Stanford torus
The Stanford torus is a hypothetical space colony that was planned in the form of a space station for 10,000 to 140,000 residents. Due to the special construction, an earth-like habitat is to be created in the ring-shaped structure by means of artificial gravity and sunlight . Constructs with a similar purpose are the Bernal sphere and the O'Neill cylinder .
history
The Stanford Torus was in 1975 during the Ames Research Center of NASA proposed sponsored summer study program at the Stanford University was conducted to future methods to develop for space colonization. The name Stanford Torus only describes this particular design, as the concept of a rotating space station in the shape of a ring was proposed long before by Herman Potočnik and Wernher von Braun . In contrast to their relatively conventional designs, which, like today's space stations, would serve for research, the Stanford torus was intended to house an artificial earth environment in order to expand the culturally and agriculturally usable area on earth or - in the event of overpopulation , wars, nature - or planets affected by environmental disasters . In addition, the construction should have an advanced industrial area. The declared goal was a colony that is capable of self-sufficiency.
description
The original design for 10,000 people consists of a torus with a diameter of 1.8 km, which rotates around its own axis once per minute in order to generate an earth-like artificial gravity between 0 and 0 by means of centrifugal force at the points furthest away from the center , 9 and 1.0 g .
Sunlight is reflected onto the ring via a system of mirrors . The ring is connected to a center located on the axis of rotation via spokes , which also accommodate means of transport for people and material. There is little or no artificial gravity in it, so the center is better suited for docking spaceships than the outer ring. Industrial systems that require weightlessness can be accommodated in a non-rotating module that is attached to the center.
The interior of the ring is mainly intended as a living space for the population. It is large enough to recreate a “natural” environment and then resembles a narrow, long valley , the ends of which curve upwards and finally meet on the opposite side to form a complete circle. The settlement density corresponds to a dense, detailed planned suburb . Other parts of the ring are needed for agriculture and greenhouses (see hydroponics ).
The planned positioning in the orbit of the moon around the earth at the Lagrange point L5 would ensure that the construction remains stable in the vicinity of the earth even without a regular, fuel-consuming position correction.
Technical data (exemplary):
- Position: Lagrange point L5 of the earth and moon
- Total mass: 10 million tons (including radiation protection (95%), habitat and atmosphere)
- Diameter: 1790 m
- Housing diameter: 130 m
- Spokes: 6 spokes, each 15 m in diameter
- Speed of rotation: 1 / min
- Radiation protection: 1.7 m thick screen made of moon rock
implementation
Overall, the study sheds light on many details from construction to operation. The realization of a torus according to the plans at the time would require almost ten million tons of material. It was planned that the raw materials for the construction project on the moon would be extracted and shot into space with a mass accelerator at a lower cost than would be possible from Earth. An interception device would slow down the raw materials. From there, the load would then be transported to the construction site in order to process it into building materials in a space factory equipped with a solar furnace . Only material that is not available on the moon would have to be launched from Earth with a rocket. Asteroid mining has been suggested as an alternative source of raw materials.
The feasibility of such a project is still science fiction today .
In literature and media
- John Varley's Gäa trilogy is about a Stanford torus in orbit around Saturn .
- The space station in Elysium is a Stanford torus. The inner wall of the torus - i.e. the ceiling of the habitat - is missing, however.
- The Citadel, a space station in the video game Mass Effect , consists, among other habitat modules, of a Stanford torus that was apparently inspired by Donald E. Davis' paintings.
- In the science fiction -literature many wheel-shaped space worlds or colonies have been described as Larry Niven's Ringworld ring worlds of the Halo video game series mentioned in the novel of the same name, or "halos".
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Johnson, Holbrow: Space Settlements. A design study. NASA, Washington 1977, p. 1 and 60.
- ↑ Johnson, Holbrow: Space Settlements. A design study. NASA, Washington 1977, p. 7.
- ↑ H. Potočnik: The problem of navigating space - the rocket motor. 1929.
- ^ W. von Braun: Crossing the Last Frontier. Collier's Weekly, March 22, 1952.
- ↑ Johnson, Holbrow: Space Settlements. A design study. NASA, Washington 1977, p. 7.
- ↑ Johnson, Holbrow: Space Settlements. A design study. NASA, Washington 1977, p. 46.
- ↑ Johnson, Holbrow: Space Settlements. A design study. NASA, Washington 1977, pp. 87 ff.
- ↑ Johnson, Holbrow: Space Settlements. A design study. NASA, Washington 1977, p. 113 ff.
- ↑ Johnson, Holbrow: Space Settlements. A design study. NASA, Washington 1977, p. 5.
- ↑ Johnson, Holbrow: Space Settlements. A design study. NASA, Washington 1977, p. 78.
- ↑ Johnson, Holbrow: Space Settlements. A design study. NASA, Washington 1977, p. 201.