ASTEN: Eric Yam's vision of a space habitat

I did a search and came up with no results, which actually surprised me, based on the ideas this brilliant kid put forth! I don't post many threads, here, but I felt that this deserved some more attention, and hope all who read it enjoy! I figure there should be a few of you, at least, who find it as interesting as I do!

Anyways, I was searching around online for better ideas than the outdated (in my opinion) ISS for running experiments in space, and ultimately, the goal of making space a bit more habitable, when I came across this winning proposal (He won NASA's Space Settlement Design Contest, in 2009).



After reading the proposal he outlined (Overall a 30 year project to get this 'city' built, and operational), I was absolutely flabbergasted with the fact that I hadn't even heard much of this. With a $500 billion budget, which, for a venture of this magnitude, would be entirely worthwhile, I really hope NASA decides to go forward with it at some point in the near future. The city would potentially house up to 10,000 people, and his ideas for the 'society' aboard the station are based mostly on Canadian policies (for example, a tax system, based on our income tax system, here in Canada, and the decision of who lives on the station would be based a point system modeled on our immigration policy in Canada)

This is the kind of forward thinking we need to get off this rock, and begin our next step as a space faring civilization, in my humble opinion.

Here is the .pdf detailing his award winning idea, for those who may be interested to look more into the project...You'll notice he's detailed and thought of just about everything. Such a brilliant young mind!

Eric Yam's ASTEN

I'm hoping this thread meets the requirements of the Space Exploration forum, here. If not, mods, please feel free to relocate it to the proper forum!

Wow... Not even a bite, eh?

I figured people in this forum at least would have an interest in this. Odd.