Menu

Introduction

About... Travelling in Space Ventures in Space

About...

• People in Space
• Spacecraft
• The Solar System
• The Stars

Archives of...

• Concluded Missions
• Defunct Projects
• Space History

Travelling...

• Into Orbit
• To the Stars

Missions...

• To the Moon
• Round the Solar System

Exploring...

• The Moon & Mars
• The Solar System

Settlements...

• In Space
• On Other Worlds

Artificial Gravity: Which way is Up?

Or how to tell you're onboard a space station with spin-generated gravity without looking out the windows. By John G Cramer. There are "some interesting side-effects of artificial gravity, perhaps well known to NASA experts but obscure to the rest of us." Mainly about the corollis effects of spin-generated gravity. (Although the example used is a doughnut-wheel space station, what is said here would seem to apply in other spin-generated gravity environments.) At Cramer's Alternate View site. ("Alternate View" was a popular-science column in Analog Science Fiction and Fact magazine.) Published February 1987.

The Basics of Space Flight Learners' Workbook

By JPL.

• The Environment of Space (the Solar System, Earth and its Reference Systems, Gravitation & Mechanics, Interplanetary Trajectories, Planetary Orbits, Electromagnetic Phenomena)
• Spaceflight Projects (from mission inception thru science instruments, to spacecraft navigation)
• Spaceflight Operations (launch, cruise, encounter, & extended operations phases)

From Stargazers to Starships

By David P. Stern. A "book-on-the-web". Covers astronomy of the Earth's motion in space, Newtonian mechanics, maths refresher, spaceflight and spacecraft, etc. At the NASA Goddard Spaceflight Centre's International Solar-Terrestrial Physics site.

Fundamental Physical Constants

Dozens of them.

Keplerian Elements Tutorial

"Seven numbers are required to define a satellite orbit. This set of seven numbers is called the satellite orbital elements, or sometimes "Keplerian" elements (after Johann Kepler [1571-1630]), or just elements." In addition, there is also discussion of three other "elements": drag, revolution number at epoch, and attitude.

Keplerian Orbits and Elements

A brief tutorial on Keplerian mechanics. Part of the Satellite Observing Resources page.

The Orbital Elements

A brief tutorial on the seven different numbers needed to accurately describe an orbit in space and time. Part of the Satellite Observing Resources page.

Rocket Basics (80K)

What causes rocket movement, what makes a rocket operate, defining performance, modern rocket designs, etc.

Rocket Motion

A brief tutorial.

Satellite Orbits

NASA explains how a satellite gets into orbit. Includes a simulation (using Java) of Kepler's 3 laws.

Spacecraft Trajectories

"You Can Get There from Here!" By John F Santarius. Lecture #28, 1996, for the NEEP 602 course at the University of Wisconsin.

Using Gravity to Change a Spacecraft's Orbit

An explanation of the gravity assist technique. At Frank McCrary's site.

Challenger Centre ONLINE

Education site about space & space travel. Challenger Centre was founded by the families of the ill-fated shuttle mission 51-L. "To them, education was the key to all they had become--their spirit of exploration, quest for knowledge and inspiration to others to achieve their own potential was an educational mission too important to be left unfulfilled." Education and Outreach

JPL education site.

Outer Orbit

An "educational site devoted to space explorations through classroom activities." Part of the Space News group. Project SPACE

JPL education site. Possibly now defunct, although the material is still there.

Space Biology

An "online resource for undergraduate life sciences educators" providing "information, downloadable teaching materials, and links to other relevant Web sites".

Space Education Trust

A charitable trust established in 1987 to promote space education.

Space Explorers, Inc.

A provider of space education programs over the Internet.

Space Place

NASA educational site.

StarChild

"A learning center for young astronomers." Pages (at two reading levels) on astronomy and space travel.

Ask a Space Scientist

"How close to the Sun would you have to be to feel warm in a spacesuit?" (and could you pass right through if you had a perfectly air conditioned ship?), "At what speed does the interstellar medium become lethal to high speed flight?", "How far is Mars from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland?" A space scientist answers these and other questions about the solar system, the cosmos, and the "kitchen sink" (space travel, space careers, etc).

Frequently Asked Questions

A NASA FAQ. From "How can I become an astronaut?" to "What is the Face on Mars?" Another copy is available here.

How a Research Paper in Astronomy is Written

By Sten Odenwald. No so much an FAQ as a useful "anatomical" dissection. At the author's Astronomy Cafe site.

KSC Frequently Asked Questions

"How fast does the shuttle travel?", "What are the names of the Space Shuttle orbiters?", "Can the Space Shuttle fly to the Moon?" and other frequently asked questions. Also contains a (long) list of links to other NASA FAQs.

Space: Frequently Asked Questions (missing)

Long(!) HTML version of the FAQ periodically posted to the sci.space.* Usenet newsgroups about many aspects of space and space travel.

Space Sciences Questions and Answers

Answers to questions received by the Space Sciences Laboratory at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. (And you too can email questions in.) Covers a wide spectrum of topics, from the physics of space flight to life sciences to engineering.

Encyclopedia Astronautica

By Mark Wade. A mammoth online work. Astronauts, launch vehicles, rocket stages, rocket engines, space projects, and launch sites. Plus an FAQ and articles by various authors. (A mirror site--not always up-to-date--can be found here at Rocketry.Com.)

Practical Astronautics

By Darren D. Garber. Encyclopaedic dictionary of astronautical terms.

Space-Talk

Website with a variety of discussion boards on a range of space topics. Any visitor can read posted discussions, but only registered users can post replies or start new threads. (Registration is free.) Site came online 28 November 2000.

Note: some of papers & other essays in these sites are given separate links elsewhere in these pages.

Ad Astra

The National Space Society's magazine. Some (not all) articles online.

Air&Space Magazine

Published by the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. Aerospace Power Chronicles

The "professional journal of the United States Air Force". Has from the time to time published a number of articles with a military theme on the subject of space and space technology. All the articles are online (some in PDF as well as HTML format). Check out to the subject index to most easily find the space-themed ones.

Ascending Node

The SEDS (Students for the Exploration and Development of Space) newsletter.

Distant Star

Quarterly "electronic magazine" of the First Millennial Foundation.

Launchspace.com (missing)

A "low bandwidth subset of what you'd get in a printed copy." Published by Launchspace.com.

Marsbugs: The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter

Weekly. Archive of back issues (but beware of bad links!).

The Planetary Report

Selected back issues of the flagship publication of the The Planetary Society.

Space Frontier File Page

By Dale Gray. A "weekly commentary on the potential impact of the week's events on the opening of the space frontier" written by "a professional historian of the American West". At the Interglobal site.

Space Policy Digest

E-Zine. Published (online) quarterly. Deals with (what else?) "space policy", which the e-zine defines as "How do we get there from here? Policy isn't just 'how much money should NASA get and how should they spend it?' It's the question of NASA's role (or existence), how do we fly these new launch (and landing) vehicles, how do we govern a moon settlement, how do we tax products built on a space station and a million other questions." Regular columns plus articles by assorted authors. Note: much of the content has a distinctly pro-private-space-industry slant.

SpaceUpdate

Info on current and upcoming robotic probes, Mir, the space shuttle, and the ISS. Updated every month or two. Online archive of back issues. At the Apollo Society site.

Tranquility

Selected back issues of the "Magazine of Earth and Space Exploration" of the 2111 Foundation for Exploration.

