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Space Colony Art From The 1970s

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posted on Nov, 7 2011 @ 04:13 PM
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In the 1970′s the Princeton physicist Gerard O’Neill with the help of NASA Ames Research Center and Stanford University held a series of space colony summer studies which explored the possibilities of humans living in giant orbiting spaceships. Colonies housing about 10,000 people were designed and a number of artistic renderings of the concepts were made. (More images and higher resolutions are available from here).












More Pics Here
What happened to vision and imagination for space colonization or stations? Lack of funding, public interest, not enough technology? The 70's were a great decade and so much vision seems to have been lost. Have we become woven in such dire and desperate times that this stuff no longer matters? Do tptb know of a major social collapse coming and so investing in this stuff is futile? I have seen hints of answers to these questions, but all in all, it is a shame to shelf these endeavors and lose sight of a dream.
Did we stop dreaming?

It just seems to me that this kind of thing is paramount in our growth, and may serve as a unifying subject for humanity. I realize any efforts now will come from the private sector,but who is investing, and why not?

Peace,
spec



posted on Nov, 7 2011 @ 04:22 PM
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It doesn't seem to be, it is paramount to our species survival. Its gives us a large medium for us as a species to collectively focus on. Its like a glue for all of the people on earth to come together and collectively help each other into the next century of space expansion and continued existence of our species. Its not a way, its our way. Its our only way, unless some other force comes to our aid.



posted on Nov, 7 2011 @ 04:27 PM
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Nah i watched an increadibly interesting program a while ago on this,

it was about a journey to mars, essentially some scientist was saying that because promises with the space race werent fulfilled like after the moon we stopped pushing to go further and further it fell out of msm and human interest, this then meant that less people wanted to be a part of the shiny world of space travel and exploration so less people dreamed of being scientist and astronauts.

he was talking about how everyone and there gran wanted to be part of the space race, wanted to be a physasist, a rocket scientist or a space explorer but now as itsnot a competition as there is no media/world wide drive for the exploration people just dont overly care anymore, if people dont want it then no-one is pushing the boundries...

im sure another world war would sort that lol (in no way do i wish for a war, it was however the second world war that brought us the rocket, and brought the USA there rocket scientists and the cold war brough us the actual drive to be on the moon, to compete agianst the enemy)



posted on Nov, 7 2011 @ 04:28 PM
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Wow!

From the 70's?

They look like modern designs pretty cool.



posted on Nov, 7 2011 @ 04:31 PM
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reply to post by AaronWilson
 


Agreed, it seems there is no room in our dreams for such endeavors anymore. Dream are turning to nightmares of fear and survival. Tis a shame for sure, and with todays tech and the future prospects, surely an effort could be managed and put on the drawing board. Hell even if coca cola gets behind it and puts there damn logo on the station, at least there would be funding, if that is an issue. Although I really hate to see any product marketing with such aspirations



posted on Nov, 7 2011 @ 04:31 PM
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Beautiful art with even more spectacular vision behind it. I would love to see our money redirected away from war/oil/bailouts and toward renewable energy and space travel

Thanks for posting
edit on 7-11-2011 by Hawking because: (no reason given)



posted on Nov, 7 2011 @ 04:34 PM
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reply to post by GonzoSinister
 


Yea it seems the 80's brought a shift from bettering humanity to bettering profits, and the selfish end of individuality took over, separating the public from imagination of these type of goals. I wish Jobs and Gates had collaborated on such an effort for space colonization.



posted on Nov, 7 2011 @ 04:35 PM
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reply to post by roughycannon
 


They do look modern, and imo even more practical today than then.



posted on Nov, 7 2011 @ 04:36 PM
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reply to post by Hawking
 


Thank you Hawking, and yea our plate if pretty full now, so who knows if we will ever be united with such plans and imagination, sad.



posted on Nov, 7 2011 @ 04:40 PM
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game programmers went further with this sort of concept in zone of the enders for playstation 2, toridial colony orbiting jupiter.

lovely artwork, im not sure if this concept would work IRL but we do now have see through aluminium so, I guess its possible someday.



posted on Nov, 7 2011 @ 04:48 PM
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Originally posted by roughycannon
Wow!

From the 70's?

