ISDC 2005

--- Maximus Beaumont max_beaumont@... ha
scritto:
Maximus
Ringworlds, as the system is called is part of a more
general research study about space development
involving several alternative and advanced systems to
achieve its goals.
Ringworlds is the third generation extraterrestrial
construction system folowing Astrohab and a more
advanced second generation system all developed within
my architectural design firm.
The first generation system AstroHab has been
presented at several conventions and has been
published, the second and thrid generation system are
currently under final design phase, conceptually
speaking, with the study of all its components such as
housing, work facilities, food production etc.
I am enclosing for your information a short
description of the ringworlds system.Any comment will
be welcomed
Regards
giorgio
Giorgio Gaviraghi

Ringworlds
Next
generation space colonies

Colonies in space, the seminal proposal by Gerard
ONeill in the seventies, established a basic fact:
the best location for human expansion and colonization
of space, is not any existing planet or other
celestial body but an entirely artificial facility
where it will be possible to recreate Earths
conditions as far as atmosphere, weather and gravity
conditions are concerned.
The idea of terraforming Mars as an example ,can
still be valid, but at the end of such potential
process, that may take centuries and endless funds to
be implemented, Marss gravity will still remain much
lowers than Earth,s and cannot be changed.
In that event the future martians, at first the
Earth-born humans and especially later the
Martian-born ones, will be subject to live and grow in
such different conditions that they will be unable to
live safely on Earth and ultimately during generations
will be subject to genetic variations that will create
a mutant human species with all its implications.
Such conditions may also be encountered in potential
extrasolar planets to be considered in the far future
for similar projects.
Having established the need for a completely
artificial space colony in the solar system but valid
in any other planetary system leave open the potential
human expansion in space without the danger of the
creation of several mutant humans and new humanoids
species, very popular concept in early sci-fi books,
but at the end totally incompatible between them.
At the same time the space colony design and system
left many open questions that need to be answered and
faced to allow a better understanding and potential
implementation of the proposal.
In this paper we want to answer such questions and
propose a more advanced space colony design and
construction system that includes most not answered
questions.
In particular, just to face a few, the utilization of
the mass driver from the Moon, or in the asteroid
belt, means a big limitation as far as location is
concerned, since the facilities must be located not in
an idel or more convenient location but on a near Moon
or asteroid belt location.
Furthermore there is no mention to the construction
facilities required, both on the Moon, to manage and
supply with raw materials the mass driver and
especially in the proposed colony location for
catching and stopping the incoming raw material,
process and manufacturing the building componets and
house and support the hundreds of humans needed for
the construction work.
The very big size of the colony, in the order of dozen
of kms, to be built before it could be utilized, means
a construction time to be measured in decades and not
in years and the non possibility of expansion, basic
requirement for every city to remain a feasible
creation.
To overcome these and other basic questions a next
generation design and overall construction system is
being proposed following some new concepts and in
particular:
1-Location possibility anywhere could be required in
the solar system
Such possibility can be achieved not by locating the
facility close to existing raw materials bodies but by
deflecting small and material-rich asteroids in the
required orbital location in space and utilised
directly their resources without the need of far away
mass drivers or other material transfer systems.
This system will serve two purposes, overcome the
location limitation as discussed above and avoid the
need of bases in the raw material supply bodies and of
an artificial facility in-situ; the same asteroid,
properly equipped, can be utilized as the
construction base and human support facility.
2- A modular construction system to allow the assembly
of much smaller livable areas that can be immediately
utilized and allow a future step by step growth of
the colony in accordance with its development, similar
to our historical experience on earth concerning the
cities growth and development.

Lets analyse the new system and its requirements:

Phase 1-Asteroid deflection to the desired location
-resources availability
Having established that high accessibility costs, be
it from Earth or even from the Moon, is the main
obstacle to space development one new and important
concept must be introduced.
Lets bring the material source, already available in
space to the desired location.
A possible implementation of this concept could be the
utilisation of comets and asteroids, that could supply
much needed raw materials which, with the right
technology, could be transformed in fuel and life
support components initially for the human components
of the colony nd , as soon as that is established, the
actual rw materials for the space colony construction,
saving considerable payload weight fro Earth and non
requiring costly mass driver facilities.
To accomplish such facts we need to introduce,
research and develop completely new technologies such
as the asteroid deflection one.

