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Orbital Space Settlements

Link: http://www.nas.nasa.gov/Services/Education/SpaceSettlement/

Target Audience Grades - 3-5 6-8 9-12 This page from NASA's Educational Resources is best used as a springboard to learn more about orbital space colonies. There are answers to a few general questions (e.g. "Who?", "Why?" and "How much will it cost?") on a linked page, as well as directions to the NASA/Ames competition for students in grades 6-12, but the power of this page is in its collection of links related to the colonization of space. The other sites listed include very nice collections of images from space, online books concerning space settlement, and related sites which can be fanciful or factual. This is also the dangerous part of the site, in that there has been no review of the science on the linked sites, and the sites may change addresses abruptly. In fact, the first link on the page to NASA's HEDS strategic plan is incorrect. This is just a moderate inconvenience, however, as the other sites are certainly worth browsing if you are interested in the exploration and colonization of space or are simply curious about how a transistor works and how it was developed. This web site is about living and working in orbit; not just for few months, but on evolutionary time scales; where Life evolves inside of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of kilometer-scale, artificial, orbital habit ats. Earth-based Life's establishment of these settlements would be an evolutionary event of a magnitude similar to, if not greater than, ocean-based Life's colonization of land half a billion years ago. Basics * Who? Pioneers at first, billions of ordinary people later. * What? Artificial ecosystems inside gigantic rotating, pressurized spacecraft shielded from radiation. * Where? In orbit; near Earth at first. * How? Solar energy, lunar and asteroidal materials, and lots of hard work. * Why? To grow. * When? Good question, when do you start working on it? * How much will it cost? If you have to ask, * The Mother Earth metaphor

• Resource Availability: 200 OK

This resource is cataloged under:

• Educational Type: Best practice
• Educational Type: Curriculum
• Educational Type: Curriculum support
• Educational Type: Reference
• Educational Type: Study guide
• Network/channel: Technology Applications for Learning: facilitate collaboration or resource sharing
• Network/channel: Technology Applications for Learning: develop or access curricular content
• Network/channel: Technology Applications for Learning: design or deliver instruction

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