The Von Braun Wheel - Building Humanity’s First Rotating Space Station

Before NASA, we had a plan for a rotating space station. The Von Braun Wheel could be humanity’s first step toward artificial gravity, orbital habitats, and permanent life beyond Earth.

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Credits:

The Von Braun Wheel

Written, Produced & Narrated by: Isaac Arthur

Graphics from Bryan Versteeg, Jeremy Jozwik, Sergio Botero, Udo Schroeter

Music by Stellardrone & Chris Zabriskie

Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images

Chapters

0:00 Intro

2:07 What the Von Braun Wheel Actually Was

3:35 Why Spin At All?

5:28 The Road Not Taken

9:15 A Log Cabin in Orbit

10:13 Could We Build It Today?

13:08 The Missing Link to Mars

15:06 Operational Advantages Beyond Health

18:12 The Evolutionary Step Between Laboratory and Settlement

19:33 From Wheel to Network

20:45 Interplanetary Craft

23:31 Surviving a New Ice Age

24:39 Asteroid Mining and Industrial Outposts

27:23 The Infrastructure Multiplier

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