Astrorient :The asteroid deflection system technology.

Asteroids, deflected in the right trajectory, could be
utilised for several purposes.
An asteroid in a proper Earth orbit and properly
developed could be a fully operational orbital base,
the ideal way station for extraterrestrial missions as
well as for any activity in the orbital environment.
It could support and maintain a crew and visitors, the
orbital vehicles ,perform science and manufacturing
activities, produce fuel, food and life support
materials.
This would minimize the need of Earth incoming
supplies reducing drastically maintenance costs.
Another function that could be performed by asteroids
is interplanetary transportation.
An asteroid deflected in the proper trajectory could
be utilised as fully equipped cycler spaceship in the
most utilised space routes such as the Earth- Moon or
Earth-Mars.
Such a cycler asteroid would take advantage of the
gravitational forces that are exerted by the sun, the
planets and their moons, which provide "gravity
assist" to passing spacecraft.
As a spacecraft travels close to a planet the flight
path is curved, causing it to whip around the planet
while boosting its speed. The path is commonly called
a "slingshot" trajectory, which enables a spacecraft
to achieve the proper speed and heading.
The cycler would be essentially in a perpetual orbit
around the sun and make regular flybys of Earth and
Mars and other bodies.
Once the vehicle, in this case a deflected asteroid,
enters a cycler orbit, it continues on its own
momentum, going back and forth between Earth and Mars.
It will only be necessary to carry some propellant for
an occasional boost.
Instead of cramped spaceships an asteroid equipped
with a base can comfortably, safely and economically
accomodate space travellers to other bodies, similar
to an ocean liner in our planet.
At the same time an asteroid, deflected in the proper
orbit, can also be utilized as a construction base, as
far as basic human requirements are concerned and a
source of construction materials inhe event of space
colonies construction.
in the above case and being the technology at the
beginning we are considering small asteroids, under 1
million tons mass, or about 50m diameter to start
with. In the future , once the deflection technology
is mastered, bigger asteroids or comets could be
considered.
Such bodies could easily be utilised, not only as
cyclers but also to develop human colonies.
But let's analyse in more detail the necessary
requirements.
.A small, 30\35m diameter NEO , of about 100.000 tons
of mass , if possible with water such as the recently
discovered 1998 KY26, could be the ideal candidate for
an initial test.
Such asteroid passed at around 500.000 miles from
Earth and according to NASA's scientists, it was
estimated that it could supply enough water and oxygen
for one thousand people and that the cost to send an
unmanned mission would be in the order of 50M$.
Many proposals for asteroid deflection has been made,
from nuclear blasts, to solar sails, to mass driver,
it's all untested and even non existing technology.
We want to approach the problem with existing and
proved technology, the chemical propulsion rocket.
Let's analyse the requirements of an unmanned
deflection mission to be sent to a similar asteroid .
-The Astrorient system
The spacecraft involved will consist of the following
main components:
-The bus
-The landers
In the following chart we can visualize the main
configuration of the system.
The spacecraft carrying the above crafts will
initially reach the candidate asteroid from Earth with
the proper equipment.
The bus will:
-orbit or follow closely the asteroid trajectory
-map its topographical features
-map its resources
-act as a communication satellite with Earth
controllers
-transmit to Earth the images of the activies being
performed in the asteroid
while the landers will:
-land on the selected sites
-perform the proper underground docking
-rotate its engines in the right direction for
deflection
-fire its engines and deflect the asteroid in the new
direction in a step by step phases
But let's describe the above more in detail.
Once in the vicinity of the asteroid the bus will
enter a close orbit around the asteroid if feasible or
enter a parallel path at short distance, in the order
of a few kms where it will perform the preparation
phase of its mission: to map the topographical
features of the asteroid and its mineral resources in
order to allow its Earth-based controllers to select
the proper location for the landing and perform the
designed activities.
At the same time the bus will perform communications
functions to and from Earth allowing proper telemetry
and Earth control of the mission.(see Fig.1)
Such part of the mission will allow the earth
controllers to select the most proper location for
landing the two spacecrafts.
After the site selection from Earth the spacecraft
controllers will command the two landers to leave the
bus and descend to the asteroid.
From the bus the two landers will take-off, one at a
time and touchdown in opposite sides of the asteroid.
Once the landing is performed in the right location,
the following docking operation can begin.
The landing location must be such that an ideal
conjunction line between the two landers goes through
the baricenter of the asteroid.(Fig 3)
Such location is a must in order to avoid
uncontrollable spins and rotations of the asteroid
once the deflection operation is under way.
The landers configuration consist of:
-a rocket engine on a rotating axis
-fuel tanks for initial operations (Chemical is
considered but nuclear system would be preferred)
-fuel manufacturing units for further operations
-landing legs , including a docking system that would
allow, by drilling the soil and inserting a screw-type
leg extension, mixed with a chemical expansion joint,
to allow the anchoring of the lander to the soil and
to withstand future undocking stresses due to the
force developed by the deflection engines thrust
An important feature of the docking system is to
insert at least one extended landing legs in the
underground in the same direction of the desired
deflection.
Such feature will avoid the possibility that the
combined forces developed by the rocket thrust could
tear off the spacecraft from the underground soil.
Once properly docked and positioned the engines will
rotate to a minimum deflection angle, of about one
degree, and simultaneously start operating.
Once properly positioned the ADS system will start
operating and move the asteroid to the proper orbital
construction location.

