''The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space'' is a 1976 book by

Gerard K. O'Neill Gerard Kitchen O'Neill (February 6, 1927 – April 27, 1992) was an American physicist and space activist. As a faculty member of Princeton University, he invented a device called the particle storage ring for high-energy physics experiments. ...

, a road map for what the United States might do in outer space after the

Apollo program The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which Moon landing, landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Apollo followed Project Mercury that put the first Americans in sp ...

, the drive to place a human on the Moon and beyond. It envisions large human occupied

habitats In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

in the Earth-Moon system, especially near stable

Lagrangian point In celestial mechanics, the Lagrange points (; also Lagrangian points or libration points) are points of equilibrium (mechanics), equilibrium for small-mass objects under the gravity, gravitational influence of two massive orbit, orbiting b ...

s. Three designs are proposed: Island one (a modified

Bernal sphere A Bernal sphere is a type of space settlement intended as a long-term home for permanent residents, first proposed in 1929 by John Desmond Bernal. Bernal's original proposal described a hollow non-rotating spherical shell in diameter, with a t ...

), Island two (another sphere), and Island 3 (two O'Neill cylinders). These would be constructed using raw materials from the lunar surface launched into space using a

mass driver A mass driver or electromagnetic catapult is a proposed method of non-rocket spacelaunch which would use a linear motor to Acceleration, accelerate and catapult Payload (air and space craft), payloads up to high speeds. Existing and proposed mass ...

and from

near-Earth asteroids A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body orbiting the Sun whose closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 times the Earth–Sun distance (astronomical unit, AU). This definition applies to the object's orbit aro ...

. The habitats were to spin for simulated gravity and be illuminated and powered by the Sun.

Solar power satellite Space-based solar power (SBSP or SSP) is the concept of collecting solar power in outer space with solar power satellites (SPS) and distributing it to Earth. Its advantages include a higher collection of energy due to the lack of reflection ...

s were proposed as a possible industry to support the habitats.

Awards

The book won the 1977

Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science The Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science is given annually by Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa a ...

Illustrations

The book featured impressions of life in outer space by a number of artists including Don Davis, Rick Guidice, and

Chesley Bonestell Chesley Knight Bonestell Jr. (January 1, 1888 – June 11, 1986) was an American painter, designer, and illustrator. His paintings inspired the American space program, and they have been (and remain) influential in science fiction art and illust ...

. Image:Spacecolony1.jpg, O'Neill cylinders Image:Spacecolony4.jpeg, Interior of an O'Neill cylinder File:Spacecolony3edit.jpeg, Interior of an O'Neill cylinder Image:Internal view of the O'Neill cylinder.jpg, Solar eclipse inside an O'Neill cylinder Image:Bernal Sphere 3.jpeg, Interior of a

Image:Bernal Sphere 2.jpeg, Cutaway of a Bernal sphere Image:External view of a Bernal sphere.jpg, Exterior of a Bernal sphere File:External view of a Bernal sphere 2.jpg, Exterior of a Bernal sphere File:Bernal Sphere agricultural module.jpeg, Agricultural module of a Bernal sphere Image:Stanford torus external view by Don Davis AC76-0525.jpg, The Stanford torus and its mirror File:Stanford torus under construction.jpg, Stanford torus under construction File:Stanford Torus Cutaway view.jpeg, Stanford torus cutaway view File:Stanford Torus interior.jpg, Interior of a Stanford torus Image:Lunar base concept drawing s78 23252.jpg, Lunar mass driver powered by solar panels. File:Solar power satellite from an asteroid.jpg, Solar power satellite built from an asteroid with a Bernal sphere in the bottom right corner.

In popular culture

Many of the concepts illustrated in ''The High Frontier'' can be seen in the early series of the

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

franchise ''

Mobile Suit Gundam , also retrospectively known as ''First Gundam'', ''Gundam 0079'' or simply ''Gundam '79'', is a Japanese anime television series produced by Nippon Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Na ...

'', which depicts a world where humans have migrated into space colonies. The O'Neill cylinder colony design appears frequently, largely unchanged from its original concept, such as in '' Policenauts''. The main space station in the popular TV series, ''

Babylon 5 ''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tel ...

'', is similar to an O'Neill cylinder, but with internal lighting replacing the windows and mirrors.

Criticism

Science fiction writer

Charles Stross Charles David George "Charlie" Stross (born 18 October 1964) is a British writer of science fiction and fantasy. Stross specialises in hard science fiction and space opera. Between 1994 and 2004, he was also an active writer for the magazine ' ...

wrote a critical essay with a similar title on the feasibility of interstellar space travel and making practical use of various moons and planets in the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...

: ''The High Frontier: Redux.'' Stross's criticisms do not directly apply to the O'Neill's "High Frontier" document about colonizing interplanetary space.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:High Frontier, The Space colonization literature Asteroid mining 1976 books

Awards

Illustrations

In popular culture

Criticism

See also

References