To infinity and beyond

The Wife recently referred me to an interesting article in Der Spiegel on artistic renderings from the earlier years of NASA. They, and their 'retro charm' are definitely worth taking a look at.

While reading that article, I ran across a reference to another article and slide show on visions of space stations from the 1970s. (The article is here, click on the pictures to see the graphics, clicking 'weiter' or the photo itself takes you to the next one.) They are equally enjoyable, especially after image number 4.

Consider this one, which weirdly transports a particular brand of Disco-era suburban lifestyle into orbit. Ringworld was nothing like this...