Mankind could be living in space colonies by 2100.
By Rakesh Agrawal
Once, there were just two persons: Adam and Eve. With the passage of time, their number keeps on multiplying and today, more than seven billion progeny of them exists across the globe and will keep on multiplying in foreseeable future, making the world a little too tightly packed home for them.
Little wonder, a search is on for an extraterritorial colony for humankind. But, as practically, no possibility exists to establish such a city state in the earth’s only natural satellite, the Moon, or in the only nearest ‘hospitable’ planet, the Mars.
Finally, here comes the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), the American space research and exploration agency, has just proposed a draft to establish a cylinder shaped colony in space that will house a million people.
As reported by Dr. S. Globes, a scientist with NASA Space Research Center announced this dream of the agency of establishing a space colony recently. According to him, initially, in two-three decades, it will be a kind of ‘hotel’ in the space where people could visit frequently; after which a permanent colony will be established.
Presently, with few exceptions, only highly trained and carefully selected astronauts go to space. But, after the colony is set up, ordinary folk could also go and settle down. And, they will not even live in a zero gravity as artificial gravity will be produced by centrifugal force!
It will have the shape of a cylinder and will have all facilities like health, education, housing, food & water as people have here, on the earth. Already, a team of architects, engineers and scientists has started working on the concept under the leadership of Dr. Gerard O Neil.
Although, the concept of establishing an extraterritorial colony is not now as reported by Space.com, when in the early 20th Century, Austro-Hungarian rocket pioneer, Herman Potocnic had designed an early space habitat that was supposed to be a 100 feet ring shaped station that would rotate to generate artificial gravity, this is the first time, when the real work on establishing such an outstation of the earth has begun.
And, Dail Mail, in Daily Mail reports NASA’s retro guide to future homes and had stunning images of space colonies reveal how we could be living in 2100.
Hence, our great-grandchildren could be boarding an out space bound spacecraft, the way we board a jet airliner to hop across the globe today!