Journal of the British Interplanetary Society VOLUME 72 NO.9/10 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 BIS SPACE Project special issue FOREWORD TO THIS SPECIAL EDITION Richard J. Soilleux FROM THE BRICK MOON TO ISLAND ONE: Space Habitats in Science Fiction Before O’Neill’s High Frontier Stephen Baxter THE AVALON ORBITAL SETTLEMENT Stephen D. Gunn & Richard J. Soilleux A RATIONALE FOR DEVELOPING AN ORBITAL MATERIALS PROCESSING AND MANUFACTURING COMPLEX (OMPMC) Utilizing Extra-terrestrial Materials Stephen D. Gunn & Richard J. Soilleux THE OPTIMUM LOCATION FOR AN ORBITAL MATERIALS PROCESSING AND MANUFACTURING COMPLEX (OMPMC) Utilizing Extra-terrestrial Materials SubscriberStephen D. Gunn & Richard J. Soilleux copy AVALON: A Tour of the Settlement Stephen Baxter AVALON: The Governance of a Company Town in Space Stephen Baxter and Adam D.A. Manning www.bis-space.com ISSN 0007-084X PUBLICATION DATE: 3 JANUARY 2020 Submitting papers International Advisory Board to JBIS JBIS welcomes the submission of technical Rachel Armstrong, Newcastle University, UK papers for publication dealing with technical Peter Bainum, Howard University, USA reviews, research, technology and engineering in astronautics and related fields. Stephen Baxter, Science & Science Fiction Writer, UK James Benford, Microwave Sciences, California, USA Text should be: James Biggs, The University of Strathclyde, UK ■ As concise as the content allows – typically 5,000 to 6,000 words. Shorter papers (Technical Notes) Anu Bowman, Foundation for Enterprise Development, California, USA will also be considered; longer papers will only Gerald Cleaver, Baylor University, USA be considered in exceptional circumstances – for Charles Cockell, University of Edinburgh, UK example, in the case of a major subject review. Ian A. 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Opinions expressed in signed articles are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or the Council of the British Interplanetary Society. Security clearance, where necessary, is the responsibility of the author. Published by the British Interplanetary Society. Registered Company No: 402498. Registered Charity No: 250556. Printed in England by Buxton Press Ltd, Palace Road, Buxton, Derbyshire SK17 6AE. © 2020 British Interplanetary Society. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording by any information storage or retrieval system without prior permission from the Publishers. CONTENTS VOLUME 72 NO.9/10 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 294 FOREWORD TO THIS SPECIAL EDITION Richard J. Soilleux 296 FROM THE BRICK MOON TO ISLAND ONE: Space Habitats in Science Fiction Before O’Neill’s High Frontier Stephen Baxter 302 THE AVALON ORBITAL SETTLEMENT Stephen D. Gunn & Richard J. Soilleux 332 A RATIONALE FOR DEVELOPING AN ORBITAL MATERIALS PROCESSING AND MANUFACTURING COMPLEX (OMPMC) Utilizing Extra-terrestrial Materials Stephen D. Gunn & Richard J. Soilleux 342 THE OPTIMUM LOCATION FOR AN ORBITAL MATERIALS PROCESSING AND MANUFACTURING COMPLEX (OMPMC) Utilizing Extra-terrestrial Materials Stephen D. Gunn & Richard J. Soilleux 350 AVALON: SubscriberA Tour of the Settlement copy Stephen Baxter 355 AVALON: The Governance of a Company Town in Space Stephen Baxter and Adam D.A. Manning OUR MISSION STATEMENT The British Interplanetary Society promotes the exploration and use of space for the benefit of humanity, connecting people to create, educate and inspire, and advance knowledge in all aspects of astronautics. JBIS Vol 72 No.9/10 September/October 2019 293 INTRODUCTION COURTESY OF TASHA O'NEILL COURTESY OF TASHA by ROGER LONGSTAFF FBIS, President of the British Interplanetary Society Foreword to this special edition incorporating the core papers arising from the BIS SPACE Project he BIS SPACE project (Study Project Advancing suggested by James Parr, as an intermediate step. The Marina SubscriberColony Engineering) was started by Jerry Stone Programme was also seencopy as a perfect means to tie together in June 2013 with the idea of revisiting Gerard K several current programmes that were being considered as O’Neill’s vision of the 1970s. O’Neill’s work culmi- separate entities. It would provide a viable successor to the Tnated in the design of large vista orbital habitats lo- International Space Station and follow logically from NASA’s cated at L5 in the Earth Moon system. These were intended to Asteroid Re-Direct mission proposed for the SLS. It could also provide a safe comfortable environment for the large number of provide a destination for the private companies determined to workers and their families then thought necessary to construct exploit space as a resource, either for commercial engineering the enormous power satellites being envisaged in response to a or tourist purposes. looming oil crisis. More specifically, the SPACE project aimed to look at O’Neill’s design for his smallest habitat, Island 1 with After making a good start on Island Zero, the team refo- 10,000 inhabitants, in the light of over 40 years of development cussed their efforts on Island 1 itself, its raison d’etre, optimum in space and, in particular, advances in materials, engineering location, governance, legal framework and, finally the redesign and medical knowledge. of the habitat itself together with its critical environmental control and life support system. After six years effort the core It was quickly realized that some of O’Neill’s ideas appear papers describing this work are incorporated into this extend- naïve when looked at today and an enormous amount of work ed Special Edition of JBIS. Together they encapsulate the most would be required to conduct a thorough review and re-design. in-depth and comprehensive study of an orbital habitat under- taken to date. RS Initially it was felt that a more incremental approach should be taken toward the project, with the construction of a far Above: Gerard O’Neill and his wife Tasha. smaller experimental station on which many of the basic tenets Right: Artists' impressions of the exterior (top) and interior of O’Neill’s designs could be tested and verified.