goals established to guide the choice of the principal elements of a practicable colony in space. The main goal is to design a permanent community in space that is sufficiently productive to maintain itself, and to exploit actively the environment of space to an extent that permits growth, replication, and the eventual creation of much larger communities. This initial community is to be a first step in an expanding colonization of space.

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Space Settlements - A Design Study 1977