LunaCity Space Resources

Provides "information and a jumping off point for people interested in space, space development, rockets, science fiction, space travel and the future." Sysadmin hopes eventually "to operate this site from the Moon"!

Sam's Space Sites

By Samuel M. Coniglio, IV. Impressively comprehensive. A "list of obscure or semi-obscure World Wide Web sites that focus on Space Tourism, Space Commercialization, Space Policy or Advanced Research."

Space Development and Science

By Bev Freed.

Universe Today: Space Links

At the Universe Today site.

The Economics of Spaceflight

A Rocket a Day Keeps the High Costs Away

• By John Walker. 27 September 1993. The logistics and economics of space launches. At the Fourmilab website.
• "The incessant and acrimonious arguments among partisans of the Shuttle, DC-*, NASP, TSTO, Big Dumb Boosters, bringing back the Saturn V, buying launches from the Russians and/or Chinese, or of developing exotic launch technologies (laser, electromagnetic, skyhook, etc.) conceal the common premise of all those who argue--that if we could launch payloads for a fraction of today's cost, perhaps at a tenth to a thousandth of today's rates of thousands of US$ per kilogram, then the frontier would open as the great railway to orbit supplanted the first generation wagon trains. The dispute is merely over which launch technology best achieves this goal. Conventional wisdom as to why industry and government choose not to invest in this or that promising launch technology is that there aren't enough payloads to generate the volume to recoup the development cost and, in all likelihood, there never will be. How much would it cost to find out if this is true?"

Manned Space Exploration

Leadership in Human Space Exploration

An AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) Position Paper Prepared by the Life Sciences and Systems Technical Committee. August 1996. Recommends "that the United States lead a cooperative international effort to conduct further human exploration missions to the moon and subsequently to Mars in the early-to-mid twenty-first century."

The Need for a New Political Covenant on Human Spaceflight

• By Wendell W. Mendell. Date uncertain (but post-1994). At NASA JSC's Exploration Library site.
• "Currently, the political rationale for the Space Station in the U.S. is heavily connected to foreign policy objectives relative to the Russian Federation; and the lifetime of these policies may not be commensurate with the construction and operation of a space station. The long term viability of human exploration of space requires that a new political covenant must be constructed between the technical community and the rest of society as represented by international political institutions."

Plans, Strategies, and Visions

Future of Humans in Space

• By Harrison H. Schmitt. Keynote speech. Presented at the 12th Man in Space Symposium, 9 June 1997. A "vision statement" from the 12th man on the Moon.
• "As unbelievable it may seem to some, including me, 1997 marks the 25th anniversary of the conclusion of the Apollo explorations of the Moon. As we were returning from Taurus Littrow, Gene Cernan, Ron Evans and I were afraid that this might happen, but, unfortunately it is now clear that a return of humans to the Moon and the continued movement of our species into the solar system, particularly on to Mars, is beyond the sole capacity of governments faced with ever-increasing financial burdens, past political commitments, and an ever-diminishing commitment to the future."

Private Enterprise vs Government Dollars

Bring Back the Rocket Boys

• By Homer H. Hickam, Jr. On NASA, ISS, and rocket engineers. Article in Space Policy Digest, June 1999, by author of Rocket Boys (aka October Sky). Originally appeared ("in slight different form") in the Wall Street Journal.
• "The space agency is at present bogged down in building an enormously expensive public works project (and Russian welfare program) called the International Space Station and using its obsolete but still capable shuttle fleet to do it. As a result, NASA has very little left over in its annual budget to build the new launch infrastructure this country must have if we are to ever safely and easily go into space. "

Freedom Needs Frontiers

By Jim Davidson. Why space settlements need private enterprise. At the Island One Society site. ("Frontiers are not opened by governments. ... They are opened chaotically, by the motives that can drive tens of thousands of people, by self-interest, by tens of thousands of different ideas of what is possible and desirable.")

...Paved With Good Intentions

• By Michael K. Heney. Article in Space Policy Digest, October 1999.
• "An emerging industry should not be in the position of competing with government. Hell, an ESTABLISHED industry shouldn't be in the position of competing with government--government does not belong in the commercial sector."

Reach Out and Touch the Stars

• By Donald F. Robertson. Late 1996. At his website. Originally appeared in Analog. Largely an overview "of the changes in the communications satellite industry that have dramatically increased the size and importance of the space industry as a whole."
• "Government space exploration, while not the complete disaster many frustrated would-be space colonists claim, has failed to deliver the goods. There are no planetary bases, no space colonies floating in the void, not even a permanent outpost on Earth's moon. Nor are there great exploratory expeditions, seeking knowledge and resources along the ancient sea shores of Mars or collecting the commodities known to exist amongst the far asteroids. Nothing, it appears, is happening. There are three major reasons for this sad state of affairs. Two of them are reasons that nobody wants to hear."

Property Rights and Sovereignty

The Case Against Unilateral Territorial Claims in Space

• By Alonzo Fyfe. Article in Space Policy Digest, April 2000.
• "Perhaps the single most damaging action that a private space company could take at this time would be to unilaterally claim territory on a celestial body upon landing a robotic spacecraft thereon. This is not a claim that property rights to territory in space is a bad idea. Indeed, quite the opposite is true. We must have a system of private property rights in space for the efficient and well-ordered development of these resources. It is precisely because the backlash to such a unilateral claim could move us further away from that goal that making it is such a bad idea."

Robots vs Humans

Astronauts are Going Nowhere Fast

• By Robert L. Park. 11 February 2000. A physicist in a letter to the editor of Space.com shafts the ISS and argues the case for robotic rather of human explorers.
• "It is the scientists who control the robots that will explore Mars, having become virtual astronauts. Meanwhile ... the International Space Station stands as the greatest single obstacle to the continued exploration of space. ... America's astronauts, confined to low-Earth orbit, are like passengers waiting beside an abandoned stretch of track for a train that will never come, bypassed by the advance of science."

Robots Cannot Shed Tears at a Martian Sunset

• By Jenny R. Gruber. A Rhodes Scholar in a letter to the editor of Space.com responds to Robert L. Park that robots were "more suited for missions to Mars than humans".
• "The most important component of space exploration cannot be measured by tax dollars. ... It is the human component. ... Put simply, robots cannot take 'giant leaps for mankind.' ... Robots cannot tell us how it feels to look up and see Earth as just a dot in the sky. Robots cannot shed tears at the beauty of a martian sunrise. Robots cannot understand the meaning and consequences of finding evidence of life on another planet. Robots do not have souls."

Space Exploration & Travel (general)

Arguments for Space: Space Travel or Extinction

By Harold Hamblet. One person's response to the "Why should we waste money on space while people are starving on Earth?" argument.

Dawn, Decadence, and the High Frontier

• By Robert. P. Pinkerton. At Space.com.
• "... as anybody clicking on to SPACE.com is painfully aware, one of the characteristics of Western Civilization since the late 15th century--an enduring commitment to exploration--is strangely absent from today's world. Humans have not been to another world since the Apollo 17 astronauts, Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt, last lifted off the moon in December, 1972."