Phase 2-Asteroid supporting station construction
On its way to the proper location the asteroid needs
to be reached by a manned crew, at the most convenient
distance from earth during its deflection process, so
that a supporting construction facility for human
requirements could be assembled.
A properly designed and equipped bus from Earth or
from an Earth orbital facility, will rendez-vous, with
a human crew, the asteroid and proceed with the base
construction operations.
Such plans could be easily and economically
implemented by utilising the AstroHab system.
During the station construction the crew will utilize
the existing hab facility of their lander that will be
utilized for future departure from the asteroid

-AstroHab -a modular extraterrestrial construction
system.

To complete the picture of the most needed
technologies to achieve the main goal of space
development capability at affordable costs another one
must be introduced.
The extraterrestrial construction system utilising
mostly local resources for station, bases or
communities in other celestial bodies.
Let's define the design goals for such a system.
-Minimum weight of Earth-generated payload
-Maximum utilisation of local resources
-Construction and assembly in-situ with light
equipment
-Minimum number of components
-Ease of assembly and construction
-Maximum flexibility and expansion capability
-Low component cost
-Minimum storage space
The AstroHab system, as described in this section,
fulfill all the functional, cost and operational
requirements for a successful deployment and meet all
of the above goals.
Let's analyse the system with different approaches
establishing a set of parameters to evaluate current
station proposals and reach a recommended solution.

Design parameters
To design and build the described station in our
planet is a routine and relatively easy task that any
Army Corps of Engineers crew can perform in a short
time.
To design and build the same station for an
extraterrestrial location , a completely new approach
and totally different design parameters must be
considered.
We want to analyse some of them and define a rating
system to compare and comment various alternatives.
In this case we can divide the parameters in several
related categories.
:
a- location
Eventhought the location will not affect the system
design, site selection is perhaps the most important
parameter since on the location will depend the
general configuration and equipment of the planned
station.
-Topography will define its layout and physical shape.
-The amount of rocket energy to reach the site its
asteroid or planetary location.
As mentioned previously the presence of potential
water in the vicinity and the availability of raw
materials that could be processed for life support
system elements like air, water, fuel construction
materials and soil for agriculture are major factors
in selecting the location.

b-production
transportation and storage
the Earth manufactured components should be in minimum
quantities due to the high cost of transportation, the
small volume available and the heavy weight of the
construction components.
Those that must be carried must be easy to handle ,
if possible stackable to minimize the required storage
space.
Light and essential.
-utilisation of local resources
Due to the problems previously discussed the building
components should minimize the requirement of
Earth-manufactured elements in favor of a construction
system that can maximise the utilisation of local
resources.
-Simplicity of production
local manufactured components must be easy to
manufacture, utilizing small and light equipment.