They look like modern designs pretty cool.


you should see the movie 2001 then because that predates these paintings.

anyway, OP thanks for posting these. i llove these as ive seen a bunch of them from the National Geographic book Our Universe i had as a kid. it gives you an amazing look into what could be possible for humanity if we ever get or crap together.



posted on Nov, 7 2011 @ 04:50 PM
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If only all the money was shifted from wars and crap to funding this sort of thing, heck get rid of money all together and do it for free!!!!!



posted on Nov, 7 2011 @ 04:54 PM
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Beautiful pictures, very inspiring.


I have this nagging feeling that your question 'did we stop dreaming?' is far too close to being reality than we would ever wish for. The reason I say this is not known to me completely, I do not own that feeling one hundred percent, sadly, I just hear a very loud yes when I ask it.

Of course, it is easy to see that our "1984"-ish way of living in the west could easily lead to less inspiration, less lifeforce and therefore less happiness. Thus bringing more fear, more helplesness and more control.

That said I don't think we are at the point of no return. More so, I just think we are at a point where we are in a corner and have to decide if we want the somewhat "easy" way back, or keep walking towards the point of no return. By that, I mean do we keep killing ourselves in wars or do we start to look out to the stars and finally approach this challenge with some serious budgets?

Thank you for showing us these beautiful pictures.
edit on 7/11/11 by JoeSignal because: spelling



posted on Nov, 7 2011 @ 05:41 PM
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reply to post by JoeSignal
 



That said I don't think we are at the point of no return.

I appreciate your optimism and I too feel there will be a change for the better after we shed our current skin of greed ,selfishness and cronyism. The loss of imagination is something this subject reminded me of too. It is not encouraged in school, we hear less stories from our elders, and art and music are being phased out of the education systems. Granted our priorities have shifted for better and worse, but we must keep visualization alive, and we must not squander our dreams on material gains.

Thanks for the comment,
spec



posted on Nov, 7 2011 @ 06:06 PM
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It really is sad, isn't it ?

Scientists, imagineers, and innovators have been pushed off to the side and replaced with war mongering, greed, and hubris.

... and it's getting worse by the day.




Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov must be rolling in their graves... sorry fellas, we've royally screwed things up.



posted on Nov, 7 2011 @ 06:13 PM
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"Space colony." It looks like a typical boring 1970's suburban condominium complex transplanted onto the inside of a glass donut. I don't suppose it occurred to all these white suburbanite space designers that maybe there are some people who don't want to live like that, and who feel more at home in a more vertical, gritty, urban environment where human interaction is a little more aggressive and heightened.

I think the designs say more about the philosophy and psychology of the designers than they do about the future of manned space habitation.



posted on Nov, 7 2011 @ 06:15 PM
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I remember those pics and many more from that era. The flying cars, the jumpsuits, the Six Million Dollar Man...
So much fun. Now, where did I leave my jet pack and my eternal life pills?!?



posted on Nov, 7 2011 @ 06:22 PM
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reply to post by Blue Shift
 

To each their own, but I bet there are plenty of folks who would enjoy such an environment. I hope the gritty urban life is left here on Earth, but at the same time, it may be a natural attribute of humanity, and who knows we may even see some graffiti art up there some day. S'all good I reckon, still, the art looks applicable to me in any timeframe, but then again, the 70's was my favorite decade!




I think the designs say more about the philosophy and psychology of the designers than they do about the future of manned space habitation.

It does indeed, and I for one appreciate the Saganesque psych/philo much better than todays dreams and philosophy.
edit on 7-11-2011 by speculativeoptimist because: (no reason given)



posted on Nov, 7 2011 @ 06:30 PM
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Originally posted by speculativeoptimist
reply to post by Blue Shift
 

To each their own, but I bet there are plenty of folks who would enjoy such an environment. I hope the gritty urban life is left here on Earth, but at the same time, it may be a natural attribute of humanity, and who knows we may even see some graffiti art up there some day. S'all good I reckon, still, the art looks applicable to me in any timeframe, but then again, the 70's was my favorite decade!


I can't help feel that these designs represent the ultimate in "white flight," where you build a gated community so exclusive there's no chance of "those people" getting in and spoiling anything.



posted on Nov, 7 2011 @ 06:38 PM
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reply to post by Blue Shift
 

Hmm, I guess I can see that now that you've mentioned it. I think they were trying to portray humanity in the future, from a 70's perspective, and clean and tidy may be an attempt to convey an improvement of some type. Plus most sci-fi realms described advances by humanity, and with that comes a cleaner humanity and environment. I think it's more of a glass half full thing than a vision of prejudice. I could also see how your point could be argued though, and perspective is up to the individual I reckon.

spec




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