Freeman Dyson on Space

• By John G Cramer. At Cramer's Alternate View site. ("Alternate View" was a popular-science column in Analog Science Fiction and Fact magazine.) Published mid-December 1988. Dyson's views on Von Braun's 1952 plans for Mars, Apollo, the Shuttle, and the space program generally.
• "Whenever there are two conflicting opinions on a controversial technical subject, be it disarmament, nuclear power, or construction of big accelerators, Dyson can be depended upon to propose a strikingly original third opinion, always logical and well-considered, which bears little resemblance to either of the other two."
• "He observed that the [Apollo] landings, the comings and goings of the astronauts, the explorations of the Moon's surface, the gatherings of moon rocks, and the earth-ward departures all were expertly choreographed with the cameras placed in the right positions to make a dramatic spectacle for television. Scientifically, however, Apollo was a dry hole. No big scientific surprise came from the chemistry of the moon rocks or the magnetic and seismic observations that the astronauts carried out on the lunar surface."

Goals in Space

By William Sims Bainbridge. An essay comprising Pages 1-29 of Goals in Space: American Values and the Future of Technology.

Has Space a Future?

By P. Creola, in an address to the Annual Meeting of the Swiss Academy of Technical Sciences, Bern, September 1994. ("'Without space, there is no future!'")

NASA Has Lost Its Nerve

• By Gentry Lee. 6 April 2000. At Space.com. In the wake of the loss of two Mars probes, a space systems engineer and science fiction author offers his analysis of NASA's woes.
• "What has gone wrong? Why has the agency whose very name was once synonymous with unparalleled success become the easy target of journalistic cartoons and the butt of so many late night jokes? I believe the answer is straightforward. NASA was originally conceived as an engineering organization. Its early leadership considered engineering excellence to be the sine qua non of the agency's existence. Throughout the organization, management attention was focused primarily on making the correct engineering decision to maximize mission success. Programmatic issues, such as budgetary and schedule ramifications, were always part of the decisions, but these issues were considered to be less important than making certain that the engineering was sound. Over the years there has been a major paradigmatic shift in the way that NASA projects are managed. Engineering is no longer the primary consideration on agency missions. Programmatics have become the name of the game."

Space and Human Survival

"My Views on the Importance of Space". By Sylvia Engdahl, the science fiction writer. Originally written for the students of her online Connect Ed course in Space Age Mythology. ("People have frequently asked me why I believe expansion into space is essential to human survival. Here's why.")

Space for America (missing)

Less an essay than a blueprint for a manifesto. Or as the document puts it: a "strategic vision for our nation's space activity over the next century." Endorsed by a long list of professional organizations and institutions. At the American Astronautical Society site.

Space for the World

A follow-up to "Space for America". Endorsed by a long list of professional organizations and institutions. At the American Astronautical Society site.

What is the Value of Space Exploration?

Carl Sagan, Stephen Jay Gould, and others offer their point of view. From The Planetary Report, vol. 15, no. 6, Nov/Dec 1995.

Weapons and Armies in Space

Space Sanctuary: A Viable National Strategy

• By Lt Col. Bruce M. DeBlois, USAF. Published in the Aerospace Power Chronicles, Winter 1998.
• "Space has been 'militarized' for many years. Space intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets have supported the American war fighter since the 1960s, and the role of space from the Cuban missile crisis to the Gulf War is well documented. Space 'weaponization', a matter of degree, has not proceeded nearly as far."

The Weaponization of Space: It Doesn't Happen in a Vacuum

• By Major Howard D. Belote, USAF. Published in the Aerospace Power Chronicles, Spring 2000.
• "Eisenhower once told his Cabinet that 'we have got to meet the [Soviet threat] by keeping our economy absolutely healthy. Without the health and expansion of our economy, nothing we can do in the long run, domestically or in the foreign field, can help.' To facilitate that strategy--and firmly believing that space sanctuary served American self-interest--Eisenhower preserved space for peace and prevented a space arms race. It took 30 more years, but the end of the cold war proved the value of such an economic-based security policy. Today, with American technologies probably ahead of those of the rest of the world by an order of magnitude, the nonweaponization of space may be even more in the national interest than in Eisenhower's day. Why fix something that is not broken?"

In addition, I will also mention Don Foley's site. While not so much an artist (space or otherwise) as an illustrator for books & magazines, a lot of space-type art of a very realistic sort is to be found in the portfolio part of his site (eg Mars Pathfinder, the ISS, the Huygens probe descending through Titan's atmosphere).

Ars Astronautica

A space art WWW project of the OURS Foundation.

Artists' Impressions

A selection of assorted (non-NASA) space art. A Bonestell, a photon rocket, a pic of Daedalus, and others. At The Tinderbox's space site.

Chesley Bonestell

A Bonestell Tribute

"From March 22, 1952 through April 30, 1954, Colliers magazine published a series of articles on how we could venture forth into space. It included such concepts as 3-stage boosters with re-usable shuttle orbiters, a permanent space station, and fleets of ships built in orbit to explore the Moon and Mars." Some of the artwork has been reproduced in VRML. At the website of Paul S. Hoffman.

The Chesley Bonestell Archives

Boasts the "world's single largest collection of publications containing space illustrations by the 'Dean of Astronomical Artists,' Chesley Bonestell (1888-1986)." Unfortunately, none of it seems to be on display at this site.

Chesley Bonestell Interactive Art Gallery

Selected pieces of Bonestell art.

Chesley Bonestell (Mars and Moon)

A selection of Bonestell's illustrations from Man on the Moon (1953) by Wernher von Braun, Fred L. Whipple and Willy Ley, and from The Exploration of Mars (1956) by Ley and von Braun. At The Skies are UFO site.

Chesley Bonestell Space Art

The famous astronomical artist & some of his works.

The Mars That Never Was

By Edmund A. Fortier. A tribute of Bonestell. Published in Astronomy magazine, December 1995. At The Skies are UFO site.

The Chris Butler Space Art Gallery

A selection of the artist's work.

David A. Hardy's Astro Art Pages

Don Dixon Space and Science Fiction Art

His "complete portfolio" is online (nearly 400 artworks), from Europa probes to Quasars.

Engineering Behind the Images

How Pat Rawlings, space artist, goes about creating a painting, using Mars, an astronaut, and a Viking lander as a "case study". At NASA JSC's Beyond LEO newsletter site. May 1995 issue. (Note: another image of the artwork in question plus another can also be found here at NASA JSC's Exploration Library site.)

Julian Baum

"Space, science, and science fiction illustration" and "Archaeology & Archaeological Reconstruction".

Ludek Pesek--Space Artist

Website about the Swiss space artist.

Novagraphics Space Art Gallery

Claims to be the first and largest.

Pat Rawlings' Gallery

Moon, Mars, asteroids, & other space art. At the Challenger Centre ONLINE site.

Space Artwork

Computerises space art commissioned by NASA. Planetary flyby renderings, mission patches, surface renderings, etc. Part of JPL's A Space Library.

SSI Sample Slides

Solar power satellites, lunar mining, mass drivers at work, asteroid prospecting, and more. From the Space Studies Institute site.

Tharsis Gallery

The space art of Marilynn Flynn. ("Marilynn Flynn is one of the few astronomical artists who can truly be called a Space Artist. Several pieces of her artwork have been launched into space.")

Note: A number of the sites listed below also act as "portals" (ie they link) to other sites.

About Space

Space news, links to special features from astrophysics to the space shuttle.

Cosmiverse

"The space portal". Space news (also science news, tech news, sci-fi news, and "paranormal news"), image gallery, multimedia reference library, games, message boards, auction site, etc.

Florida Today: Space Online

Florida Today's space news site.

Houston Chronicle: Space Chronicle

Online space news arm of the Houston Chronicle.

NASA News

Public information bulletins from the US space agency. (Another entry point here.)

Space.com

"Space news, games, entertainment, and science fiction."