c-Local assembly
-ease of handling
the modular panels or building blocks should be of a
dimension and weight that allows assembly with hand
based small equipment and without the need of heavy
construction equipment
-Speed of assembly
minimum number of types to allow a fast construction
process
General design
Maximum flexibility
The modular panels must be utilised in most situations
allowing the maximum layout possibilities with the
minimum number of components.
Modularity and componibility
They should be modular coordinated and allow an easy
connection between them as well as the possibility to
be utilised in all situations.
-Expansion possibility
The station will be a continuous construction site.
the building blocks should be designed to allow
expansion of the station components in any direction.
-Safety
-radiation protection
several small self sufficient units are better than a
big single one in case of emergencies. Local
materials must be tested to be free of components
potentially harmful to humans
-Simplicity of operations\user friendly system
the station and most of its functions must be entirely
accessible from inside in order to be practical and
allow people to work in a shirtsleeve environment.
To exit and reenter (EVA missions) from the body
surface is a long, risky and cumbersome activity and
its requirements should be kept to a minimum.
All the parameters described above and their
requirements will help to establish standards for
designing space structures.

The recommended configuration
Following the definition of the design parameters we
can start analysing and rating the different
station\base configurations.
Based on previous proposals we can select three
alternatives configurations and one reference
alternative.
a-the cylinder (canister type) entirely
Earth-manufactured modular components
b-the dome with Earth-manufactured geometrical
buildings components and local assembly
c-the small modular unit with components of mixed
origin
d-the totally Earth-manufacture spacecraft station
The rating parameters are summarized in the following
chart.
-production origin
-handling for local assembly
-assembly time
-type number
-functional complexity
-flexibility
-modularity
-expansion possibilities

By checking this chart that includes a rating system
from one to five we can notice that the third
alternative is the recommended one.
Alternative a-Earth-built cylinders
Main advantages are:
Good quality module construction being all produced's
in Earth factories
Main disadvantages:
transportation requirements, big, empty volume, heavy
and cumbersome, no more than one on each trip while we
need many more even for the first mission
Handling, the need for heavy hoisting and handling
systems that will add additional room and payload
requirements to the spacecraft
Quantity and time, at the rate of one per trip the
base would be operational after several years and
follow-up missions.
Cost, all of the above adds up to the same result the
need for additional money
rated 28

Alternative b-The dome
Main advantages
Plenty of room to perform the activities
First components could be Earth produced, future
modules locally
Main disadvantages:
Time. It will take years to build and assemble. Being
the only base the explorers will have to live for a
long amount of time out of the landing vehicle.
Dimensions. Too big. It requires heavy handling and
erection equipment.
Safety. No alternative in case of accidents or
emergencies.
Costs same as alt a.
rated 20

Alternative c. AstroHab system
Main advantages
Production
The system only needs a few forms from Earth and
finished equipment. The bigger part of the basewill be
locally produced, saving time, travels, money and
could be immediately ready, Can also be partially
remotely assembled.
Transportation
Few components are needed from Earth. They can be
stackable to utilise less space and light to save
weight.
Dimensions
Maximum size not to exceed booster dimensions in order
to easily fit inside.
Small components easy to handle and not requiring
heavy equipment.
Modularity
Few modular components type could be used for the
whole base.
Flexibility, easy expansion, reusable, good radiation
protection.
Circular shape because is self enclosing, self
standing and only needs a single type of modular panel
with a limited number of connections.
Main disadvantages
Local construction systems and materials whose
availability is still unknown
Despite its numerous research and development
requirements and unknown alternative c seems the most
promising and suitable to be considered.
Rated 47

