Here is a model that I created in SketchUp. It is the Disney version of Wernher von Braun's Space Station One. The same design was also used in the original 1955 Rocket to the Moon ride in Tomorrowland. For the Disneyland ride the station was dubbed Space Station Terra.
According to the ride narration Space Station Terra was constructed way back in 1964 and had been in orbit for 22 years. The 1955 version of Tomorrowland was supposed to represent the future year of 1986, the same year that Halley's comet was due to make its next near pass of the Earth. The station was to orbit 1,075 miles over our planet and travel at the speed of 16,000 MPH.
The SketchUp model is scaled to meet the space stations 200 foot diameter. It would have rotated so that centrifugal force could create an artificial gravity inside. A crew of 50 men (sorry, no women in space) would have walked on the inside of the outer rim with their heads pointing up toward the center hub. The three large spokes are elevator shafts.
No comments:
Post a Comment