Space Daily

"Daily news from the frontier."

Spaceflight Now

Space news & articles.

Space News Online

You need to register, but thereafter access is free. Daily updates.

Spaceref

Space news, Whole Mars Catalog, space directory, etc.

Space Science News

A NASA site (actually it's Science@NASA site: "science.nasa.gov"). News from NASA.

Spaceviews

"The online publication of space exploration." Produced by the Natonal Space Society. Space news and features.

Universe Today

"Space news from around the Internet". Updated every weekday.

WWW Space and Mystery

"Space news and information".

Actual missions, though, as well as more specialist discussion (eg future manned exploration of Mars), are covered elsewhere.

Celestis

A company offering space burial services. (Celestis was the company that launched Gene Roddenberry and Timothy Leary's ashes into orbit in April 1997.) Has plans for an even more ambitious mission in 2001. See the Encounter 2001 mission under Travelling to the Stars.

Energia Ltd

The American office for the Russian corporation RSC Energia

Eurockot Launch Services GmbH

A joint venture company between Astrium GmbH of Germany & Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center of Russia. Uses Khrunichev's Rockot LEO launch vehicle and the Plesetsk launch centre.

Interglobal 21st Century Mall

"Have you 'been there, done that'? Tired of the standard cruises, treks, packaged tours, etc.?" If so, then Interglobal plans the experience for you, including space tourism and supersonic aircraft flights.

Interworld Transport: Commercial Solar Sailing

SailAway R/D Projects. Organised "to work on projects that will lead to the construction, testing, and flying of real solar sails in space."

Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company

Website for their astronautics operations.

Russian Space Vehicle Manufacturers and Launchers

Brief description, plus a few links.

Space Adventures Ltd

Space tourism company. Offers "a set of programs called Steps to Space, which comprise everything from the broadest spectrum of space tour programs that can be experienced here on Earth, to actual flights into space."

The Space Development Corporation

A "public corporation engaged in near-term commercial space exploration, and the long-term development of space." Its first venture is planned to be NEAP: Near Earth Asteroid Prospector.

Transorbital Inc.

"Providers of Spacecraft and Support Services from Earth Orbit to the Moon and Beyond..." Not to be confused with "Transorbital Technologies." Has plans for two lunar missions: an orbiter (TrailBlazer) and a lander (Electra). Also has online library of assorted papers (much of if in PDF). Some of the HTML ones have been given separate links on these pages.

Transorbital Technologies

Not to be confused with "Transorbital Inc." Appears to be concerned with "the development of transorbital technologies in terms of propulsion and support systems will determine the feasibility of man's successful expansion into space."

The United Space Alliance

A group with a cheeky acronym. Formed to "consolidate the burgeoning number of Space Shuttle program contracts under a single prime contractor."

Applied Space Resources

A company with plans to send a sample return mission to the Moon ("Lunar Retriever") in the year 2002.

The Artemis Project

Commercial venture to establish a lunar base. Artemis is a non-profit arm of the Lunar Resources Company.

• Artemis Data Book: "Collects and organizes all technical and program information used by the Artemis Project team." Includes FAQ, and info about the moon.

LunaCorp

Ex-NASA officials, businessmen, and space activists who plan to land two unmanned lunar rovers on the moon in the year 2000 for a two-year expedition.

The Lunar Resources Company

has been "organized to advance and engage in space flight as a commercial enterprise, [and] to establish and operate a permanent manned lunar base". Runs the Artemis Project.

Commercial Space Markets

Short essays and links on everything from advertising and entertainment to extraterrestrial mining and space manufacturing. Covers existing markets (eg communications) as well as the futuristic. Also has a Japanese version of the page.

Making Money in Space

• By Mark Alpert. At the Scientific American site. March 1999.
• "In 1975 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration sponsored a study to design a commercially viable space station. A team of scientists and engineers proposed the construction of a giant wheel, nearly two kilometers in diameter, orbiting Earth at the same distance as the moon. The station would hold 10,000 colonists in a habitat tube running along the rim of the wheel, which would revolve once a minute to simulate Earth's gravity. The colonists would breathe oxygen derived from moon rocks and eat food grown on the station's 63 hectares of farmland. The study estimated that the station would cost nearly $200 billion in 1975 dollars, which is equivalent to some $500 billion today. But the authors of the study confidently predicted that the station could pay for itself in 30 years through the assembly of enormous solar-power satellites. Needless to say, the development of space has not lived up to this ambitious plan."

The Next Generation of Space Companies

Links to space launch services companies, space tourism companies, and other commercial space ventures. At the Space Frontier Foundation site.

Space Commercialization

Dated January 1996. An AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) Position Paper Prepared by the Public Policy Committee.

USA

General Accounting Office

Searchable archive of reports dating from FY 1995. Includes reports on various aspects of the space shuttle, space station, X-33 project, etc. At the US Government Printing Office site.

Office of Technological Assessment Archive

Archive (maintained by the National Academy Press) of reports for a now-defunct US government agency which for over twenty years (1972-1995) provided "congressional committees with analyses of emerging, difficult, and often highly technical issues", including space issues. "OTA did not advocate particular policies or actions, but pointed out their pros and cons, sorted out the facts,and provided options." The archive holds reports from 1986 through 1995. A number of the OTA reports are given separate URLs on these pages. Another archive of OTA reports can be found here (at a Princeton University site). Note: all OTA reports at both sites are in PDF format.

Europe

ESA: "European Space Agency"

Japan

ISAS: "Institute of Space and Astronautical Science"

NASDA: "National Space Development Agency"

Russia

• Russian Aerospace Guide
  
• Russian and Soviet Space Agencies
• Russian Space Industry
  Compiled by Maxim V.Tarasenko & Ivan M. Moiseyev. Edited by Charles P. Vick & John E. Pike.

RKA: Russian Space Agency

Actually hosted at NASA's Marshall Spaceflight Centre's Liftoff to Space Exploration site.

VKS: Russian Space Forces (missing)

USA

NASA: "National Aeronautics and Space Administration"

Proposed Agencies

International Space Federation Proposal (missing)

By David M. Nienow. An "idea for the creation of a international govermental organization (IGO) to take on the responsibility of establishing binding international regulations regarding space exploration, and in that process maintain a uniform space law" as well as "to establish a truly international program of space exploration that would involve the space programs of all known space launching states." A General Assembly, a Space Security Council, an International Space Supreme Court, a World Space Agency, plus lots and lots of other nice bureaucracies. Includes the complete text of the proposed charter.

USA

Office of the Associate Administrator for Commercial Space's (AST) World Wide Web Information Service.

Part of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). "This service is to provide the public with information regarding the Commercial Space Industry and its regulation."

NASA Space Grant

Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space

Set up by the UN in 1959. Claims elsewhere to be "the only international forum for the development of international space law".

International Space Science Institute

An Institute in Switzerland which was "established to further interdisciplinary studies and interpretation of the very complex experimental data which originate from multiexperiment satellites, already launched or due to be launched over the next several years by different space agencies." For an essay on what the ISSI is about and its history, see:

• IThe International Space Science Institute: A Vision Realised
  By Diane C. Taylor.

UN Office of Outer Space Affairs

Treaties, faq, satellite register, SETI, etc. Warning: Beware of (innumerable) broken links at this site.

Articles & Essays

Human Space Flight: Human Exploration and Development of Space Enterprise (HEDS)

HEDS is a "strategic plan" developed by NASA. For a summary, see the introduction page.

