By BETTY DEBNAM
A Flace in space
The Dream of a Space Station
An artist s
drawing of a
21st-century
space colony.
The cylinders
are where
people will
work and live.
The dish-like
cups in the two
circles are
where the food
will be grown.
Mirror wings
will control
sunlight. Power
I stations are at
< the top of each
* cylinder.
Below is a make-believe letter from a boy who might be living in a
space station.
Space Station Neil Armstronq
^ July 231 , 10i7J
Hello Friends on Earth,
X am on board the Space station Neil Armstrong. " lam livinaln here with
my mom, dad, and Sister, We hod 1o \eave Lock^, oar German Stopwnl, on
Earth. We Couldnt train him to live in space.
The space slotion rotates very slowly. Thi s turning mo'tion makes us 'feel
like we hove we?ht. jf the space station did not rdTate,we would feel
weightless Qnd we would f\odt around \nhere.
All our food is grown here . The vegetables grow really well, especially
the corn- cod* our food ir\ a microwave oven.
Our apartment is very caw?"fertat>le . But, since it is smaller than our
home an Earth, we go Tb The recreation cerrt*r -h> exercise and ploy games.
We will be comma back to Earth in six months for a short visi"K
doctors will check our Wealth. Tf we pass the physical, we can wtum to space.
Yout'Rm? out friend,
Kenny
Dr. Lynn Bondurant is former education officer for the
National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution in
Washington, D.C. He is a member of The Mini Page Advisory
Board. He is now -curriculum coordinator for the Coldwater
Community Schools in Coldwater, Michigan.
by Dr. Lynn Bondurant
Someday millions of people might be
living in space stations orbiting the
earth. Before this can happen, several
things must be done.
Solar satellite power station
1. Power satellites will have to be built
that can change sunlight into electricity.
At first this energy will be used in the
construction of the space station. Later,
lunar bases will be powered by these
satellites.
It will be the 1980s before space shuttle*
are in use.
2. Improvements in space transportation
must be made. The Space Shuttle is the
first step.
Living quarters for a mining town on
the moon.
3. Bases on the moon will have to be
built. From here, lunar soil will be mined
and launched into space to be taken to
the space station. It is out of the lunar
soil that many of the things necessary
for the construction of the space station
will be made. .
t Ti r* j ? a. ? ru ^ a. **?