Evolution of the Space Station
This will be how all space stations are built: Not as one piece, but accumulated in bits and pieces. Smaller stations will be symbiotically combined into larger stations. View this mesmerizing animation by USA Today for a timelapse account of the ten year growth of the first International Space Station. I realized from watching this wonderful summary that space stations will be like cities: ever changing, ever accumulating, ever growing. Some may grow to be a century old, full of new layers but and contain ancient parts they cannot shed.
There have been quite a few science-fiction works (mostly books) with that as a premise. In the TV realm, Babylon 5 was pictured to be decaying (containing burned-out sectors, slums, etc.) within only a couple years of its completion. I can’t think of any well-known novels set on old stations at the moment, but there are plenty of less well-known ones.
Posted by Aaron Davies on November 5, 2009 at 2:17 AMMy favorite moment looking at that ISS interactive was when I moused over a red button on the future Node #3 Cupola. The legend ????? appeared.
That gizmo must be SECRET. Heeheeheheh.
Posted by Tom Buckner on November 5, 2009 at 9:28 PM
While future space station technology may allow accumulation of modules for a long time, currently they cannot due to rapid material breakdown with exposure to conditions in space. I gather Mir became pretty disgusting towards the end too. It will be interesting to see whether the inflatable materials used by Bigelow with fare better.
Posted by Alex Tolley on October 13, 2009 at 7:46 PM