SPACE EXPLORATION

THE FINAL FRONTIER

Nick Burton

Space Colonization

Space Colonization ideas started in the

early 1900s.

The goal isnt just scientific exploration, its also

about extending the range of human habitat out
from Earth into the solar system as we go forward in
time Im talking about that one day, I dont know
when that day is, but there will be more human
beings who live off the Earth than on it. We may well
have people living on the moon. We may have
people living on the moons of Jupiter and other
planets. I know that humans will colonize the solar
system and one day go beyond. Michael Griffin,
NASA Administrator

Mariner 2

Mariner 2 was the worlds first successful

planetary spacecraft.
Launched 1962 on the Atlas-Agena
rocket.
Gave us new information about Venus.
Performed solar wind experiments
measuring:
Density
Velocity
Composition
Variation

Space Studies Institute

Gerrard K. ONeill founded SSI in 1977.

Focused on making new hardware to
make push space colonization forward.

Mass Driving An idea to mine and launch

fist-sized chunks of ore from the moon to
space to be used for raw building material.
Mass Drivers would launch them. ONeill left
SSI to be a professor, but with Henry H. Kolm
and a group of volunteer students, they built
prototype mass drivers that were only 160m
long but could launch material off of the
moon.

NASA Future Plans

NASAs Interest in Space

Colonization

A major environmental concern is the

consumption of Earths resources to
sustain our way of life.
More nations are becoming industrial
nations, meaning that more people will
compete for the same resources.
NASA things that space colonies could be
the answer to the limitations of the
resources.

International Space
Station (ISS)

A joint project between NASA, JAXA, ESA,

CSA and the Russian Federal Space
Agency.
Divided into two major sections.
The Russian orbital segment (ROS)
The United States orbital segment (USOS)

Revealed issues with long term space

living:
Bone

and muscle loss in low gravity.

Immune System suppression.
Radiation Exposure

The Colonization of
Space
Is it realistic?

Can people live in space?

We have put men on the Moon.

Can permanent communities be inhabited off
of earth?
Until recently, dismissed as science fiction.
Due to circumstances, the idea is now taken
seriously. Great potential benefits an hope
push us forward.
A 10-week summer study says it is feasible.
The greatest obstacles are primarily
philosophical, political, and social. Not
technological.

History of the Idea

Space Colonization extends to legends

and myths of ancient times.
First account of space colony appeared in
the novel Brick Moon, written by Edward
Everett Hale in 1969.

A brick sphere, intended for guiding maritime navigators, was to be

catapulted into Earth orbit by rotating wheels. When it rolled onto the
catapult too soon, still containing many workers inside, the first space
colony was launched. Fortunately, the workers had ample food and
supplies (even a few hens), and they decided to live the good life
permanently in space, maintaining contact with the Earth only by a Morse
code signalled by making small and large jumps from the external surface
of their tiny spherical brick colony

History of the Idea

Continued

Precursors to self contained worlds appeared

in novels by Jules Verne in 1879 and Kurd
Lasswitz in 1897.
In 1895, the space station concept was noted
from a more technical standpoint in a science
fiction story by Konstatin Tsiolkovsky.
In 1903, Tsiolkovsky expanded his description
of manned space stations to include:
1.
2.
3.

Artificial gravity (by rotation).

Use of solar energy.
Closed greenhouse and ecosystem.

History of the Idea

Continued

In 1923, Hermann Oberth thought that space stations

could serve as platforms for research, earth watch, and
astronomical observing.
In 1928, Guido Von Pirquet considered a three station
system designed for refueling, deep space flight and a
transit station.
In 1929, HermanPotocnik introduced the wheel shaped
space staion, known as Wohnrad or the living wheel.
During World War II, space stations were studied by
Germany.
After the war, the idea surfaced again because a
geosynchronus rotating-boom concept by H. E. Ross in
1949.

Space Station
Popularization

Space station popularized in the United States by

Wernher von Braun.
In 1952, he updated Potocniks concept, increasing
the diameter to 76 m from 30 m and suggesting a
1730 km orbit.
Around the same time, Arthur C. Clarke published
Islands in the Sky, a novel involving larger stations.
In 1956, Darrell Romic advance more ambitious
proposals for a station to hold 20,000 people,
increasing the diameter to 300 m and having a
cylinder 1 km long.
In 1961, Clarke suggested placing large stations at
fixed potion point relative to the Earth and the Moon.