It has long been speculated in science fiction and in actual serious engineering design studies that in the far distant future, population pressures, exploration initiatives, or global catastrophes will necessitate the formation of colonies in space. The first rudimentary steps in that direction can be seen in the current International Space Station. Back in the late ‘70s, as an environmental scientist working for TRW Systems (Advanced Technology Division) I participated in a design study under NASA funding to explore environmental requirements for creating enclosed ecosystems that would be self-sustaining and would provide all of the necessary components to perpetuate human life. One such design consisted of what are called The O'Neill cylinders proposed by physicist Gerard K. O'Neill in his 1976 book ‘The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space’ In the book O'Neill proposes the colonization of space for the 21st century, using materials from the Moon. The following links are two cool artists’ conceptions of what they would look like. http://www.islandone.org/Settlements/AC75-2621.gif http://www.islandone.org/Settlements/AC75-1086.gif Today’s rendering shows my fanciful speculation of an O'Neill cylinder. It consists of a three dimensional cylinder and I show it rotated for three views so you can see it from the front, the side and the back. There are all kinds of cool things to see on deep zoom but we are limited here with format constraints. If my Muse allows, in a future post, I will show a zoom example (it really is worth seeing). Anyway, I think it would be cool to live in one. Enjoy! Created in Ultra Fractal