space habitats

I advise anyone against visions of creating utopias in space. I think settling space is worthwhile (even vital), but one should never promise anything other than perhaps an increase in the standard of living (which after all has grown by leaps and bounds historically with each new technical advancement), and just maybe a chance to build your own kind of society with somewhat less interference than might be the case on Earth. People living in space will have all of the same faults as Earth people, and nothing will ever be paradise. Pursuing utopia is pointless to my mind; it's enough to just work toward improvements in living standard.

I don't know about 100 people, but if you care to make it 10,000, I would say the NASA-Ames Summer Study came as close as anything to what you ask for.

I have heard the opinion that the people living on Earth might adopt some of the recycling technologies for ethical reasons which the orbital people must develop for reasons of economic necessity. Of course, a counter-argument there is that the people in orbit will have access to much greater amounts of low-cost energy than the planet-bound. Some procedures economical for them (like supercritical combustion chambers) might not be for Earthlings.

Regards,
Mike Combs

From: spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com [mailto:spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of sraj
Sent: Monday, June 10, 2013 8:15 AM
To: spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [spacesettlers] : Space habitats

What troubles me greatly is the glaring contradiction between our desire to
create an utopia in space, against our inability to create a similar utopia
on Planet Earth, where all conditions are more favourable than they are
likely to be in space.

Has any science fiction writer tried to visualize in detail how a colony of
say a hundred highly qualified people will live - plan their habitations,
engage in agriculture, school their children, manage waste, etc. - in space.

Quite clearly the way we go about these activities on Planet Earth is not
entirely satisfactory. Even considering a basic issue like habitation, we
simply waste space on a colossal scale.

It is unlikely that earthlings who all have this fantasy of living like
kings will change in a hurry. Could space enthusiasts bring a different
perspective to every day living, which is more rewarding and ecologically
more sane?

Regards,
Selvaraj