The space colony habitat is about the size of a normal home. It is in the shape of a dome. It is made four people and contains all that any house on earth has. The entrance is next to the living room and the living room is next to the kitchen. The other half of the habitat contains the bedrooms and bathrooms. The habitats are located on the outer area of the station along the sides of the torus. The buildings are kept on the sides by artificial gravity which is produced by the centrifugal force of the spinning station. The station is kept spinning and everything has the feeling of gravity so it is not unlike earth. The transportation tubes coming out of the center of the station let people travel to the center and to other sides. The agriculture and plants are located in the center of the station along with the power system. The power is generated by solar panels and is stored in the center of the station. They are placed next to each other because the plants need the artificial sunlight and the power is the way to get it. The tubes on the outside of the station are part of the sanitation system. They are where all the wastes are thrown out into space. Once built and populated, a colony with good recycling will need only a few materials to replace leaks and losses. However, a lot of materials will be needed to build a space colony If a colony expands, builds new colonies, or builds solar power satellites or other export products, a lot of material will be necessary. There are several sources of

materials to consider. Earth, the Moon, asteroids, other planets, and other moons. All the materials necessary for space colonies are available on Earth. Also, manufacturing facilities to provide finished parts are readily available. But launch from Earth is difficult, expensive, and can damage the atmosphere. So, only high value finished parts and materials unavailable from other sources should be shipped from Earth. Because of the Apollo missions, we know that the Moon has plenty of silicon and metals but apparently little nitrogen, or carbon. There is a possibility of water at south pole which is

under research. Fortunately, radiation shielding can be made out of anything and shielding is most of the mass of most colonies. So much of the materials can be taken from the Moon. Launch from the Moon is much easier than from Earth because the Moon's gravity is a lot less (about 1/6 Earth normal).

There is a great deal of radiation in space. This radiation primarily comes from cosmic rays and the Sun (solar flares). Deep space radiation is more than the safe amount for Earth, and a large solar flare can kill an unprotected human very quickly. On Earth, we are protected from this radiation by the Earth's atmosphere and magnetosphere. A space colony must be encased in sufficient mass to shield colonists from radiation. This can be done with any mass. For example, large amounts of lunar soil. A 4.5 meter thick layer of lunar soil may be able to provide enough protection. Shielding by creating an electro-magnetic field tries to change the path of charged particles, like Earth's magnetoshpere.

This station is somewhat like a biosphere because it is completely self contained and has its own atmosphere. All the conditions inside are right for growing plants and animals. It contains an artificial environment and is very well regulated. The actual biosphere is a project to create an artificial environment that plants and animals can live in. The 750 sensors inside the biosphere monitor the vital statistics of this laboratory. The sensors measure temperature, light, humidity, carbon dioxide and other qualities of the air and soil. In response to these readings, operators can, turn on blowers for cooling and heating or create a miniature rainstorm to change the humidity. As a result, the Biosphere let’s researchers examine how Earth’s biosphere will change as carbon dioxide and other substances build in the atmosphere. The biosphere serves as a window into the future on how the earth will develop.