O'Neill cylinder
Cilindro de O'Neill
- Date
- 1976 · confidence high
- Place
- Princeton, New Jersey, United States
- Credited to
- Gerard K. O'Neill
- Field
- Movement
What it is
A space colony concept consisting of two counter-rotating cylinders several kilometres long that generate artificial gravity through rotation, proposed by physicist Gerard K. O'Neill in his book The High Frontier (1976) as a permanent habitat for large human populations in space.
What it led to
- A reference design in space architecture and science fiction
- NASA studies on space settlements (Ames, 1975–1977)
- Inspiration for current proposals for rotating space habitats