Space Settlement and Designing Paradise
by Mike Combs,Copyright © 1997 The Christians had it all wrong when they said Hell was a lake of burning fire. Hell, Wendell Drake had decided long ago, was being stuck in a Chicago traffic jam in the middle of December. Wendell held one hand up to block the orange...
Eyes, Shining Back from the Dark
by Mike Combs, Copyright © 2004 'Well, Dyson's gone and topped himself again.' 'Oh yeah,' I replied, 'So exactly how does one top spheres the size of solar systems and trees on comets?' 'Actually, Keith, his newest idea kinda relates to the comet trees. Kinda sorta,'...
Crossroads
by Mike Combs, Copyright © 1994 I used to write for the Fanzine of a Star Trek club, and sometimes used this forum for the discussion of High Frontier-type concepts. The following article was written for a Star Trek audience and was published in one of the club...
If Not For the Fall…
by Mike Combs, Copyright © 1996 Establishing shot of Dallas, TX. Cut to a hotel. Interior. Notaro, a brown-skinned man of North African origins is working on a home-made bomb. He sets the timer for 2:30 PM. He leaves, but does not take the bomb with him. He climbs...
Lunar Solar Power Stations vs. The O’Neill Proposal
In May of 2006, Dr. David Criswell became aware of this article and contacted me to resume our debate about the relative merits of Lunar Solar Power (LSP) stations vs. lunar-resources-derived GEO SPS. Dr. Criswell said that all of his comparisons were toward the...
The Advantages of Space Living Over Planetary Living
By Mike Combs, Copyright © 1994 I used to write for the Fanzine of a Star Trek club, and sometimes used this forum for the discussion of High Frontier-type concepts. The following article began as a paper written for a college seminar hosted by Gerard O'Neill, and was...
The Land of Eternal Night
by Mike Combs, Copyright © 1996 "So you're going to Nightworld?" Jeff Martin cackled. "Oh man, this might be the point where Gary Decker finally loses his virginity!" "Bite me," I said. "What? Why, how rude!" "Sorry. Please bite me, sir." Evidently Jeff had heard of...
The Next Best Thing to Being There
by Mike Combs, Copyright © 1995 "We're coming up on Darkcrater Base now," the pilot of the moonhopper reported. Eileen Peterson, Ph.D., leaned forward a bit so she could see better out of the window in the front of the lunar shuttle. Her first view of Darkcrater Base...
Space Colonies: The High Frontier by Gerard O’Neill
THE FUTURIST, February 1976 Space Colonies: The High Fronteir book cover An earth-like space colony could be orbiting our world by 1990, says a Princeton University physicist. The colony's 10,000 inhabitants would enjoy green plants, animals, plains, valleys, hills,...
The Bridge to Space Short Story
by Mike Combs, Copyright 1995 To my precious wife Sandra. Thanks for the encouragement. Table of Contents Prologue - 1981: A hopeful view of the future Chapter 1 - Evacuation Chapter 2 - A general disatisfaction with the current state of affairs Chapter 3 - Selling...