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A definition of space settlement

Dale L. Skran of the National Space Society breaks down the term differentiating between individual permanent habitats and the general creation of a grander association of colonies:

“ ‘A space settlement’ refers to a habitation in space or on a celestial body where families live on a permanent basis, and that engages in commercial activity which enables the settlement to grow over time, with the goal of becoming economically and biologically self-sustaining as a part of a larger network of space settlements. ‘Space settlement’ refers to the creation of that larger network of space settlements.”

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The Art of Bioneering

In a previous post I mentioned Dr. Jim Logan’s concept for space settlements in a cored out section of Deimos presented at the Bioneering Panel at SSI 50. A string of 10 Island One settlements would be placed in a 15km x 1/2km tunnel bored through the Martian moon. Videos of the Panel have been posted and details of the concept can be found at 1:47:23

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Destination Deimos – prime real estate for space settlement

At SSI 50, the Space Settlement Enterprise conference sponsored by the Space Studies Institute, I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Jim Logan, a medical doctor with 22 years experience as a NASA Flight Surgeon where he served as Chief, Flight Medicine and Chief, Medical Operations.  Dr. Logan along with former Flight Dynamics Officer Dan Adamo, developed a strong argument in 2014 for Deimos as the ideal destination for initial space outposts.  Says Logan, “Deimos, for a number of VERY valid reasons, is the best choice by far for early settlement”.  Their paper outlining this concept provides a convincing argument that Deimos is the most valuable piece of real estate in the solar system.

On the last day of the conference Dr. Logan presented an innovative concept for a string of O’Neill type settlements constructed in a tunnel bored straight through Deimos.  The architecture addresses the problem of radiation protection and delivers Earth normal gravity while providing an easy to get to platform for telerobotic exploration of Mars.  Videos of this presentation will be coming soon on the SSI YouTube Channel. 

Logan and Adamo are co-founders of the Space Enterprise Institute, which provides evidence-based research inspiring expansion of human activity in space.

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Space Access Society 2019 April 19 – 21

Day 1 – The Entrepreneurial Revolution In Smallsat Launch

http://space-access.org/updates/sa2019schedule.html#Thursday

Day 2 – Reusable Rocket Transport Networks in Earth-Moon (and Mars, and Nearby Asteroids) Space

http://space-access.org/updates/sa2019schedule.html#Friday

Day 3 – After Rockets, Getting There Faster: High Energy Propulsion Possibilities

http://space-access.org/updates/sa2019schedule.html#Saturday