The concepts of space stations and space habitats feature in science fiction. The difference between the two is that habitats are larger and more complex structures intended as permanent homes for substantial populations (though generation ships also fit this description, they are usually not considered space habitats as they are heading for a destination[1]), but the line between the two is fuzzy with significant overlap and the term space station is sometimes used for both concepts.[2][3] The first such artificial satellite in fiction was Edward Everett Hale's "The Brick Moon" in 1869,[2][4] a sphere of bricks 61 meters across accidentally launched into orbit around the Earth with people still onboard.[1][5]
Space stations started appearing frequently in science fiction works following the release of the 1949 popular science book The Conquest of Space by Willy Ley, which deals with the subject.[2] They serve several disparate functions in different works. Among these are industry, health benefits due to low gravity, prisons, and means to observe alien worlds.[6] Several early works of the genre focused on space stations in Earth orbit or at Lagrange points as relay stations for interplanetary communication or transportation.[2] Military uses for space stations appear, but being portrayed as a direct threat is comparatively rare.[2][6] Occasionally, the space stations are connected to the planet they are orbiting via a space elevator, a concept which was introduced to science fiction separately by Arthur C. Clarke and Charles Sheffield in 1979.[6] In fiction, space stations were largely superseded by space habitats in the final quarter of the 20th century.[2]
Space habitatsedit
The first fictional space habitat proper (not counting the unintentional one in "The Brick Moon") was featured in the 1931 novella "The Prince of Space" by Jack Williamson;[1] it is a cylinder 1,520 metres (5,000 ft) long and wide which rotates to create artificial gravity.[7] Besides cylinders, space habitats in fiction also come in the shapes of spheres, wheels, and hollowed-out asteroids, among others. A more unusual depiction is seen in James Blish's 1955 book Earthman, Come Home—as well as the rest of his Cities in Flight series—where they are cities roaming through space.[1] Space habitats featured only intermittently in science fiction until 1977, when Gerard K. O'Neill's speculative non-fiction book The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space was published and went on to inspire numerous authors.[3][4][7] The works inspired by O'Neill range from utopian to dystopian; the latter foresee a wide variety of problems with space habitats, including dilapidation while humans are still living there, vulnerability to sabotage, and the potential for a wealthy elite in space to exploit the inhabitants of Earth.[7] A recurring theme in these works is tensions between the inhabitants of the habitats and planet-dwellers.[1] Inasmuch as they provide opportunities for telling stories of isolated populations with diverse cultures, space habitats serve the same function in space that islands serve on Earth in earlier speculative fiction,[3] though some science fiction works such as the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Babylon 5 take the opposite approach of portraying space habitats as multicultural centres where members of different spacefaring civilizations coexist peacefully.[7]
^Fries, Sylvia Doughty; III, Frederick I. Ordway (1987-06-01). "The Space Station From Concept to Evolving Reality". Interdisciplinary Science Reviews. 12 (2): 143–159. doi:10.1179/isr.1987.12.2.143. ISSN 0308-0188.
^ abcdBaxter, Stephen (2016). "Dreams and Nightmares of the High Frontier: The Response of Science Fiction to Gerard K. O'Neill's The High Frontier". In Schwartz, James S.J.; Milligan, Tony (eds.). The Ethics of Space Exploration. Space and Society. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 15–30. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-39827-3_2. ISBN978-3-319-39827-3. S2CID 148314207.
Westfahl, Gary (2022). "Space Stations: Space Stations, in Fact and Fiction". The Stuff of Science Fiction: Hardware, Settings, Characters. McFarland. pp. 129–133. ISBN978-1-4766-8659-2.
