Space Colony Art from the 1970s

Click here for a higher resolution version of these images.
A couple of space colony summer studies were conducted at NASA Ames in the 1970s. Colonies housing about 10,000 people were designed. A number of artistic renderings of the concepts were made. These have been converted to jpegs and are available as thumbnails, quarter page, full screen and publication quality images.

Cylindrical Colonies

Exterior view of a double cylinder colony
Quarter Page
jpeg image, 160 k		 Full Screen
jpeg image, 416 k		 Publication Quality
jpeg image, 800 k		 NASA ID NUMBER
AC75-1085

Exterior view of several two-cylinder colonies
Quarter Page
jpeg image, 160 k		 Full Screen
jpeg image, 352 k		 Publication Quality
jpeg image, 704 k		 NASA ID NUMBER
AC75-1921

Interior view including looking through large windows
Quarter Page
jpeg image, 160 k		 Full Screen
jpeg image, 480 k		 Publication Quality
jpeg image, 960 k		 NASA ID NUMBER
AC75-1086

Interior view with long suspension bridge
Quarter Page
jpeg image, 160 k		 Full Screen
jpeg image, 512 k		 Publication Quality
jpeg image, 992 k		 NASA ID NUMBER
AC75-1883

Interior featuring clouds and vegetation
Quarter Page
jpeg image, 160 k		 Full Screen
jpeg image, 416 k		 Publication Quality
jpeg image, 800 k		 NASA ID NUMBER
AC75-1920

Toroidal Colonies

Exterior View
Quarter Page
jpeg image, 64 k		 Full Screen
jpeg image, 256 k		 Publication Quality
jpeg image, 512 k		 NASA ID NUMBER
AC76-0492.1

Cutaway view, exposing the interior
Quarter Page
jpeg image, 160 k		 Full Screen
jpeg image 480 k		 Publication Quality
jpeg image, 960 k		 NASA ID NUMBER
AC75-1086-1

Exterior view of several neighboring colonies
Quarter Page
jpeg image, 128 k		 Full Screen
jpeg image, 320 k		 Publication Quality
jpeg image, 608 k		 NASA ID NUMBER
AC76-0525

Interior view
Quarter Page
jpeg image, 128 k		 Full Screen
jpeg image, 448 k		 Publication Quality
jpeg image, 864 k		 NASA ID NUMBER
AC75-2621

Part of the rim including many nearby space vehicles
Quarter Page
jpeg image, 160 k		 Full Screen
jpeg image, 448 k		 Publication Quality
jpeg image, 256 k		 NASA ID NUMBER
AC75-1886

Bernal Spheres

The Bernal Sphere is a point design with a sphere living area.

Exterior view
Quarter Page
jpeg image, 128 k		 Full Screen
jpeg image, 384 k		 Publication Quality
jpeg image, 736 k		 NASA ID NUMBER
AC76-0965

Photograph of a model of the Bernal Sphere
Quarter Page
jpeg image, 128 k		 Full Screen
jpeg image, 320 k		 Publication Quality
jpeg image, 608 k		 NASA ID NUMBER
AC76-0852

View with cutaway to see interior
Quarter Page
jpeg image, 160 k		 Full Screen
jpeg image, 480 k		 Publication Quality
jpeg image, 928 k		 NASA ID NUMBER
AC76-1089

Interior including human powered airplane
Quarter Page
jpeg image, 160 k		 Full Screen
jpeg image, 480 k		 Publication Quality
jpeg image, 960 k		 NASA ID NUMBER
AC76-0628

View of Bernal Sphere agricultural module (multiple toroids) with cutaway to expose interior
Quarter Page
jpeg image, 192 k		 Full Screen
jpeg image, 384 k		 Publication Quality
jpeg image, 704 k		 NASA ID NUMBER
AC78-0330-4

Colony construction crew at work
Quarter Page
jpeg image, 192 k		 Full Screen
jpeg image, 608 k		 Publication Quality
jpeg image, 1.2 MB		 NASA ID NUMBER
AC76-1288

Please credit photos to NASA Ames Research Center

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Author: Bryan Yager