-alternative d- the Earth manufactured spacecraft
station
Main advantages
Production
Totally built on Earth.
Quality control and possibility of tests
Assembly
No need to assemble on site
Ready for utilisation
Safety of operation
Main disadvantages
No expansion possibility nor flexibility
Heavy load to carry from Earth
Need of a second unit if left on site
No possibility of reutilization if utilized as
transportation also
Limited space for long duration utilization
Rated 27 for applicable parameters
This alternative is considered for reference purposes
only since is not comparable to built on site station
The AstroHab system
The basic modular components
Having established the small modular system as the
recommended configuration let's analyse how it can be
composed.
To minimize its requirements we can describe the two
basic components.
The functional units
The connectors
Other buildings and systems will be specialised and
not requiring mass produced modules
One of them is the airlock or filter area , which will
be utilise as a passageway between the base and the
exterior but can be housed in a typical unit and
connector building type.
The units
The units are small, circular and dome-like buildings,
about 8m diameter, with a maximum height at the center
of about 3.5m while their area will not exceed 50sqmt.
They are composed of 12 building modules, U-shaped
light formlike carbonium-fiber reinforced plastic
components to be joined together by the assembly crew
using hand operating equipment .
Despite their limited size they can house most needed
functions, either as multipurpose or specialized
units.
The units will be accessible through "connectors".
They are corridor type of modular construction that
will guarantee the shirtsleeve environment for the
entire base that will be entirely enclosed and
air-tight without requiring large air volumes.
Connections between the interior and the outside of
the base will be guaranteed by the filter or airlock,
an equipped passageway that will assure air-tight
passage and clean the incoming crew and equipment of
all the outside dust or other unwanted elements.
The main advantage of this system is that with a
single construction type all the requirements of each
function can be satisfied, without the need of
specialized construction.

The system will be composed of few basic
Earth-produced construction panels or forms to be
entirelly entirely filled by local resources , either
water or fuel or regolith for structural purposes.
They will be assembled, joined and sealed together to
shape the units and connectors.
The floors will be included in the panels, with
provisions for the underground passage of utilities
and, in the future expansion, small transportation
systems based on mag-lev technology.
The unit will be formed locally of prefab, U-shaped
connectable modules from the outside while the
interior, where required, will be Earth-manufactured
light panels that can also be utilized as forms for
the pouring of the local material..
The Connectors will be U-shaped modules for
transportation stackability purpose, joined together
on site to be closed O-shaped modules to be furtherly
joined together.
The connector should also allow people's movements
without spacesuits and assure all utilities
connections. It should in the future phases allow the
transit of a moving vehicle for passengers or cargo
either electrical or mag-lev powered if necessary.
It should be built with modular components of a size
and weight that allows handling by the human crew
without moving equipment and willl be filled with
local materials as in the case of the units
components.
These two main components will allow the maximum
flexibility and every type of expansion possibility.
To assemble the first unit the previous manufacturing
of the construction module or building blocks will be
necessary.
They will be U-shaped modules, easy to be connected
between them and closed on the ceiling and the floor
by a circular panel which will also assure structural
strenght to the entire system.
Eventually inflatable structures, of similar size and
dimensions could be utilized for such functions as
greenhouse for plant cultivation and animal breeding.
An airlock facility, equipped with dust cleaning
equipment, connected with the appropiate service
facility, will also be part of the system.
Also the airlock can be assembled with the same
connectors previously described.
Having considered the design parameters, the
recommended configuration and the base components we
will describe the construction system and assembly
sequence.
We can divide the needed components into two main
categories.
The Earth manufactured components
The local produced
The ultimate goal will be to successively minimize the
need for the first type of components and become
