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Space Settlement Design Contest: 

Space Settlement Design Contest “The greatest mission this agency has ever accepted is helping to open the mind of a child to unimagined possibilities." Sean O’Keefe NASA Chief Administrator

Orbital Space Settlement: 

Orbital Space Settlement Who? Ordinary people. What? Artificial ecosystems inside gigantic rotating, pressurized spacecraft. Where? In orbit; near Earth at first. How? With great difficulty. Why? To grow. When? Decades. How much will it cost? If you have to ask, you can't afford it.

Who: 

Who Today: highly trained astronauts. 20 million dollar tourist trip to Mir/ISS Tomorrow: everyone who wants to go. 100 - 10,000,000 people per colony Ultimately, thousands or even millions of colonies Sounds unrealistic? A hundred years ago nobody had ever flown in an airplane. Today ~ 500 million person/flights per year.

What: 

What A space settlement is a home in orbit, not just a place to work. Live on the inside of air-tight, kilometer scale, rotating spacecraft.

Where: 

Where In orbit, not on a planet or moon. Moon (1/6g) and Mars (3/8g) gravity too low. Children will not have the bones and muscles needed to visit Earth. Orbital colonies rotate for 1g. Continuous solar energy. Large-scale construction easier. Much closer: hours not days or months.

Lagrange points L5: 

Lagrange points L5 Lagrange showed that three bodies can lie at the apexes of an equilateral triangle which rotates in its plane. If one of the bodies is sufficiently massive compared to the other two, then the triangular configuration is apparently stable. Bodies at such points are sometimes referred to as Trojans. The leading apex of the triangle is known as the leading Lagrange point or L4; the trailing apex is is the trailing Lagrange point or L5. Collinear with the two large bodies are the L1, L2 and L3 unstable equilibrium points which can sometimes be useful for spacecraft.

How: 

How Materials Moon Oxygen, silicon, metals, some hydrogen for water. Near-Earth Asteroids Wide variety of materials including water, carbon, metals, and silicon. Radiation protection Life support: Biosphere II scientific failure, engineering success! Transportation critical and difficult.

Why: 

Why Growth = survival. Largest asteroid converted to space settlements can produce living area ~500 times the surface area of the Earth. Uncrowded homes for trillions of people. New land. Nice place to live.

When: 

When A few decades should be sufficient to build the first one. No serious effort now. Technology requirements: Safer, cheaper launch Extraterrestrial materials Large scale orbital construction Closed ecological life support systems And much more

How much will it cost?: 

How much will it cost? A lot. How much did San Francisco cost? Orbital space settlements will be far more expensive: all materials imported transportation difficult build all life support hostile environment new techniques must be developed

People Live Everywhere: 

People Live Everywhere Every continent, including Antarctica Hottest, driest deserts Coldest, iciest regions Wettest rain forests On water For short periods, in orbit 6,000,000,000 people on Earth

Real Estate Features: 

Real Estate Features Great views Low/0-g recreation Human powered flight Cylindrical swimming pools Dance, gymnastics Sports: football (soccer) Environmental independence Custom living Weather art

2020 Tourism: 

2020 Tourism Spaceship 1 6-21-2004 X Prize Doctors Maids Cooks Recreational directors Reservation clerks etc. These may be the first colonists.

Next Target: Orbit: 

Next Target: Orbit Your lifetime: thousands of people living in orbit A few centuries: most of humanity in orbit. Next millenium: generation ships to the stars

Baseline Transport System: 

Baseline Transport System

What is the Space Settlement Design Contest: 

What is the Space Settlement Design Contest Now in its twelfth year, the contest can be described as a multi-disciplinary educational program that sparks the imagination of students and enhances the classroom experience using standards based concepts and inquiry driven activities. The contest is a supplemental science program with interdisciplinary connections to astronomy, art, math, space sciences, social studies and language arts.  

Space Settlement Design: 

Space Settlement Design Basics Contest Page Student Art work Art work of the 70's

Space Settlement Design Resources: 

Space Settlement Design Resources Technical Documents Award winning submissions Lesson Plans/Standards Migrogravity Videos

Getting Started: 

Getting Started Designers Page Ringworld http://lifesci3.arc.nasa.gov/SpaceSettlement/Contest Student VRML models and Active Worlds (3D browser)

Why Participate?: 

Why Participate? To promote Team building To promote Student Creativity To promote student awareness of biological science, technology, engineering, orbital mechanics and space science and to connect with scientists and engineers at NASA. The website remains one of the most popular sites at Ames and through it 100’s of thousands of people have been exposed to the concept that humans can live in space settlements if we develop the means and so choose.

2004 Contest: 

2004 Contest What people are saying 2004 Contest and student presentations. 2004 Award winner tour 6-21-2004 National and international winners of the Space Settlement Design Contest toured Ames facilities, including the Exploration Center, 20-G and human-powered centrifuges, FutureFlight Central, the Hyperwall and NAS supercomputing facility. Reporters from KTVU-TV (Fox), KPIX-TV (CBS), KGO-TV (ABC) and KNTV-TV (NBC) covered the student presentations and tour. The FEE news agency (Spanish language) and the World Journal Chinese language newspaper also plan articles.

Slide27: 

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/photos/sts71/mir-imax/hmg0018.jpg

Conclusion: 

Conclusion Space Settlements are the next great adventure for humanity. The Space Settlement Design Contest is part of NASA’s educational effort to inspire the next generation of explorers.

Conclusion: 

Conclusion The NASA Explorer School program provides wonderful opportunities for schools, administrators, students and their families to partner with NASA to improve student learning; participate in authentic experiences with NASA science and technology; apply NASA science, mathematics, and technology knowledge to real-world issues and problems; and, participate in special events and other opportunities. The benefits, to NASA, the Nation, and the world of engaging students in scientific and engineering adventures cannot be overstated. By stimulating their imaginations and creativity and by meaningfully communicating the significance of NASA's discoveries and developments to them, we expect to improve the scientific and technological literacy of our young people and inspire them to pursue careers in science, technology, and engineering.