Artificial Biospheres In Space

From: babbler36 [mailto:babbler36@...]

> --- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, "Combs, Mike"
> wrote:
> > From: babbler36 [mailto:babbler36@y...]
> >
> > > I think that there is designs of colony w/o the mirrors. Like the
> > > Grey Vivarium: Sunlight is refracted through translucent
> > > optical "pipes" into a central radiant core to illuminate the
> inner
> > > hull. See http://www.dyarstraights.com/msgundam/vivarium.html
> >
> > I wouldn't consider that a serious habitat design, though.
>
> Why not? It seems to make more sence to me.

I base that assessment on nothing more than the fact that this habitat
design came from a Japanese cartoon about giant fighting robots, rather than
from a NASA-funded university study.

But to give an answer that derives from more than bias, look at it this way:
Which is going to cost more: many square miles of aluminized Mylar, or many
square miles of optical fiber?

Regards,

Mike Combs