Orbital Space Settlement

bring space to life and life to space

"For me the single overarching goal of human space flight is the human settlement of the solar system, and eventually beyond. I can think of no lesser purpose sufficient to justify the difficulty of the enterprise, and no greater purpose is possible." Mike Griffin, current NASA Administrator, in 2004 testimony before Congress

Index:

My orbital space settlement writing

Kennedy's speech sending Americans to the Moon

What you can do right now to move orbital space settlement forward

My home page.

Today space is mostly rock and radiation. We can change that. In the 1970's Princeton physicist Gerard O'Neill showed that we can build giant orbiting spaceships and live in them. These orbital space settlements could be wonderful places to live; about the size of a California beach town and endowed with weightless recreation, fantastic views, freedom, elbow-room in spades, and great wealth. In time, we may see hundreds of thousands of orbital space habitats in our solar system alone. Unlike earlier colonization events, no people need be oppressed and no ecosystems destroyed for the simple reason that there aren't any out there. If we do it, space settlement will be so important that only the origins of life itself is in a higher league. Even ocean-based Life's colonization of land half a billion years ago pales by comparison.

Space settlement provides an unparalleled opportunity for the United States. The U.S. is an expansionistic nation and there's a lot more opportunity to expand in space than on Earth. America has been expanding steadily from the day the first colony was established on the Eastern Seaboard. Today this expansion takes the form of a world-wide military presence. This policy has some severe problems. Namely, some of the people in areas occupied by the U.S. military are well armed, hate their occupiers, and are getting way too good at killing American soldiers. These sorts of problems are inherent in any expansion here on Earth. So, what if the U.S. spent it's money on space settlement rather than global military control?

It's cheaper. The U.S. military budget is about $600 billion per year, far more than needed for space settlement.
Fewer casualties. America has lost only 17 astronauts in 45 years of spaceflight, compared to over 3,000 American soldiers and a lot more Iraqis and Afghanis in the current wars alone.
More real estate. The largest asteroid has materials sufficient for 1g living area equal to a couple hundred times the surface area of Earth (distributed into many colonies).
More energy. The readily available, completely reliable solar energy in space is 2.3 billion times that available on Earth. A concerted effort to gather solar energy in Earth orbit and beam it to Earth on microwaves would cost less than the Iraq war and could end oil's energy dominance forever within a few decades.
More money to be made. One small Near-Earth Asteroid has about $20 trillion (yes, that's with a 'tr') worth of precious metals.
And perhaps most important, no one need be killed, maimed, or oppressed and no ecosystem need be destroyed. Nothing is stolen -- everything can be created from rock and radiation at no one else's expense.

Bottom line, there is a lot more wealth and power to be gained in space and there's no need to hurt anyone. Let's go!

Some of My Space Settlement Writing

Basics

Who? You, and people pretty much like you.
What? Kilometer-scale spacecraft with all the amenities of home, and then some.
Where? In orbit; near Earth at first, throughout the solar system this millenium, then on to the stars.
How? Space tourism, orbital retirement homes, solar power satellites, asteroid mining and chutzpah.
Why? To grow and survive.
When? First one this century.
How much will it cost? If you have to ask, you can't afford it (but still much cheaper than killing each other) ... unless molecular nanotechnology works

