Space Settlements a Design Study SP 413

This is the original 1977 publication. It is an immensely thorough study of the viability of a permanent human settlement on an artificial habitat. It also includes beautiful full-color illustrations, artists' concepts of the various types of settlements. It is a truly wonderful publication.It is a highly technical discussion of the mechanics of constructing and maintaining an orbital habitat, with a comparison of the types of structures, sizes, etc. It even looks into the psychological effects of living in space, and how to mitigate them. They discuss the need for simulated gravity and techniques for space-based agriculture and manufacturing. Essentially every aspect of space colonization is covered.I highly recommend this for anyone interested in the possibility of space settlement, or anyone who just wants to dream about it! It contains more than enough technical information to get lost in for hours. I enjoy it so much I bought a second copy for my office. (It is also recommended by the National Space Society. That's where I heard of it first.)

This purchase of this out-of-print book was one I was very grateful for, since my own copy of this cherished book had somehow "left my possession" along with many other of my favorite books, in the past decade. This Space Settlements Design Study of 1976 has been very inspirational in the design of my advanced technical concepts for space access and utilization, particularly my "Centristation" and "KESTS to GEO" system concepts, which I subsequently wrote technical papers about them which are published in space conference proceedings. And even more pleasant to do than conference presentations of technical papers, I have again used many of the sub-concepts in this book for inspiration when writing the first four of my POD high-tech science fiction novels.

Excellent, I wish a new (2015) release were available!