Websites

ESA: Manned Spaceflight and Microgravity

ESA's manned spaceflight website.

Human Spaceflight

NASA's manned spaceflight website.

Army Space Reference Text

Army space history, "army concept for space", space systems, threats and countermeasures, amongst other topics. At the Federation of American Scientists' site.

The Explosion of Commercial Space and the Implications for National Security

• By General Thomas S. Moorman, Jr., USAF, retired. Published in the Aerospace Power Chronicles, Spring 1999. (Adapted from the annual von K‡rm‡n lecture given by the author to the National Convention of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Reno, Nevada, on 13 January 1998.)
• "...space is like air-conditioningÑ-everyone who needs and wants information from space wonders how we ever got along without it."

Space: A New Strategic Frontier

• By Lt Gen Thomas S. Moorman, Jr., USAF. Published in the Aerospace Power Chronicles, Spring 1992.
• "Since the formation of Air Force Space Command in the early 1980s, the space community has been working hard to develop the requisite policy, strategy, acquisition, and operational underpinnings to meet the challenge of a range of military conflicts. However, it was not until Operation Desert Storm that space systems were able to make broad, critical contributions to the outcome of a conflict."

On Space-Power Separatism

• By Major Shawn P. Rife, USAF. On whether the US space forces should be a separate service. Published in the Aerospace Power Chronicles, Spring 1999.
• "In September 1997, Gen[eral] Charles A. Horner, USAF, Retired, commander of coalition air forces during Operation Desert Storm and later head of Air Force Space Command and US Space Command (CINCSPACE), created something of a stir when he questioned whether the US Air Force should continue to run military space systems: 'If the Air Force clings to its ownership of space, then tradeoffs will be made between air and space, when in fact the tradeoff should be made elsewhere.'"

Toward a Rational Space-Transportation Architecture

• By Lt Col Alan J. Parrington, USAF. Published in the Aerospace Power Chronicles, Winter 1991.
• "Space is probably the least understood of all military environments today. Whether it is the lack of personal experience in the medium or the fantasies planted by twentieth-century science-fiction writers, more misconceptions exist about systems and their possibilities for space than for any other theater of operations. It is not unusual, for example, to read about Department of Defense (DOD) plans for constellations of orbiting death-ray satellites or brilliant pebble intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) killers that are neither practical nor affordable."

The Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics

Website of the "very first museum of the history of space exploration" which "opened in 1967 in Kaluga city, where the great Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the founder of theoretical cosmonautics, lived for 43 years."

National Air and Space Museum

The famous branch of the American Smithsonian Institution.

Discovery Program

Fast, cheap science missions.

• Discovery Short List for 1995
  Successful bids (Lunar Prospector, Stardust, etc) as well as a long list of unsuccessful ones.
• Discovery Short List for 1997
  Successful bids (CONTour and Genesis) as well as three unsuccessful ones (one of which was chosen at the next round of bids). Brief info.
• Discovery Short List for 1998
  Successful bids (MESSENGER and Deep Impact) as well as three unsuccessful ones. Brief info.
• Discovery Program: Mission Schedule
  From 1999 onwards.

Mars Exploration Program

Home site of NASA's present and forthcoming Mars missions.

The New Millennium Program

Technology validation with space science spinoffs. Comet sample return missions, Mars penetrators, Earth orbiters, and even (under study) formation flying in space.

The Origins Program

"...seeks to answer two enduring human questions that we once considered around ancient campfires, yet still keep alive in today's classrooms: Where do we come from? Are we alone?" The Space Interferometry Mission and the Terrestrial Planet Finder (amongst others) come under this program.

Overview of the Proposed Origin Missions

Australia

Australia in Orbit: Space Policy and Programs (79K)

By Matthew James. April 1998. An overview of the current lamentable state of the Australian space program and the hopes for the future. A Current Issues Brief of the Dept. of the Federal Parliamentary Library. (CIBs "are short papers designed to provide a quick response to current issues as they arise".)

China

The Chinese Planetary Program

• At Paolo Ulivi's Grand Tour! A Planetary Exploration Page.
• "China is currently one the nations with the most "aggressive" space program. The first Chinese satellite was Dong Fang Hong (East is Red), launched in 1970. ... At the beginning of the Nineties, the Chinese space planners decided that the country should debut in two high-visibility fields: manned spaceflight and planetary exploration..."

India

Indian Planetary Projects

Brief. At Paolo Ulivi's Grand Tour! A Planetary Exploration Page.

Russia

Russian Space Industry

Compiled by Maxim V.Tarasenko, Ivan M. Moiseyev. Edited by Charles P. Vick, John E. Pike. General description of space industrial complex of Russia, directory of space-related organizations and institutions, Russian Space Policy Documents, etc. At the Federation of American Scientists' site.

China

Go Taikonauts!

An "Unofficial Chinese Space Website". Maintained by Chen Lan. News, factsheets, pics of Chinese launchers & satellites, etc on the Chinese space program. ("'Taikonaut' is the Chinese counterpart for 'astronaut' and 'cosmonaut'.")

A Vision of Our Future in Space

Testimony by Dr. Buzz Aldrin (May 19, 1997) before the Subcommittee on National Security, International Affairs and Criminal Justice US House of Representatives Government Reform and Oversight Committee. Calls for (inter alia) a return to the Moon by 2010 and a manned expedition to Mars by 2020.

Advanced Life Support Program

A NASA JSC site. Apart from a brief statement (and a pic of Mars), not much here. ("When humans embark on long duration missions such as the establishment of permanent bases on the Lunar surface or travel to Mars for exploration, they will continue to need food, water and air. For these long duration missions it may not be economical or practical to resupply basic life support elements from Earth.")

Archimedes Institute

Conducts "sophisticated analysis of aerospace policy issues and implements related private policy initiatives such as claim registration, lien filings, and international treaty revision." Hosted at the P.E.R.M.A.N.E.N.T. site.

California Space Institute

A "multi-campus research unit (MRU) of the University of California".

Center for Advanced Studies in the Space Life Sciences

A "NASA sponsored center at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts".

Earth and Space Resources Laboratory

At Lamar University. Mission: (inter alia) "to assist NASA in discovering new resources for human exploration of the solar system, and for a clean energy future on Earth."

Electric Propulsion and Plasma Dynamics Laboratory

At Princeton University's Dept. of Aerospace Engineering.

Innovative Nuclear Space Power and Propulsion Institute

At the University of Florida. A "multidisciplinary center conducting research in areas related to space nuclear energy systems, high temperature nuclear fuels, energy conversion and propulsion" founded in 1985. Includes a library page (with some of its papers online in PDF format), pics, etc. (Another site of theirs can be found here.)

The John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory: Space Science and Engineering

Home of MESSENGER, NEAR, ACE and other probes or space science experiments.

NASA Astrobiology Institute

At NASA's Ames Research Centre.

NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts

Has an online library of reports from studies into various space-based projects (some of which have been given separate links on these pages).

NASA Space Transportation

Space Launch Initiative, RLVs, space tethers, shuttle upgrades. Although this site has a ".COM" address, it appears to be an arm of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Centre. (The same site can also be found at this NASA address.)

Plasmadynamics and Electric Propulsion Laboratory

At the University of Michigan's Dept. of Aerospace Engineering.

Space Technologies Laboratory

At the University of Arizona. Research into oxygen production from "indigenous materials" for life support and propulsion, thermal control for habitats and instrumentation, etc.

UT Austin: Center for Space Research

At the University of Texas.