space, stations, habitats, fiction, starbase, redirects, here, other, uses, starbase, disambiguation, concepts, space, stations, space, habitats, feature, science, fiction, difference, between, that, habitats, larger, more, complex, structures, intended, perma. Starbase redirects here For other uses see Starbase disambiguation The concepts of space stations and space habitats feature in science fiction The difference between the two is that habitats are larger and more complex structures intended as permanent homes for substantial populations though generation ships also fit this description they are usually not considered space habitats as they are heading for a destination 1 but the line between the two is fuzzy with significant overlap and the term space station is sometimes used for both concepts 2 3 The first such artificial satellite in fiction was Edward Everett Hale s The Brick Moon in 1869 2 4 a sphere of bricks 61 meters across accidentally launched into orbit around the Earth with people still onboard 1 5 The Brick Moon an 1869 serial by Edward Everett Hale was the first fictional space station or habitat Contents 1 Space stations 2 Space habitats 3 See also 4 References 5 Further readingSpace stations editSpace stations started appearing frequently in science fiction works following the release of the 1949 popular science book The Conquest of Space by Willy Ley which deals with the subject 2 They serve several disparate functions in different works Among these are industry health benefits due to low gravity prisons and means to observe alien worlds 6 Several early works of the genre focused on space stations in Earth orbit or at Lagrange points as relay stations for interplanetary communication or transportation 2 Military uses for space stations appear but being portrayed as a direct threat is comparatively rare 2 6 Occasionally the space stations are connected to the planet they are orbiting via a space elevator a concept which was introduced to science fiction separately by Arthur C Clarke and Charles Sheffield in 1979 6 In fiction space stations were largely superseded by space habitats in the final quarter of the 20th century 2 Space habitats editThe first fictional space habitat proper not counting the unintentional one in The Brick Moon was featured in the 1931 novella The Prince of Space by Jack Williamson 1 it is a cylinder 1 520 metres 5 000 ft long and wide which rotates to create artificial gravity 7 Besides cylinders space habitats in fiction also come in the shapes of spheres wheels and hollowed out asteroids among others A more unusual depiction is seen in James Blish s 1955 book Earthman Come Home as well as the rest of his Cities in Flight series where they are cities roaming through space 1 Space habitats featured only intermittently in science fiction until 1977 when Gerard K O Neill s speculative non fiction book The High Frontier Human Colonies in Space was published and went on to inspire numerous authors 3 4 7 The works inspired by O Neill range from utopian to dystopian the latter foresee a wide variety of problems with space habitats including dilapidation while humans are still living there vulnerability to sabotage and the potential for a wealthy elite in space to exploit the inhabitants of Earth 7 A recurring theme in these works is tensions between the inhabitants of the habitats and planet dwellers 1 Inasmuch as they provide opportunities for telling stories of isolated populations with diverse cultures space habitats serve the same function in space that islands serve on Earth in earlier speculative fiction 3 though some science fiction works such as the TV series Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Babylon 5 take the opposite approach of portraying space habitats as multicultural centres where members of different spacefaring civilizations coexist peacefully 7 See also editDyson spheres in popular culture List of films featuring space stations List of fictional spacecraft Space dockReferences edit a b c d e Westfahl Gary 2005 Space Habitats The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy Themes Works and Wonders Greenwood Publishing Group pp 736 737 ISBN 978 0 313 32952 4 a b c d e f Space Stations The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction 2018 08 12 Retrieved 2021 08 06 a b c Space Habitats The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction 2021 04 16 Retrieved 2021 08 06 a b Stableford Brian M 2006 Artificial satellite Science Fact and Science Fiction An Encyclopedia Taylor amp Francis pp 35 37 ISBN 978 0 415 97460 8 Fries Sylvia Doughty III Frederick I Ordway 1987 06 01 The Space Station From Concept to Evolving Reality Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 12 2 143 159 doi 10 1179 isr 1987 12 2 143 ISSN 0308 0188 a b c Westfahl Gary 2005 Space Stations The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy Themes Works and Wonders Greenwood Publishing Group p 741 ISBN 978 0 313 32952 4 a b c d Baxter Stephen 2016 Dreams and Nightmares of the High Frontier The Response of Science Fiction to Gerard K O Neill s The High Frontier In Schwartz James S J Milligan Tony eds The Ethics of Space Exploration Space and Society Cham Springer International Publishing pp 15 30 doi 10 1007 978 3 319 39827 3 2 ISBN 978 3 319 39827 3 S2CID 148314207 Further reading editBenford Gregory Zebrowski George 2000 Skylife Space Habitats in Story and Science Harcourt ISBN 978 0 15 100292 4 Pringle David ed 1996 Space Habitats The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Science Fiction The Definitive Illustrated Guide Carlton p 50 ISBN 1 85868 188 X OCLC 38373691 Westfahl Gary 1996 Islands in the Sky The Space Station Theme in Science Fiction Literature Borgo Press ISBN 978 0 89370 307 3 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Westfahl Gary 2009 The Other Side of the Sky An Annotated Bibliography of Space Stations in Science Fiction 1869 1993 Borgo Press ISBN 978 1 4344 5749 3 Westfahl Gary 2022 Space Stations Space Stations in Fact and Fiction The Stuff of Science Fiction Hardware Settings Characters McFarland pp 129 133 ISBN 978 1 4766 8659 2 Portal nbsp Science fiction Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Space stations and habitats in fiction amp oldid 1181712216, 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