Editing Space settlement (section)

====NASA Ames/Stanford 1975 Summer Study====
[[File:Stanford Torus exterior.jpg|right|thumb|Stanford torus exterior]]
[[Image:Stanford torus-Space Settlements-A Design Study-1977.png|thumb|Collage of figures and tables of [[Stanford torus|Stanford Torus]] space habitat, from «Space Settlements: A Design Study» book. Charles Holbrow and Richard D. Johnson, NASA, 1977.]]

The result motivated [[NASA]] to sponsor a couple of summer workshops led by O'Neill.<ref>
{{cite report | url= http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education/SpaceSettlement/75SummerStudy/Table_of_Contents1.html | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20021119022659/http://www.nas.nasa.gov/About/Education/SpaceSettlement/75SummerStudy/Table_of_Contents1.html | url-status= dead | archive-date= 2002-11-19 | title= Space Settlements: A Design Study | year= 1975 | publisher= NASA}}</ref><ref>{{cite report | url= http://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/spaceres/toc.html | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100528152209/http://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/spaceres/toc.html | url-status= dead | archive-date= 2010-05-28 | title= Ames Summer Study on Space Settlements and Industrialization Using Nonterrestial Materials | year= 1977 | publisher= NASA}}</ref> Several concepts were studied, with sizes ranging from 1,000 to 10,000,000 people,<ref name="Pournelle, Jerrold E. 1977">{{cite book |last= Pournelle|first=Dr. Jerrold E. | title= A Step Farther Out | year= 1980 | isbn= 978-0491029414|url=https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/2362018|publisher=Ace Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= O'Neill|first=Dr. Gerard K.| title= The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space |publisher= New York: William Morrow & Company | year= 1977| title-link= The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space }}</ref><ref>{{cite report|author1=O'Neill, Gerard K.|author2=Reynolds, Ginie|title=Habitats in Space |jstor=24128636 }}</ref> including versions of the [[Stanford torus]]. Three concepts were presented to NASA: the [[Bernal sphere|Bernal Sphere]], the Toroidal Colony and the Cylindrical Colony.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/nasa-ames-oneill-space-colonies-1975/index.html |title=Space oddity: NASA's retro guide to future living |date=29 May 2016 |first=Thomas |last=Page |publisher=CNN}}</ref>

[[Image:External view of a Bernal sphere.jpg|thumb|Exterior of a 1970s Stanford adaptation of the Bernal sphere]]

O'Neill's concepts had an example of a payback scheme: construction of [[solar power satellite]]s from lunar materials. O'Neill did not emphasize the building of solar power satellites as such, but rather offered proof that orbital manufacturing from lunar materials could generate profits. He and other participants presumed that once such manufacturing facilities had started production, many profitable uses for them would be found, and the colony would become self-supporting and begin to build other colonies as well.

The concept studies generated a notable groundswell of public interest. One effect of this expansion was the founding of the [[L5 Society|L5&nbsp;Society]] in the&nbsp;U.S., a group of enthusiasts that desired to build and live in such colonies. The group was named after the space-colony orbit which was then believed to be the most profitable, a kidney-shaped orbit around either of Earth's lunar [[Lagrange point]]s 5 or&nbsp;4.