A Solution to the Launch Problem? Maybe. September 2008.
I wrote a series of proposals in May 2008 for the International Space University (ISU) summer program. These are ideas for team projects.
- Asteroid mining
- Low-cost human space program
- Orbital retirement home
- Space Solar Power
Space Solar Power X-Prize Space Settlement Advocacy Committee, December 2007. This is a proposal to the X-Prize Foundation for a Space Solar Power (SSP) prize.
A Space Program for Americans, 2008 Al Globus, February 2008.
"A Better Strategy for America?," Al Globus, April 2007.
"The Kalpana One Orbital Space Settlement Revised," Al Globus, Ankur Bajoria, Nitin Arora, Joe Straut, April 2007.
Will We Live in Orbit?
"Contest-Driven Development of Orbital Tourist Vehicles," Al Globus, AIAA Space 2006, San Jose, California, 19-21 September 2006.
" A U.S. Space Program for Space Settlement, Al Globus, 25th Internatioal Space Development Conference, National Space Society and the Planetary Society, Los Angeles, California, 4-7 May, 2006.
"Kalpana One: A New Orbital Space Colony Design," Al Globus, Ankur Bajoria, Nitin Arora, 25th Internatioal Space Development Conference, National Space Society and the Planetary Society, Los Angeles, California, 4-7 May, 2006.
"Kalpana One: A New Space Colony Design," Ankur Bajoria, Nitin Arora, Al Globus, Earth and Space 2000, 10th ASCE Aerospace Division International Conference on Engineering, Construction and Operations in Challenging Environments, Houston, Texas, 5-9 March 2006. This improves on Lewis One (see below).
In the summer of 2005 Diplomatie, a French magazine, interviewed me on space colonization. The article appeared in the September/October 2005 issue. Read article in English.
Introduction to my book "Orbital Space Colonies" The publisher cancelled not only the book, but the entire division of the company. I still like the intro ...
"Radiation Passive Shield Analysis and Design for Space Applications," Horia Mihail Teodorescu and Al Globus, International Conference On Environmental Systems, Rome, Italy, 11-14 July 2005. This shows that the lowest radiation dose in a space colony is right inside the hull. That's because cosmic radiation coming at an angle passes through more shielding.
Excerpts, from an orbital space settlement book that was never finished. I like the excerpts though.
"Teleoperated Modular Robots for Lunar Operations," Al Globus, Greg Hornby, Greg Larchev, Matt Hancher, Howard Cannon, Jason Lohn AIAA 4th Aviation Technology, Integration and Operations (ATIO) Forum, Chicago, Illinois, 20 - 23 Sep 2004. A plan for building robotic lunar bases that might be used for mining.
"AsterAnts: A Concept for Large-Scale Meteoroid Return and Processing Using the International Space Station," Al Globus, Bryan Biegel, and Steve Traugott, NAS technical report NAS-99-006, presented at Space Frontier Conference 8. Presents a plan to retrieve very large numbers of very small asteroids with fleets of identical solar-sail-powered spacecraft.
The Design and Visualization of a Space Biosphere," Space Manufacturing 8, Energy and Materials from Space, Space Studies Institute, Princeton, NJ, May 1991, pages 303-313. This presents the Lewis One space settlement design intended to improve on the 10,000 inhabitant designs of the mid-70s. The new design features large shielded micro-g construction bays, low-g agriculture near the rotation axis to reduce the length of cylindrical settlements, large micro-g visitor and recreation areas, space viewing, and low-g recreation.
"Remote Teleoperation Earth to Moon - An Experiment," Fifth Princeton/AIAA Conference on Space Manufacturing, 1981.
Annotated space settlement bibliography.

Online Space Settlement Books

NASA Ames/Stanford 1975 Summer Study.
Space Resources and Space Settlements NASA Ames 1977 Summer Study.
Space Resources Overview NASA-California Space Institute 1992 Summer Study.
Space Resources Volume 1, Scenarios NASA-California Space Institute 1992 Summer Study.
Space Resources Volume 2, Energy, Power, and Transport NASA-California Space Institute 1992
Space Resources Volume 3, Materials Nasa-California Space Institute 1992
Space Resources Volume 4, Social Concerns NASA-California Space Institute 1992
CoEvolution Book on space settlement edited by Stewart Brand and published in 1977. This work contains arguments for and against space colonization, very interesting. This is what got me interested in space colonization.

Images and Video

NASA Ames summer studies (1970's).
Space Studies Institute slide set.
Images of the moon from the National Space Science Data Center.
Asteroid and Comet Fact Sheets.
Videos of weightless living.

Space Settlement Quotes

"Provide ship or sails adapted to the heavenly breezes, and there will be some who will not fear even that void," Johannes Kepler.

"For me the single overarching goal of human space flight is the human settlement of the solar system, and eventually beyond. I can think of no lesser purpose sufficient to justify the difficulty of the enterprise, and no greater purpose is possible," Mike Griffin, current NASA Administrator, in 2004 testimony before Congress.

"In the long run, a single-planet species will not survive," Mike Griffin, NASA Administrator, Rolling Stone Magazine, 23 February 2006.

"One day, I don't know when, but one day, there will be more humans living off the Earth than on it," Mike Griffin, NASA Administrator, Rolling Stone Magazine, 23 February 2006.

