Space habitat

A space habitat, space settlement or spacestead is a theoretical space station that rotates to simulate gravity and is set up to be like an environment on Earth, with landscaping and one or more settlements where people live. Space habitats would be very big, from 500 meters in diameter to several kilometers in size.

Space habitat can also mean a base or enclosed settlement on or beneath the surface of a planet or large natural satellite or floating in its atmosphere.

Proposed designs

Proposed designs include but are not limited to the following.

Example of O'Neill cylinder

O'Neill cylinders

O'Neill cylinders are cylinder-shaped spacesteads with livable space all over the inside surface (except for the ends). Two joined cylinders form the space settlement.

Stanford toruses

Stanford Torus

Stanford toruses are donut-shaped habitats in which the land, settlement, and water are on the outer part of the interior surface. This leaves the other half to be the habitat's sky. These would also have spokes and a central hub in the middle.

Bernal Spheres

Example of Bernal sphere

Bernal Spheres are spherical habitats from 500 meters to more than one kilometer in diameter. Part of the inner surface is habitable land.

Bishop rings

These are essentially smaller Stanford toruses without central spokes.

Birch Worlds

These are spherical habitats one or two light-years in diameter built around a galaxy's supermassive black hole.


References

  1. ↑ "Space Settlement National Space Society – NSS". 16 May 2023. Retrieved 2024-05-04.
  2. 1 2 "Bernal Sphere". Orion's Arm - Encyclopedia Galactica. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
  3. 1 2 "The Colonization of Space – Gerard K. O'Neill, Physics Today, 1974". NSS. 2017-08-03. Retrieved 2024-06-19.