New Space Garage

Twenty years ago or more I did a series of paintings showing an orbital construction facility being built. Some of these paintings can also be seen on this site. Recently I decided to make a digital 3D model of the unfinished garage and see how my original painting could be improved. Eventually the structure would be enclosed, and more equipment added. In the original conception, the garage would be parked in orbit a few miles from a space station, and workers would ferry back and forth between them. I decided it was undesirable to have astronauts traversing this gap every day, so I added habitat modules and an escape vehicle, making the garage a space station in its own right. The reflective solar dynamic power units were under development at NASA Lewis (now NASA Glenn) at the time of the painting, but never made it into production.