"I know that humans will colonize the solar system and one day go beyond," Mike Griffin, NASA Administrator, to the Washington Post.

Other Space Settlement Web Sites

National Space Society space settlement page.
NASA space settlement site.
Mike Combs' excellent space settlement page. I particlularly like his FAQ
L5 News. The L5 Society was founded to promote space settlement. It eventually merged to become the National Space Society. Back issues of the L5 News can be found at this site.
The Space Frontier Foundation.
P.E.R.M.A.N.E.N.T.
Space Studies Institue.
Wikipedia entries
- Space colonization
- Space habitat
- Space manufacturing
Spacesettlers. Newgroup to share your thoughts on space setttlements and related topics with fellow spacesettlers.
Space Station Threshold A community driven jumping off point for reaching space.
The Artemis Project to establish a self-sufficient lunar colony.
Isaac Asimov on space settlement.
Cygo Space Initiative. CYGO's Space Initiative has to do with planning and deliberate action towards mining near earth asteroids, molding and casting of interlocking pieces, assembly of private interconnectable space vehicles, assembly of space platforms in various configurations (incl. settlements and quarters for residents and tourists) and assisting in the setting up of new commercial and industrial operations in space.
Bigelow Aerospace, Inc. is developing a private, human-rated space station and offers a $50 million prize for demonstration of a launch vehicle that can get there.
BIO-Plex Information Exchange. NASA Ames Research Center In-House LIfe Support Technology Review Databook.
Biosphere 2 was able to support 8 people for two years in a (almost) materially closed system, although many problems were encountered. Such closed systems are essential for space colonization.
Burning the Cosmic Commons: Evolutionary Strategies for Interstellar Colonization. A paper by Robin Hanson
Freeluna.com dedicated to the proposition that the colonization of outer space is critical for the long term survival of the human species, and that colonization of the moon and the exploitation of the moon's natural resources is one of the best first steps in that incredible journey off planet.
Adaptation of Stereolithography to the In-Situ Construction of Lunar Basalt Structures A novel method of basalt casting with applications towards semi-autonomous robotic processing is presented by William Clawson.
First Millennial Foundation. Projects to Employ Resources of the Moon and Asteroids Near Earth in the Near Term.
Spaceflight or Extinction A civilization restricted to the surface of a single planet has inevitable threats to its long-term existence. Natural threats such as epidemics and impacts from space objects, and man-made threats such as nuclear and biological war, will be joined by new threats from emerging sciences and technologies.
Space Quotes to Ponder What famous people (and some not famous) have said about why humankind must expand into space.
Space Future for everyone who wants to go to space.
Electromagnetic Construction of a 1 KM-Radius Radiation Shield
Uranos A club for grouping people interested in the development of human civilization and its expansion into extraterrestial space.

College Bound?

People who want to work on space colonies sometimes ask me what they should study. The answer is to study what you are interested in, but be sure to include as much math, physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, engineering, space science, and other technical fields as possible. Also, look at Space Vehicle Design by Michael Griffin and James French if you can afford it. Finally, you might want to consider attending one of these colleges. If you are interested in working as a student with NASA scientists and engineers, consider the NASA Academy.

Miscellaneous

Bootstrapping space Communities with Micro Rovers and High Tensile Boot Laces (Tethers). How to Start Building Cities and Factories Throughout the Solar System, for What We Are Now Spending on Space, authored by Bruce A. MacKenzie, Space Studies Institute - Senior Associate, and National Space Society - Director.
Centripetal Vivarium Space Habitats by Andrew Thompson. Includes pictures and 3D model.
Distant Space Travel Better Conducted As Family Affair. University of Florida Daily News article.
SpaceSettlers. A site devoted to space settlement discussion.
The Space Show. The Space Show focuses on timely and important issues influencing the developmentof outer-space commerce and space tourism, as well as other related subjects of interest to us all.
Links to solar sail web sites.
General Public Space Travel and Tourism
Related web sites.

Parting Words

Arthur C. Clarke once wrote that new ideas pass through three periods:

"It can't be done."
"It probably can be done, but it's not worth doing."
"I knew it was a good idea all along!"

Princeton professon Dr. Gerard O'Neill got us past the first period in the 1970s by showing that space colonies are technically feasible. We're now in the second stage.

Contact: Al Globus