0191-9067/82/020167-26S03.00/0 Copyright ® 1982 SUNSAT Energy Council SPACE SETTLEMENTS AND EXTRATERRESTRIAL RESOURCES — WHAT BENEFITS TO SPS CONSTRUCTION? GORDON R. WOODCOCK Boeing Aerospace Company Seattle, Washington INTRODUCTION Background A notable feature of recent astronautical literature has been the discussion of “space colonization,” sometimes as “space settlements”: the establishment of human colonies (permanent settlements) in space. This idea can be traced back to the origins of astronautical literature, but modern thought on the subject clearly follows an article by Dr. G.K. O'Neill, published in the September 1974 issue of Physics Today (1). Unlike much (but not all) earlier literature on space colonies, O'Neill proposed the construction of large artificial habitats inside which a quite Earth-like environment could be created. Far more palatable than living on a hostile planetary surface and far less of a challenge than terraforming an entire planet, the O'Neill concept attracted an immediate following among space visionaries. The original O'Neill article described the technical feasibility and philosophical desirability of space colonies, but did not deal with economic realities. Accordingly, it was immediately attacked by the more conservative element of the technical community. The response of the rapidly-emerging space colonization school of thought was to adopt the manufacture of large space artifacts (such as solar power satellites) as the economic justification for these settlements. The mainstream* of solar power satellite research, however, has been reluctant to accept space settlements as either a necessary or a desirable element of a solar power satellite program. The Typical Space Settlement Scenario The contemporary space settlement scenario as set forth by O'Neill can be summarized as follows: [ 1 ] A mining base is established on the Moon (asteroid mining has also been discussed). [2] Lunar material is launched into space by a linear electric motor (mass driver). *In this context, I am considering those studies and research activities funded under the DOE/NASA Solar Power Satellite Concept Definition and Evaluation Program (2). NASA has indeed funded studies of lunar and asteroidal materials utilization and of space manufacturing using such materials. References 3 through 7 are examples. But these have been funded through the Office of Advanced Space Technology and hence are outside the mainstream under the definition I choose to use.
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