self-sufficient
Inflatable units, connectors and filters must be in
place to allow basic activities to begin immediately,
such as food production areas and other life support
functions.
The inflatables can play an important role as
temporary construction components.
A modular panel system with double function, to be
used as forms for the local material refill exterior
modules and walls, while in the interior a flexible
support that could be properly equipped for any
required function.
They will be extremely thin and light molded in
composite material but for the possibility to be
locally manufactured in metal, easy stackable in order
to minimize the need of space and weight during
transportation.
In the interior of the assembled module to separate
the refill material from the panel a thin plastic
membrane will be provided.
At the interior side each panel is designed to act as
a support for the specialized equipment to be
installed in accordance to its functions.
An important design feature of the panels will be the
possibility to change the interior panel function by
removing and substituting the panel equipment.
Such capability will be very useful in the future
utilization when it may be necessary to modify the
existing functional units to other functions in
accordance with layout and base Master plan
requirements.
In case a suitable thin membrane protection could be
provided for radiation protection in the future, the
interior volume of the assembled panels, due to the
important need for extra room, could be utilised for
storage space for such items as water, fuel or other
materials.
The locally produced components
After proper tests have established which materials,
either from an asteroid, the Moon or Mars, could
better be utilized, one of the first equipment landed
will be a rover with mining, stone crushing and other
material processing capability.
Such equipment should collect, process and store in
defined areas in the selected site the necessary
materials which will be properly mixed and utilized.
All of the above with the help of a power generator
either nuclear or solar powered as part of the first
equipment to be landed in the selected site.
We can summarize the preparation, erection and
assembly as shown in the sequential chart.
Such construction system allows the maximum
flexibility as will be analysed in the following pages
together with its potential capabilities.
The typical sequence is the following:
-Site Clearing
The rover properly equipped with a shovel will clear
the site designated for the station units and the
connectors from rocks or other physical obstacles and
excavating only to prepare a flat surface.
-Panels assembly
At the same time as the site is cleared in a separate
area the forms will be unloaded from the carrying
craft, taken to the proper location on the site where
they will be manually assembled.
-Unit assembly
The empty panels , now fully prepared as forms, will
be connected to each other and to the central core to
shape a functional unit.
, will be filled, by the water produced on site and by
other locally produced materials to ensure its
stability and radiation protection.
-Form filling
Once assembled the empty forms will be filled with
local materials, water, fuel manufactured by the life
support equipment or regolith to be collected and
prepared on site utilising the rover and a specialised
conveyor belt.
The necessary piping and ducts for all utilities of
the station will run, in the proper location, inside
the forms
-Connector assembly
Following the first functional unit completion the
first connector will be assembled and filled with
local material in a similar fashion that the circular
functional units.
Station assembly
A typical station will be composed of two functional
units, one a multipurpose one, with crew facilities
and command units, the second with the specialized
facilities and equipment for the mission.
Two inflatable units with the greenhouse for
agriculture and animal breeding activities to ensure
food production,.
Al units will be joined by the connectors.
-Second unit assembly and filling
Same as before with the second unit joined by the
connectors with the addition of the specialized
airlock connector.
-Connector completion
The final assembly will complete the remaining part of
the main connector joining the functional units with
the inflatable units that will be inflated and
connected at the end of the entire assembly operation.
In such way a fast completion of the station can be
achieved, with the total time needed has been
estimated in four weeks for the entire operational
system.
Most life support, power generation, communication,
and material manufacturing equipment will stay outside
the station requirement mostly non human assisted
operations.

