large scale space stations to help advance humanity

       Recently some old concept drawings from the 70's of Nasa colonies have surfaced again. they have made the rounds on the news site Digg.com. All in all they are pretty interesting to look at but what they mainly do is show us two things. one of them is how Nasa was a lot bolder with their dreams up until and slightly after the moon landing and two it shows us hope.

    When I mean hope I am not just talking about the amazing feat it would take to construct such an impressively monumental human habitation. I am speaking about how we will have taken that first but very critical step. Once the Human race has reached colonization in multiple locations we can no longer be wiped out by one catastrophe. Once we have reached that step we can begin to explore and truly grow as a race. 

    Now I'm sorry to say I am not currently aware which one would be easier to get up and running first. Though with large scale space station you would have the advantage the ability to refill and stock up and supplies. On top of that, a station of that size would have to have an gravity generator to help stop with human muscle deaeration, along with the need of having a hydroponics to help supply with a varied food source. 

      One major downside right now in the U.S. in trying to gain any funding for such an ambitious project. As much as you and I agree advancing the human race at any cost is a noble task, some do not share our ideals. Which is fine, but when you are left with the option of one side hating anything that needs government funding and one who sees space shuttles as something that does more harm than good, we may have a problem. Granted this is only the fringe of both sides so I am hoping they never gain any real power. Though they are still something to keep an eye on.  

      Other countries may not have such stringent governments and real progress might be made for them. Yet there is still hope for third parties to innovate to keep the U.S. as a player in the space race, even if it's a second tier. I'm sorry to say I'm to much of a cynic to see a world effort to get this off the ground. 

     Now before you bring up LHC as an example, the amount of money needed to get this station up and running would make the  LHC budget look like a drop in a lake. Not to mentation that we would have to make hundreds of them. The ones that NASA came up with would only hold at best a little over a ten plus thousand people. This is no where near expectable in real honest look at what is trying to be accomplished. So the drawings of the space stations are interesting but they are at  best a first step at worst just a poor tease.