Science Art: Noordung’s Space Station Habitat Wheel, 1929

30 November 2025 grant Featured, Science Art 0

Scientific illustration of a space station from before rockets entered space, a white disk trailing cables like Lovecraftian tentacles, surrounding the reflective petals of a concave, segmented solar mirror.
1929 Hermann Noordung depiction of a space station habitat wheel. Hermann Potocnik (1892-1929), also known as Herman Noordung, created the first detailed technical drawings of a space station. Power was generated by collecting sunlight through the concave mirror in the center. This was one of three components of Noordung's space station. The other two were the observatory and the machine room, each connected to the habitat by an umbilical. NASA Identifier: GPN-2003-00101
Scientific illustration of a space station from before rockets entered space, a white disk trailing cables like Lovecraftian tentacles, surrounding the reflective petals of a concave, segmented solar mirror.

Here’s a space station from before the first rocket left Earth’s atmosphere.

The description from DVIDS (Defense Visual Information Distribution Service) Hub, where I found the image, reads:

Hermann Potocnik (1892-1929), also known as Herman Noordung, created the first detailed technical drawings of a space station. Power was generated by collecting sunlight through the concave mirror in the center. This was one of three components of Noordung’s space station. The other two were the observatory and the machine room, each connected to the habitat by an umbilical.

NASA Identifier: GPN-2003-00101