Once the asteroid is on its proper location and the
local construction station is ready for human
utilization the third and final phase, the actual
construction of the space colony can get started.

Phase 3- The Ringworld space colony system
This system consist of the assembly of habitable
rings, of moderate size, to be locally manufactured
and assembled, which will house all the activities of
the space colony, connected by spikes to a center hub
that will ensure the centrifugal force for the desired
gravity.
It will be possible to build several other similar or
of various sizes rings for future expansion and
requirements, which will be connected between them to
form a single expandable unit as a space colony.
The basic ring diameter for the habitable and enclosed
area will be of 20m and it will house , on different
levels all functions, the residential and agricultural
in the upper level that will receive the outside
natural light.
The underground levels will consist respectively of
the service and transportation level and finally the
manufacturing level.
Te overall diameter of the rings can be variable , as
long as centered on the single expandable hub.
It may range from a minimum of 500m to bigger sizes
not to exceed 1km to void too big a difference in
gravity pull.
Transportation for personnel and cargo will be assured
by a small mag-lev system, running on the service
level, freeing the upper one to be utilized for
residential and open air activities.
Such system will run along the ring and , through the
spikes, reach the hub from where it can each the
future rings ensuring total accessibility of the first
and future rings.
The cear area of a 250m radius ring will be
approximately 30.000 sqmts, per each major level.
In this case the residential, the service and
manufacturing level can reach app. 90000 sqmts.
Considering the food production clear area to be 80%
of the upper level and to build single story or
multistory residential units of app.30sqmt per person
we can house in app 4500sqmt per level on two levels
the equivalent of 300 people per each smaller ring.
Such situation can allow future growth consistent with
the requirements and the transportation capabilities.
Bigger expanded rings can house a bigger population up
to 1000 per ring on the 1km ones.
Since theoretically the number of additional rings is
unlimited, we can considered a space colony of 10000
people to require approximately 12 rings of various
sizes.
Higher populations could be reached in the same areas
assuming more advanced crop output and utilising part
of the underground levels.
The assembly
The structural system composed of modular main trusses
of the same size for ease of manufacturing and
assembly will be produced on the asteroid facility
utilizing raw materials mined and processed in the
asteroid.
The first components to be manufactured and assembled
will be the hub and spike elements followed by the
ring sections.
Once the main circular trusses system is in place the
lateral elements will be added.
Also these component will be of the same size and
shape for the same above reasons.
As big enough ring components will be assembled they
will start to be closed by modular panel system,
also of the same size , that will be entirely metal
or glass according to its function and location.
The panels will contain al the necessary insulation
and radiation protection as needed also being
manufactured using the asteroid materials.
During construction, in case that the original
asteroid dont have all the needed materials, another
one or more can be deflected to the construction
location as described previously.
After the facility will be closed , even by separate
entirely enclosed sections, the work will begin in the
interior by assembling the main floor levels and the
built-in facilities.
Also soil will be produced and included in the
agricultural areas with all the necessary water and
air to support the facility.
The overall time for the construction of a single
module is estimated at three years with the presence
of a 12 member human team and 50 robotic members.
After the construction of the first module and
following the population growth trend a second unit
can be built with the same procedure as the first one.
If necessary it can be slightly bigger than the first
one.
The will be connected through the central hub that
will be extended to include the next module while this
one will be connected to the ring by the spikes.
In this step by step expansion will be possible to
expand the colony as necessary and at the same time it
would be possible to use in a much shorter time than
in the case of a single bigger one.
It is also possible to retain all the general features
of the final colony, since every unit must be self
sufficient as far as the support of it own population.
In this way we can answer most of the open questions
that the first conceptual project had left and at the
same time retaining all the advantages and benefit of
the overall concept.

As a conclusion the next generation proposal allows
the construction in any location of the solar system,
independently from the nearness of raw material
sources and the possibility to avoid costly
construction bases by utilising the same deflected
asteroid.
The construction system allows a fast and reasonably
large stage construction more similar to the growth of
terrestrial cities and careful about its economies of
scale.

Giorgio,

I just joined SSI and live in Britain. Trying to put
together a presentation on what work is going on
within SSI for university students here. Would be
great to see what you have in relation to that space
colony system! Regards,

Max Beaumont - m.l.beaumont@...

having participated to two ISDC events asa lecturer i
believe that is too late now to take part to the 2005
event.
If i had known before i would have willingly take part
to it since i have ready a compeltely redesigned
sopace colony system which i feel could be of interest

Regards to all
Giorgio
> May 19-22. More details here -
> http://isdc.nss.org/2005/
>
> Regards,
>
> Mike Combs
>
> _____
>
> Mike,
> When is the conference?
> Yanai Siegel
>
> --- In ssi_list@... "Combs, Mike"
>
> > Somebody asked me if I'd be interested in
> delivering a paper
> at the
> 2005
> > International Space Development Conference
in
> Virginia.
> Apparently
> > there's a L-5 track that's in danger of
being
> dropped or
> consolidated
> > with something else due to a lack of
> papers/presenters. I
> don't
> know if
> > he knew about me presenting at the 2004
> conference, but I told
> him
> that
> > I was able to make that one because it was
in
> Oklahoma City,
> and
> I'm in
> > North Texas, so it was only a two hour drive
for
> me, but
> doubted I
> could
> > get out to VA for this.
> >
> > I mentioned Lee Valentine, thinking SSI
might
> have an interest
> in
> > putting in an appearance in order to
reassure
> everybody that
> SSI was
> > still around and still active.
> >
> > I told him it would be a shame if a L-5
track
> died on the
> vine. Is
> > there anyone else on the list who might have
an
> interest in
> presenting?
> >
> > If you think you necessarily have to be a
space
> professional
> to
> present,
> > I certainly was not. It was an enjoyable
> experience that I
> would
> > recommend to others.
> >
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Mike Combs
>
> click here
>
> p://www.netflix.com/Default?mqso_190075>
>
> s/S=:HM/A%93423/rand8682146>
>
> _____
>
email to:
>
the
>

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