Richard Penn

Vessels and Stations of Earthspace and the Belt Richard Penn

The spread of humanity into the Solar System is a practical possibility for the next few decades, beginning with the reusable launch vehicles being developed right now by SpaceX and others. Once that first step is economical, private companies will disrupt space using available technologies. With generic tools, and engineers who know how to use them, they will build ships and stations from the materials they find in space. This book shows how that might be, with illustrations and technical details for everything they build. It is a 'science-of' book, laying out the technical assumptions and the scenario behind my novels. Like them, it uses real-world science and feasible technology, avoiding all the fantasy elements that have crept into much science fiction. The book also provides illustrations and resources which other authors could use in writing their own science-based space fiction. With such re-use in mind, the pictures are offered on an attribution-share-alike licence.