This video illustrates an idea from the golden-age of Science-Fiction and early space-exploration: The Asteroid Colony.
The idea of an asteroid inhabited by human colonists has been around for some time, with many examples from classic SF and TV:
• The Sargasso Asteroid - from Alfred Bester's novel "The Stars My Destination"
• Confinement Asteroid - from Larry Niven's "Known Space" series
• The Stone - from Greg Bear's novel EON
• Red Dwarf - from Grant & Naylors's cult TV sci-fi comedy series
• Yonada - ST:TOS Ep #63 "For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky" by Rick Volaerts
Over the years many different approaches have been suggested for carrying out such an ambitious piece of engineering. One of the most intriguing of the "real-life" proposals was the "Cole Bubbleworld" by the visionary Dandridge Cole in the 60's.
This video is an attempt to visualize such an artefact. It's my take on Cole's concept...with a few enhancements.
While researching the subject, it soon became apparent that the idea is very likely impossible to achieve. We now know a lot more about asteroid composition than was available to Cole when he first proposed the idea 50 years ago...
Asteroid composition and cohesiveness are important attributes which affect structural strength and stability of the asteroid body. Most asteroids appear to be too fragile and unstable to attempt excavation on a large scale.
In any case, for the purposes of this video, I have chosen to conveniently ignore these (and many other) problems!
The technology illustrated is purely speculative! While I've tried to be reasonably faithful to the science, please bear in mind that I am not a scientist. In some sequences I've sacrificed authenticity for "drama" in order to evoke a feeling or to add interest -- hopefully I've succeeded!
For the stuff I got right, all credit goes to the references below. Any errors are purely my own.
Enjoy!
-fragomatik-
September 2010
CREDITS
-------------
Music Track:
"DLDN Instrumental" - St Paul
http://ccmixter.org/people/Per/profile
(CC3 Creative Commons)
3d Software - Imagine v2.19 by Impulse
http://www.imagine3d.org/
Video Editing - VirtualDub & Cyberlink Powerdirector
Meshes and Textures
-----------------------------
All of the objects and textures used are my own creations, with a few exceptions listed below.
Some freely available 3d objects, greebles and textures were used for "set-decoration", or re-used to create new objects and textures. These items are acknowledged below, and to the best of my knowledge they are either Public Domain, or unrestricted for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons License. As far as I know the list is complete, but I would be more than happy to correct any inadvertent omissions.
All the meshes listed below were heavily modified and re-textured. The Astronaut was originally 2 objects. I broke it apart, created many sub-objects and re-assembled it with defined states to animate it. Looks okay at a reasonable distance!
The planet model was created from scratch based on a tutorial at Noir Extreme [4] which was originally for the 3DS-MAX editor, and adapted for use in Imagine.
Countdown - www.youtube.com/user/ASja2002#p/u/17/5GQ6A_hBV2s
Signage - http://www.cgtextures.com/
Seated Man- http://artist-3d.com/free_3d_models/dnm/model_disp.php?uid=125
Apollo CSM - http://artist-3d.com/free_3d_models/dnm/model_disp.php?uid=1879
Astronaut - http://artist-3d.com/free_3d_models/dnm/model_disp.php?uid=1839
ESA Shuttle - http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/catalog/show_creator_details.php?creator_id=24
Various bits - http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/catalog/show_creator_details.php?creator_id=84
Clipart - http://www.clker.com/clipart-15550.html
References & Links
---------------------------
[1] O'Neill Cylinder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_Three
[2] Bubble Worlds http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dandridge_MacFarlan_Cole
[3] SpinCalc http://www.artificial-gravity.com/sw/SpinCalc/
[4] Rendering Earth http://www.noirextreme.com/earth
[5] Creative Commons License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/
[6] Colonies in Space by TA Heppenheimer http://www.nss.org/settlement/ColoniesInSpace/index.html
[7] Space Settlements http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education/SpaceSettlement/
[8] Space Settlements: A Design Study http://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/75SummerStudy/
[9] Impact Shielding http://www.asteroidmines.net/documents/Shielding/Shielding.html
[10] TANSTAAFL http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_ain%27t_no_such_thing_as_a_free_lunch
Loading...
4:06
Habitat 2by fragomatik28,234 views
For the world is hollow and I have touched the sky.
Have always fantasized about turning 216 Kleopatra "Dog Bone" into a hollow habitat.
Great work.
khanrhy 1 month ago in playlist Uploaded videos
@khanrhy
Many thanks for the comment! No exploration of space-habitat ideas is complete without including a colonised asteroid!
And to think that this idea was explored seriously by such pioneers as Dandridge Cole in the 60's - just goes to show how "thinking big" is a bit of a lost art these days.
fragomatik 1 month ago
this is one impeccable of work - what do you use for animation such as this
ryan16426 4 months ago
@ryan16426
Thanks again Ryan. Since youTube comments are no good for links, I'll PM you with some info.
fragomatik 4 months ago