Hop David schrieb:
Johnny1a wrote:


If the primary goal were to build SPS, then the Habitats are
extravagances of the first order, you could achieve the same thing
more cheaply with orbital hotel type structures, utilitarian
facilities designed to house a rotating construction crew on a medium-
term basis. For a comparison, think offshore oil platforms. They
aren't luxurious, but they are tolerable/comfortable for a rotating
crew. To draw out the comparison (which I grant is imperfect),
imagine if someone proposed that the key to exploiting off-shore oil
resources was to construct floating towns that were ecologically self-
sustaining and designed to duplicate suburban living out of an
advanced Western state at sea.

I pretty much agree with this but would like to elaborate.

Orbital structures like the proposed Bigelow hotels would be inadequate
for long stays as gravity is needed to maintain health. Crew rotations
are very expensive so you want to make them infrequent.

People have held out in zero-g space stations for more than one year
without serious health problems AFAIK.

mawa
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