Earth II

> From: Combs, Mike
> O'Neill would certainly have come down in favor of 2. He
> even spoke of habitats designed such that the Amish could
> live in them and keep them going.
>
> I once felt compelled to add something to my Space Settlement
> FAQ (http://space.mike-combs.com/spacsetl.htm#terrorist) to
> the effect that, when thinking of the "life support system",
> don't think of a building with chugging machines which a
> terrorist could attack. Instead, think "every green leaf
> growing in sunlight".

While I'm sure the concrete and steel/carbon-allotropes could keep going for
a few thousand years... What about the 'glass'? Either as massive windows,
or fiberoptics, some part of it is going to be exposed to the deep space
enviroment. If it gets cloudy (micrometorite pitting or plain dirt) for any
reason, then the sunlight gets blocked and the leaves will fail.

Even if you replaced the glass with some of the hardier aluminium
derivatives, isn't the lifetime of a low tech colony going to be limited to
the lifetime of the glass it's made from? (And likely several other things)
Beyond that you need space suits and/or cleaning robots at a minimum.

A civilisation of colonies could probably maintain the required industrial
base, but a single colony?

John