A nice rundown by Mike Stickles of 25 of the "most interesting and influential organizations seeking to explore or colonize the space beyond Earth can be found here in the Feb 1998 edition of Distant Star, the First Millennial Foundation's online magazine. Those organisations dedicated solely to lunar or Mars exploration I have separated off and filed elsewhere (see the relevant sections of Exploring the Moon & Mars). For organisations focussing mainly on space education, see Education Sites in About Travelling in Space.

2111 Foundation for Exploration

"Fostering Connections between Earth and Space Exploration". Some back issues of their magazine (Tranquility, the "Magazine of Earth and Space Exploration") are available online. Note: although the 2111 Foundation has moved to a new website, not all the material on their old site seems thus far to moved to it.

Affordable Spaceflight

An unpublished magazine article, a NASA presentation, space elevators, and other items dealing with affordable spaceflight. ("Affordable to the Private Individual Space Flight has been the dream of just about everyone who has ever wanted to travel into space. Its existence has been one of the basic assumptions of almost every major science fiction novel and movie ever produced.")

The American Astronautical Society

Formed in 1954, the AAS is an "independent scientific and technical group exclusively dedicated to the advancement of space science and exploration", and is also "committed to strengthening the global space program through cooperation with international space organizations."

American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology

A student "extension" of the society has a website here.

The Apollo Society

"To advance space exploration and establish human communities beyond Earth."

ARCSEC

An "international association, open to all Catholics who share a mutual interest in the promotion of the exploration and development of Space" who have "come together to promote the Social Kingship of Jesus Christ in the next great endeavour of mankind."

The Association of Space Explorers

Found in 1985, the association is an "international nonprofit professional and educational organization of over 250 individuals from 28 nations who have flown in space."

The Astronaut Connection

"Your guide to space, the history of its exploration, and a cross-section of the men and women who have been in it."

British Interplanetary Society

Mostly about the society (the world's oldest, formed in 1933).

California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture (CalEarth)

A nonprofit research and educational institute whose scope "spans technical innovations published by NASA for lunar and martian construction to housing designs and development for the world's homeless for the United Nations". Its "new millennium focus is on space technology at the service of humanity and the environment" with "two prototype projects": a lunar colony and a Mars base, using "research and development based on existing terrestrial and space technology developed at Cal-Earth".

Contact

A "unique interdisciplinary conference which brings together some of the foremost international social and space scientists, science fiction writers and artists to exchange ideas, stimulate new perspectives and encourage serious, creative speculation about humanity's future...onworld and offworld. Each year we meet to promote the integration of human factors into space age research and policy, emphasize the interaction of the Arts and Sciences and their technologies, and develop ethical approaches in cross-cultural contact, whenever and wherever it occurs."

Deep Space Exploration Society

A group of enthusiasts restoring a pair of radio telescope dishes in Colorado, USA.

Eurospace

The "association of the European Space Industry".

The First Millennial Foundation

See the Living Universe Foundation.

The Hawai'i Space Society

Mostly about the society. A chapter of the National Space Society.

Houston Space Society

Highly opinionated site.

Institute for Teleoperated Space Development

"Purpose of Institute: To open Space for humankind by early use of teleoperated robots."

International Academy of Astronautics

Founded in Stockholm in 1960, and based on "the tradition of the great classical scientific academies of the 17th century in Rome, London and Paris, which fostered scientific enquiry and the exchange of ideas and new information in the earliest days of modern science." Info about itself and its publications etc. Also has a number of its papers online. (There is also another site about it here at the International Astronautical Federation website.)

International Astronautical Federation

An organisation for encouraging "the advancement of knowledge about space and the development and application of space assets for the benefit of humanity."

International Institute of Space Law

• Founded by the International Astronautical Federation in 1960, replacing the Permanent Committee on Space Law which the IAF had created two years earlier. At the International Astronautical Federation website.
• Its purposes and objectives "include the cooperation with appropriate international organizations and national institutions in the field of space law, the carrying out of tasks for fostering the development of space law and studies of legal and social science aspects of the exploration and use of outer space and the holding of meetings, colloquia and competitions on juridical and social science aspects of space activities."

International Space University

An "interdisciplinary, intercultural, and international institution". Created in 1987.

• CAISU
  "CAISU" = "Canadian Alumni of the International Space University".

ISECCo Homepage

ISECCo = International Space Exploration and Colonization Co. A non-profit organization "dedicated to research and development of space-oriented technology."

Island One Society

A "meeting place for future space colonists and business people of a libertarian or at least live and let live bent."

Launchspace.Com

"The magazine/website of the Space Industry."

League of the New Worlds

Wants to "establish a permanent human presence in the oceans. In so doing, we will engineer the habitats, procedures and processes for the space frontier."

The Living Universe Foundation

Formerly the First Millennial Foundation (The reasons for the change in name are explained here.) . "A million years from now, our descendants will populate this galaxy. From the red dwarfs of the globular clusters to the blue giants of the galactic nucleus, a hundred billion stars will shine on the homes of a trillion trillion human beings." To begin with, though, they advocate colonising the sea, with a gradual progression into space beginning about 2016. (Foresees fledgling starships about 2250 - 2500, and colonies out to 40 or 50 light years by 3000 AD: "This will form humanity's toehold on the galaxy and will be the tap root from which springs the rest of galactic civilization.") For a fuller timetable, see their Advanced FAQ. See also their The Millennial Project FAQ. There is even an FMF Webring.

Lunar Institute of Technology

Various on-line projects (Starship design, Solar system development, etc) plus a reference library. (Mirror site: Urly-bird)

The Lunar Reclamation Society

A "Milwaukee (USA)-based membership organization engaged in public outreach and education about the benefits of establishing a permanent human presence on the Moon". Affiliated with the National Space Society.

Mission HOME (missing)

A "multi-year, multi-million dollar commitment by the [USA's] aerospace community to educate America on the value of space." ("HOME" = "Harvesting Opportunity for Mother Earth".)

The Moon Society

An "international scientific organisation...dedicated to all aspects of the study, exploration, settlement and development of the Earth's Moon, Luna". Affiliated with the Artemis Society.

The National Association of Space Simulating Educators

"Exploring Outer Space from the Classroom". NASSE is "an organization of educators dedicated to using simulation to teach space science."

National Space Society

"Promotes change in social, technical, economic, and political conditions to advance the day when people will live and work in space."

OURS Foundation

A "non-profit cultural and astronautical organization" whose primary purpose "is to introduce, nurture and expand a cultural dimension to humanity's astronautical endeavors." Based in Switzerland.

P.E.R.M.A.N.E.N.T.

"Projects to Employ Resources of the Moon and Asteroids Near Earth in the Near Term". A "not-for-profit, nonpartisan, co-operative site, not a competitor to other organizations."

Planetary Society

A non-profit, non-governmental organization founded in 1980 by Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray, and Louis Friedman to "encourage the exploration of our solar system and the search for extraterrestrial life."

ProSpace

"The citizen's space lobby." A "grass roots organization of American citizens dedicated to opening the Space Frontier to all Americans as rapidly as possible."

Russian Space Science Internet (RSSI)

A non-profit network in Russian providing access to the Internet for the Russian science community, including space science organisation. Not much actual info here, though.

The Society for International Space Cooperation (SISC)

A "private non-profit space interest group formed in 1997...composed of current and former astronauts, cosmonauts, scientists, artisans, educators, and members of the general public from all over the world with an interest in ensuring future Space Exploration."

