[TFNA]

In his novel Aurora, Kim Stanley Robinson challenged this view by suggesting that at the small scale of orbital structures, there may be insurmountable obstacles to biological life, like the buildup of salt through waste. His ultimate conclusion was that “life is a planetary phenomenon” (and we should take better care of the planet we have).

[pigpop]

If I remember correctly, the novel was concerned with a generation ship travelling to a distant star. This is not the same as space habitats in a solar system where there are plenty of sources and sinks for all materials involved in the maintenance of a habitat.

I think he modeled his habitats as large ecosystems as well in the novel. That's not strictly necessary and would simplify the design a lot.

Also, it was a fictional story so not the best source for information. Which is kind of proving my point about sci-fi messing up everyone's conception of what the future could hold.

[protocolture]

In his novel Aurora, Kim Stanley Robinson challenged the view that works of fiction should be well written and function as entertainment.

[emj]

Living in bunkers is no fun, I love cities but even those are bigger than the best generation ship.