baton colony

>Except the ISS is zero G because people don't want to
>waste space's most abundant resource - microgravity.
>It would be like going to the sarah to study low
>tempreatures.

Good point about the ISS. But I'm not proposing to make a better ISS, just
a way to build a bridge to long-term habitable facilities in space.

>This solution has been proposed before, but it has
>problems. What happens if the teather/truss starts
>wobbling? How do you apply thrust to the structure?

Thrust and stability seem to be major issues alright. I bet there are game
designers out there who have worked it out already, in the process of
writing the code for complex video games.

>How do you make the counter rotating mass serve a
>useful purpose?

It would also be occupied. Not only would you double the liveable cubic
feet capacity, but to some extent you'd have the "lifeboat" function
covered, if one of the habs suffered a puncture.

>Where do you put the storm shelter,
>since in a rotating design you can't put most of the
>station's mass between it and the sun.

Shielding is an issue, but IIRC the Bigelow design proposes to line the
outer surface with water to create radiation shielding.

>It's a nice idea, but unfortunately it comes with a
>lot of nasty problems. And again unfortunately at the
>moment, the biggest one is that it would serve no
>purpose beyond a few one off experiments.

Bigelow is a hotel owner, and both the hotel and casino industries have made
noises about going into space, if the facilities can be built. This design
does overcome some of the problems that a single hab or a string of them
would suffer--namely those stemming from microgravity. No more necessity
for rotating employees up frequently to protect their health. And after all
how do you roll dice or deal cards in zero-g? Fans of O'Neill's can rattle
off a dozen reasons why you want simulated gravity for comfort, lower costs
and practicality.