10-02-2015, 10:06 PM
(10-02-2015, 02:13 PM)antred Wrote: But are you really going to have any windows so thin that anyone could get a clear view of anything outside the colony anyway? From my understanding, any "windows" would have to be very thick, both for radiation shielding and because they must be damn near impossible to break.
If you're in low Earth orbit, the radiation shielding requirements are quite modest. The pressure shell alone is plenty. And yeah, you have to contain an atmosphere, but that doesn't mean you can't see through 'em — you know how thick the glass (actually, I think it's acryllic) is at a large aquarium, but you can't even tell when you're looking through it.
So yes, windows are doable. And even without derotation (which it turns out is the proper term, even if my spell checker's never heard of it), the windows would probably be quite popular. I don't really think anybody's going to get dizzy from watching the Earth spin at 2 RPM.
But not spinning would certainly be a plus, so we should keep exploring that, I think.
Joe Strout
Lead Developer, High Frontier