Customer Reviews

Colonies in Space

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Read the book in 1978, it was used as a textbook in my senior political science class, we were developing a socio-political system for space colonists. Excellent book with some great black/white photos. The original of space colonization books

This is a very good book and honestly my favorite book of all non-fiction (excepting scripture, of course).
It gives highly detailed and intimate information on the plans that were to be used for building space colonies starting in the late 70's.
One of the main reasons to build such a colony, says the book, would be to build large power satellites that would have replaced all other power sources by the year 2000! Really, it's incredible, but even more amazing, it was entirely realistic and even expected until the Challenger exploded in the early eighties.

Will we ever colonize space? God, I hope so, and if and when we do, I'd like to be one of those colonists. Mr. Heppenheimer gives us a possible overview of possible human settlements in space. With an introduction written by Ray Bradbury, one of the greatest SF authors of all time, and quotes by the late Carl Sagan and other great science fiction authors like the late Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke, we see an idea of space colonies and how they would have developed if the Nixon Administration hadn't been so quick to slash NASA's budget and hold a fire sale selling off everything except for Skylab, (which came down twenty years ago), and the Space Shuttle. Girard K. O'Neill, a Princeton physics professor, had proposed that colonies be placed in orbit around the moon in the L-5 Zone. If we weren't so short- sighted in 1971, we would have had a base on the moon right now, we would have had space colonies in orbit around the moon right now, we would have had nuclear spaceships by now, we would have had a manned mission to Mars, RIGHT NOW. But N00000! We had to slash the NASA budget in 1971. Why? to save a few billion dollars. We can't afford to save a few billion dollars. Not even a few TRILLION dollars. With space exploration, the sky's literally the limit. Space stations first, planetary colonies second, interstellar colonies, when we figure out how, third. Earth's the cradle of our civilization. A baby can't spend its entire life in a cradle. Neither can we.

Colonies in Space by T. A. Heppenheimer is, quite simply, the best book on space settlement written to date. It covers essentially the same ground as the much better known The High Frontier, by Gerard K. O'Neill, but it is much better written. Colonies is full of colorful narrative and satisfying, but clearly explained, technical detail.

Dr. O'Neill was a brilliant physicist and will forever be remembered for his vital role in developing the first more-or-less practical space settlement designs, but he wasn't a top-notch popular science writer. By contrast, Colonies is an easy, informative and exciting read and it is little wonder that Heppenheimer, a good scientist in his own right, went on to a successful career as a popular science writer.

The heart of Colonies is an excellent description of the essentials of the space settlement ideas largely developed by O'Neill. Heppenheimer describes, in eminently comprehensible terms, the construction shack to house those working on the first settlement, the lunar mine to gather materials, the mass driver catapult to send lunar materials into orbit, the catcher to gather the materials and control them, the major settlement designs of the times, and the solar power satellites to pay for it all. He extends O'Neill's work with an extensive discussion of high-intensity agriculture and discovers a better location for the first settlements, a high Earth orbit rather than L5. There are also unique details such as the low-g swimming pool.

Chapter five, "The First of the Great Ships," is unintentionally poignant, through no fault of the author, for it explains why space settlement has failed to make much progress since Colonies was written. In this chapter Heppenheimer traces the development of the not-yet-flown NASA space shuttle and describes how space settlement concepts were absolutely dependent on the promise of fifty flights a year and $500/lb to orbit - targets the space shuttle missed by a factor of ten or more. Reading this chapter makes it crystal clear why space settlement is stuck in the high-level design stage and emphasizes the criticality of the crucial first step towards space settlement: cheap and safe Earth to low-Earth-orbit transportation.

One might ask, if Colonies is the better book, why is The High Frontier so much better known? The simplest answer is that Colonies was a commercial endeavor that went out of print when sales dropped off (though you can still find copies easily on Amazon from used book stores). By contrast, The High Frontier has been thankfully republished by the Space Studies Institute for outreach and educational purposes, granting it much greater staying power.

I'll leave you with a portion of Ray Bradbury's introduction:

Colonies in space?

The question really shouldn't be raised... Yes, of course. Why not? Let's move. Let's go there. Let's do the job.

But scores of millions of doubting Thomases repeat the question. Mr. Heppenheimer answers it on many levels in this book. Up front, I must make do with some sort of literary/aesthetic defense....

Why? Because, wouldn't it be terrible to wake one morning and discover, without remedy, that we were a failed experiment in our meadow-section of the Universe? Wouldn't it be awful to know that we had been given a chance, a testing, by the Cosmos, and had not delivered - had, by a loss of will and a flimsy excuse at desire, not won the day, and would soon fade into the dust - wouldn't that be a killing truth to lie abed with nights?....

Mr. Heppenheimer is keeper of the key, opener of the gate, tender of the gardens we will toss to space and inhabit with proper proportions of sorrow and joy. He offers you citizenship in the Universe.

How can you refuse?

Though some parts of this book are much out of date, it is a must read for all who dream of reaching for the stars.

Dr. Heppenheimer provides a clear view and goal for which the entire nation can aspire, rather than waste oure efforts on Mars.
Unlike Mars, Colonization of space around L4 and L5 of the moon is an achievable goal, which could have been achieved in our life time had it not been for the short sightedness of the federal government back during the seventies. Had it not been for that, our children would be living among the stars today. Fact is, so much of the Fedral government is a waste of money that could have been spent here for something truly worth while.

Imagine if you will a world of rolling grass covered hills and green vallies, much like Seattle and and various other areas, endless land and clean aiar for which real families can grow and thrive without any restrictions on resources. This is the interior of a Space Island. This world, if we reaach for it, can be our's.

I would urge that this book be updated and brought back into print and be made required reading for all High School Science students so that they may learn to reach for the stars.

Another book worth reading on this subject is The HIGH FRONTIER by Dr. Gerard K. O'Neill.

I read this book when I was in high school. It was in a stack of new arrivals at the library and I was intrigued by the cover. I remember begging the librarian to please process the book so I could check it out and read it over the weekend.

The scope and breadth of this vision of the future seemed so attainable. Giant farms in the sky, habitats housing millions, gigawatt power satellites and other industries were all well thought out. Even as to the employment of the shuttle in setting up some of this infrastructure. Reading this book again was nostalgic for me. Not for what I remember, but for the feeling of hope that we all had for the space program in those days.

For anyone who wants to get in touch with how we dared to hope and dream, this book is a must-read!