The Society of Performers, Artists, Athletes, and Celebrities for Space Exploration, Inc (SPAACSE )

SPAACSE is a group "dedicated to educating the general public about space exploration and its benefits to humanity" and whose "celebrity members will showcase their talents to convey the beauty, mystique, and promise of the final frontier."

Space Access Society

Their "sole purpose" is to promote "radically cheaper access to space, ASAP."

Space Activism Homepage

A "starting point for space activists to get involved."

Space Association of Australia, Inc

A "a non-profit, non-political group of people who are keen to learn about, and share with others, the excitement of space exploration."

Space Day

A website dedicated to "Space Day", which is a day "dedicated to the extraordinary achievements, benefits and opportunities in the exploration and use of space." It is "celebrated on the Thursday prior to the anniversary of U.S. President John F. Kennedy's 1961 challenge to 'land a man on the moon and return him to the Earth.'" In 1998, it fell on May 21st.

Space Enthusiasts of America

A "subsidiary" of The Space Network dedicated to "what will really put us into space. The PEOPLE!"

Space Frontier Foundation

An organization "dedicated to opening the Space Frontier to human settlement as rapidly as possible. ... Our purpose is to unleash the power of free enterprise and lead a united humanity permanently into the Solar System."

Space Future

Space habitats, tourism, vehicles, & power.

The SpaceLaunch Foundation

An organisation "dedicated to realizing the exploration and colonization of outer space through the creation of an independent space economy in which colonization is a natural result of continuous economic expansion." Rejects "all government funding of space exploration as ultimately counterproductive to the goal of achieving the freedom that this new frontier offers us." It's most ambitious project is a privately-funded Zubrin-like manned expedition to Mars planned for before 2010.

The Space Network

A portal to Space: Now or Never and Space Enthusiasts and America, and other groups.

Space: Now or Never

A site "dedicated to the proposition that it is human destiny to explore the universe, that the exploration of space offers vast rewards, both economic and spiritual, and that if we who believe this don't act now to support space exploration, humanity may well never get off this planet." Affiliated with The Space Network.

Space Transportation Association

• The STA "represents the interests of organizations and people who are engaged in developing, building, operating, and using space transportation vehicles, systems, and services to provide reliable, economical, safe, and routine access to space for private users and government, civil, and military users."
• See also its Space Travel & Tourism Division.

Space Studies Institute

Founded by Dr Gerard O'Neill. Note: this site is currently under construction. In the meantime, the old site can be found here.

Space Zone

Space history, news, NASA Television broadcast schedule, etc.

Starport.com

A website "dedicated to providing an online interactive forum for people throughout the world to have an opportunity to learn and talk about space exploration. The site provides opportunities for visitors to meet and learn about the people associated with space exploration--astronauts, cosmonauts, engineers, and scientists." News, articles, on-line discussion forums, etc. Seems to be associated with Space.com.

Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS)

SETI, astromaps, Comet SL0 archive, Ascending Node newsletter, Spaceviews magazine, and more. There is also a Purdue University chapter and another at the University of Virginia (aka Space Advancement Society).

SUNSAT Energy Council

A "non-governmental organization affiliated with the United Nations" who purpose is to"disseminate information about...space solar power systems". Papers on space solar power, an FAQ, etc.

The UK Exobiology Network

A group whose aim is "to encourage and promote the science of exobiology within the UK". Established "in response to requests after the First UK Exobiology Workshop, held in September 1998".

United Societies in Space, Inc

A "non-profit space activist company...founded in 1994 for the purpose of advancing the day when humankind may create an off-world civilization with people living, working and enjoying outer space, during our lifetimes." It "focuses on space governance solutions for space policy problems." Has plans to set up what appears to be a self-appointed quasi-government-in-exile. On August 2-4, 2000, a "Cyberspace Convention" is planned when a "Metanation" will be established. This convention "will represent humankind", although apparently no elections are scheduled. Instead:

"USIS will appoint people to represent countries rather than have countries elect them." These delegates "being honest and the golas [sic] being clear, the results will be the same regardless of how the delegates are positioned. We have a similar legal phenomenon occur daily in every courthouse in America. Jurors are asked to judge defendants according to legal instructions rather than according to personal agendas. Because people can use integrity in their official capacities, this works."

Hmm. Doesn't every politician protest their honesty and integrity?

United States Space Foundation

Promotes "national awareness and support for America's space endeavours."

Universities Space Research Association

A private non-profit organisation established in 1969 under the auspices of the US Academy of Sciences by which "universities and other research institutions, may cooperate with one another, with the Government of the United States, and with other organisations toward the development of knowledge associated with space science and technology".

The URANOS Club

"The Club is a group of [Polish] people interested in the development of human civilization and its expansion into extraterrestrial space." Parts of the site are in Polish.

XPrize Foundation

A St Louis (USA) based "non-profit organization encouraging the development of low-cost, reusable spaceships for the space tourism industry through the use of competitive prizes."

Archimedes Institute Library for Space Law and Policy Research

Website. Links to various treaties, US legislation, non-US documents, articles, essays, reports, university lesson plans, etc. At the Archimedes Institute site.

Foundations for Castles in the Air

By Lawrence D. Roberts. Property rights in space & the Outer Space Treaty. At the P.E.R.M.A.N.E.N.T. site.

General Assembly Resolutions and International Treaties Pertaining to the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space

At the UNISPACE III site. A listing of the five treaties and the principles governing international law about space.

How To Get Private Enterprise To Pay For Permanent Space Settlements

By Alan Wasser. Private property & the Outer Space Treaty. At the Archimedes Institute site.

International Space Law

Mostly a brief rundown of the five treaties the UN administers in respect of Outer Space. At the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs site.

International Space Treaties

Links to the texts of major space treaties, background documents, and various US domestic statutes etc. Also a brief discussion of the fate of the "infamous 'Moon Treaty'". At the Island One Society site. The treaties available include:

• The Partial Test Ban Treaty 1963
• The Outer Space Treaty 1967
• The Rescue Treaty 1968
• The Moon Treaty 1979

Land Ownership and Use in Space

By Shaun de Waal. In Distant Star, the online magazine of the First Millennial Foundation, May 1997. The author "highlights the importance and complexity of issues involving the meaning of 'land' and its access, ownership, and use for future sea and space colonies. He outlines several past and present patterns, and discusses their implications."

Legal Aspects of the Commercialisation of Space Transportation Systems (165K)

By Bonnie E. Fought. Published in the Spring 1988 issue of the Berkeley Technology Law Journal. ("As the space shuttle program returns to active operations, America must not loose sight of the value of a viable commercial sector space launch industry. The opportunity exists now for the development of new and better American space policy which will result in joint Government and industry cooperation toward the provision of assured access to space.")

Legal Regimes for Space Enterprises--Approaches

Notes for lecture #39, 1996, for the NEEP 602 course at the University of Wisconsin.

Legal Regimes for Space Enterprises--Background

Notes for lecture #38, 1996, for the NEEP 602 course at the University of Wisconsin.

Major International Instruments on Disarmament and Related Issues

At the website for The United Nations Office at Geneva. Has copies of three treaties of relevance to these pages:

• The Partial Test Ban Treaty 1963
• The Outer Space Treaty 1967
• The Moon Treaty 1979

Needed: A Private Property Standard For Space

By Lawrence D. Roberts. Property rights in space & the Outer Space Treaty. Published in the November/December 1997 issue of Ad Astra. At the Archimedes Institute site.

