The colonization of space

SEP 01, 1974

Careful engineering and cost analysis shows we can build pleasant, self‐sufficient dwelling places in space within the next two decades, solving many of Earth’s problems.

DOI: 10.1063/1.3128863

Gerard K. O'Neill

New ideas are controversial when they challenge orthodoxy, but orthodoxy changes with time, often surprisingly fast. It is orthodox, for example, to believe that Earth is the only practical habitat for Man, and that the human race is close to its ultimate size limits. But I believe we have now reached the point where we can, if we so choose, build new habitats far more comfortable, productive and attractive than is most of Earth.

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More about the Authors

Gerard K. O'Neill. Princeton University.