Minor forum concepts

Designs proposed briefly by forum members, one or two posts each.

Catalogue

Member Concept Key numbers / idea Source
high road Two counterweighting rings, spin adjusted by solar maglev rails along the hub Rigid, smaller radius high road, 2014-02-21
NovaSilisko "Realistic, near-term, rotating: pick two"; dog-bone easier than torus — NovaSilisko, 2014-02-23
Impaler Two counter-rotating drums inside a Bigelow inflatable on core bearings ~6 m radius; drive wheel between drums Impaler, 2015-02-17
JasonAW3 Small inflatable torus in a Dragon trunk ~6 m diameter, 1 m tube, $10–15M JasonAW3, 2015-02-22
nadreck Hub with a dozen spokes of different lengths Opposed pairs at 1, 0.5, 0.25 g; cable-car elevators nadreck, 2015-02-23
TakeOff Two rotating BA330s + robotic node; identical stations stacking node-to-node as "floors" — TakeOff, 2015-03-30
TakeOff Circulating elevator along the rotation circle — TakeOff, 2015-03-30
alexterrell FH-launched torus, 15 m major / 11 m minor radius ~400 t of shielding; internal rotating section alexterrell, 2015-09-01
KelvinZero Single F9 Dragon v2 + AG module between capsule and stage Damped cable KelvinZero, 2015-03-03
KelvinZero Goal 1 tourist destination; Goal 2 asteroid ISRU demonstrator — KelvinZero, 2022-11-01
RonM DragonLab with tether and counterweight in the trunk 2-year duration RonM, 2015-02-24
sanman Two modules around a hub with a ladder in a flexible sleeve Fluid-balancing pipes sanman, 2019-01-07
Refleks Fusion 360 ring varying rotation for lunar, Mars, Earth g 1 g at 2.8 rpm Refleks, 2019-01-07
TrevorMonty Non-rotating outer shielding shell at Lagrange/asteroid belt Mass-driver regolith in steel canisters TrevorMonty, 2018-11-01
WH2OPaddler Tail-to-tail Starships approaching Mars ~2.5 rpm; ~0.4 g at the top WH2OPaddler, 2019-03-27; WH2OPaddler, 2019-04-30
edzieba Nose-to-nose tethered Starships 85 m tether, 2 rpm → Mars g edzieba, 2019-04-11
Cheapchips Expendable stripped Starships as modules — Cheapchips, 2019-04-03
spacenut Two stripped Starships as station/depot; X-shaped station — Coastal Ron, 2019-10-25; spacenut, 2024-08-16
MickQ Cylinder with rotating rings inside; zero-g docking anywhere Transparent ends MickQ, 2023-03-07
MickQ De-spun catch frame that clamps a ship and spins up Articulated crew access arm MickQ, 2023-05-27
Alexsander Von Braun-style wheel of curved Axiom-like segments LEGO-like berthing Alexsander, 2023-06-13
Alexsander "Flat washer" station with raised floor over water/dirt shielding 8–12 segments Alexsander, 2023-06-30
jongoff Fixed outer ring with a slightly smaller spun ring on a maglev track Non-rotating exterior; arbitrary µG:AG ratio jongoff, 2023-12-29
redneck 100 m hub volume enclosing a de-spun 95 m µG facility "A minute from 1 g to µG" redneck, 2025-09-20
rsdavis9 Space airport with 1 g toilets, restaurants, hotels — rsdavis9, 2025-09-08
floss Waystation recycling deep-space shielding water into gardens Relocate for second life Twark_Main, 2025-09-07
DanClemmensen Launch 9 × 40 m stainless tubes (Starship bodies) and weld — DanClemmensen, 2023-06-11
LarryCanuck Double-walled modules with HDPE water tanks in the annulus — LarryCanuck, 2023-01-14
Solarsail Rotating hubless "mouse wheel" inside an 8 m module R 3.8 m: 1 g at 15.3 rpm Solarsail, 2023-01-04
Solarsail Trade-space breakdown of rotating/non-rotating frames — Solarsail, 2023-01-24

Open questions

  • Which of these short-lived ideas deserve fuller analysis? The candidates are jongoff's maglev outer ring, redneck's de-spun µG facility and Impaler's drums-in-inflatable.

Sources

Forum posts

  • high road, 2014-02-21 (reply #104): high road rings. Post.
  • NovaSilisko, 2014-02-23 (reply #120, 1 like): Pick two. Post.
  • Impaler, 2015-02-17 (reply #281): Drums in inflatable. Post.
  • JasonAW3, 2015-02-22 (reply #359): Inflatable torus demo. Post.
  • nadreck, 2015-02-23 (reply #390): Multi-spoke hub. Post.
  • RonM, 2015-02-24 (reply #398, 1 like): DragonLab tether. Post.
  • KelvinZero, 2015-03-03 (reply #476): Dragon2 AG module. Post.
  • TakeOff, 2015-03-30 (reply #544): Circulating elevator. Post. Attachments: rotator w elevator.PNG, rotator w elevator2.PNG.
  • TakeOff, 2015-03-30 (reply #549): Stackable floors. Post.
  • alexterrell, 2015-09-01 (reply #580): Big torus. Post.
  • TrevorMonty, 2018-11-01 (reply #1252, 2 likes): Outer shell. Post.
  • sanman, 2019-01-07 (reply #1259): Simplest sleeve. Post.
  • Refleks, 2019-01-07 (reply #1260): Refleks ring. Post.
  • WH2OPaddler, 2019-03-27 (reply #1411): Starship pair. Post.
  • Cheapchips, 2019-04-03 (reply #1466): Stripped Starships. Post.
  • edzieba, 2019-04-11 (reply #1533): Nose-to-nose tether. Post.
  • WH2OPaddler, 2019-04-30 (reply #1565, 3 likes): Render (3 likes). Post. Attachments: IMG_0001 (4).jpg.
  • Coastal Ron, 2019-10-25 (reply #1680): Stripped Starships. Post.
  • KelvinZero, 2022-11-01 (reply #2295, 2 likes): Two goals. Post.
  • Solarsail, 2023-01-04 (reply #2769, 1 like): Mouse wheel (1 like). Post.
  • LarryCanuck, 2023-01-14 (reply #2895): Water annulus. Post.
  • Solarsail, 2023-01-24 (reply #3052): Trade-space breakdown. Post.
  • MickQ, 2023-03-07 (reply #3521): MickQ cylinder. Post.
  • MickQ, 2023-05-27 (reply #3759): Catch frame. Post.
  • DanClemmensen, 2023-06-11 (reply #3836): Stainless tubes. Post.
  • Alexsander, 2023-06-13 (reply #3852): Curved segments. Post. Attachments: von-braun-space-station.png, axiom-segment.jpeg.
  • Alexsander, 2023-06-30 (reply #3899): Flat washer. Post. Attachments: din-125-teil-1-a.jpg.
  • jongoff, 2023-12-29 (reply #4381): Outer ring maglev. Post.
  • spacenut, 2024-08-16 (reply #4749): X-shaped. Post.
  • Twark_Main, 2025-09-07 (reply #4932): Waystation. Post.
  • rsdavis9, 2025-09-08 (reply #4940, 3 likes): Space airport (3 likes). Post.
  • redneck, 2025-09-20 (reply #4996): De-spun µG facility. Post.