Non-Proliferation and Free Access to Outer Space: the Dual-Use Dilemma of the Outer Space Treaty and the Missile Technology Control Regime

• By Barry J. Hurewitz. Published in the Fall 1994 issue of the Berkeley Technology Law Journal.
• "The 1967 Outer Space Treaty formally articulated pre-existing principles of customary international law, including the rights of states to enter and use outer space freely, without discrimination, and to do so using both civilian and military equipment and personnel. Subsequently, the Missile Technology Control Regime led to strict export controls on dual-use technologies including space launch vehicles, components, and production facilities. The MTCR has been applied by the United States, to the detriment of legitimate national space launch programs and in violation of the Outer Space Treaty, although it is clear from the text of the MTCR that the agreement was not intended to produce this result. The U.S. implementation has led to a closed, discriminatory cartel of launch service supplier states."

Outer Space and the Multilateral Treaty-Making Process

By Gennady M. Danilenko. Published in the Fall 1989 issue of the Berkeley Technology Law Journal.

Planning A Trip Into Space? Bring Your Lawyer Along For The Ride

By Lawrence D. Roberts. Legal aspects of space tourism. Published in the May/June 1998 issue of Ad Astra. At the Archimedes Institute site.

The Regulation of Commercial Space Activities by the Non-Governmental Entities in Space Law

By Kunihiko Tatsuzawa. Legality of commercial space activities by non-governmental entities, jurisdiction, intellectual property, and other issues. At the Space Future site.

Space Law Relevant to Astronomy

Discusses (briefly) various issues: the sources and nature of space law, basic principles, and specific legal questions. At the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs Portal site (UN/ESA Workshops on Basic Space Science).

The Space Plane and International Space Law

By Yasuaki Hashimoto. At the Space Future site. ("Some countries including Japan are now developing space planes for their future transportation system. The space plane has several concepts in one technology and it is rather difficult to apply one legal regime to it.")

United Nations Responsibilities Under the Outer Space Treaties (missing?)

The OuterSpace Treaty, the Rescue Agreement, the Liability Convention, the Registration Convention, and the Moon Agreement. Includes the text of the treaties. At the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs site.

Baikonur Cosmodrome (missing)

Russian launch site now in Kazakhstan.

Johnson Space Centre

• Mission Control Centre
  A NASA factsheet.

Kennedy Space Centre

NASA's launch site at Cape Canaveral.

Plesetsk Cosmodrome (missing)

Russian launch site located north of Moscow.

Svobodny Cosmodrome (missing)

New Russian launch site (under construction) on the Pacific Ocean.

World Space Centres

Launch sites from Andoya to Woomera. Includes a map showing their locations.

An Evolutionary Path to Space Power Systems

By Geoffrey A Landis. Advocates and "evolutionary path" to SPS to overcome the astronomical establishment costs. ("A difficulty with proposals for satellite solar power systems is the absence of a plausable evolutionary pathway to development of systems on the scale required.") At the Island One site.

An Overview of International Activities on Power from Space (missing)

By Peter E. Glaser. Presented at the International Conference on Macro Engineering in Development, MIT, December 1997. At the SUNSAT site.

A Fresh Look at Space Solar Power: New Architectures, Concepts and Technologies (missing)

By J. Mankins of NASA. October 1997. During 1995-1997, NASA reexamined the technologies, systems concepts and terrestrial markets that might be involved in future space solar power systems. This paper presents (inter alia) a "strategic summary of the results of the 'Fresh Look' Study, including architectures, systems concepts and technologies." At the SUNSAT site.

Solar Energy Resources-Lunar Solar Power Satellites

By G. L. Kulcinski. Lecture #33, 1996, for the NEEP 602 course at the University of Wisconsin.

Solar Energy Resources-Orbiting Solar Power Satellites

By G. L. Kulcinski. Lecture #32, 1996, for the NEEP 602 course at the University of Wisconsin.

Space Solar Power FAQ

Fairly brief (what is it and what are the environmental and health hazards). At the SUNSAT site.

Space Power

The Space Power Business, timeline, A Very Big Chip, SPS 2000, An Allegorical Tale, etc. At the Space Future site.

What is Space Solar Power and what are Solar Power Satellites?

At the Space Solar Power Newsletter page (Vol 1, March 1997, the only one so far on-line).

The World's Energy Future Belongs in Orbit

By Gerard K. O'Neill. From Trilogy Jan/Feb 1992. At the Space Studies Institute site.

About Space Tourism (missing)

Excerpts from articles, milestones, links. At the Zegrahm Space Voyages site.

First Tourists to Blast Off into Space in 1999/2001 (missing)

Jan 2, 1998. Zegrahm Space Voyages announces its first launch date (but Civilian Astronaut Corps hopes to get in first). News from the Yahoo site.

Hotels in Space

• By Barron Hilton. The president of Hilton Hotels Corporation gives his view to the 1967 AAS Conference. At Jim Kingdon's Space Markets page. (Another copy here at the Houston Space Society site.)
• "The possibility of an orbiting or lunar hotel is discussed. It is suggested that when space scientists make it physically feasible to establish hotels in space and to transport people, the hotel industry will meet the challenge."
• "Scarcely a day goes by when someone doesn't ask me, jovially, when the Lunar Hilton is going to be opened. They're joking, of course. But I don't see it as a joke at all. ... I firmly believe that we are going to have Hiltons in outer space, perhaps even soon enough for me to officiate at the formal opening of the first. If the world powers continue to restrict outer space to peaceful pursuits, there will be travelers in outer space--and where there are travelers there must be Hiltons."

Japan Plans for Space Tourism

By Andy Nimmo. Published in FTL, a webzine. ("Most of you will be aware of the involvement of Hilton Hotels, British Airways and Virgin with the Japanese, regarding a space hotel, but you may not realize the work the Japanese have already put into their space tourism plans. Since 1993, the Japanese Rocket Society have been working very hard indeed on their Kankoh-maru SSTO VTOL, a vehicle designed to carry 50 people up to space at a time from more or less any airport anywhere.")

The JRS Space Tourism Study Program Phase 2 (67K)

By Patrick Collins and Kohki Isozaki. JRS = Japanese Rocket Society. Presented to the 7th ISCOPS, Nagasaki, July 1997. Stored at the Space Future site.

Near-Term Prospects for Space Tourism

Prepared for The Sophron Foundation by Interglobal. June 8, 2000. Covers, amongst other topics, suborbital passenger trips and orbital passenger trips.

Orbital Sports Stadium

By Patrick Collins, Takashi Fukuoka, and Tsuyoshi Nishimura. Discusses "the requirements for such a facility, major aspects of the stadium design, and the stadium's relation to the [orbital] hotel itself." Presented at Space 2000, Albuquerque, March 2000, New Mexico, USA. At the Space Future site.

Practical Tourism in Space

By Samuel M. Coniglio, IV. At Artemis Project site.

Space Tourism

At Jim Kingdon's Space Markets page.

Space Tourism: General Information (missing)

By Robert Stockmans.

Space Tourism - How Soon Will it Happen? (54K)

By David M Ashford. Presented to the 1997 IEEE Aerospace Conference. Stored at the Space Future site.

Commercial Space Transportation Study

A wide-ranging study by NASA. Covers not just "space transportation" per se but other space markets also, from the communication satellite one to space agriculture to lunar hotels. Also available in a ZIP file version.

Space Calendar (JPL) (180K)

Maintained by Ron Baalke. Covers space-related activities and anniversaries for the coming year.