--- title: An Early History Of Space Stations: The Brick Moon Made Real description: A historical survey traces the rotating-wheel space station concept from Edward Everett Hale's 1869 fiction The Brick Moon through Tsiolkovsky, Oberth, and... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/an-early-history-of-space-stations-the-brick-moon-made-real-dunsqo2om twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: An Early History Of Space Stations: The Brick Moon Made Real | daily.dev og:description: A historical survey traces the rotating-wheel space station concept from Edward Everett Hale's 1869 fiction The Brick Moon through Tsiolkovsky, Oberth, and... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/an-early-history-of-space-stations-the-brick-moon-made-real-dunsqo2om og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/DUnsqO2Om.png og:image:alt: An Early History Of Space Stations: The Brick Moon Made Real og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # An Early History Of Space Stations: The Brick Moon Made Real **[Hackaday](https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday)** · 7 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A historical survey traces the rotating-wheel space station concept from Edward Everett Hale's 1869 fiction The Brick Moon through Tsiolkovsky, Oberth, and Hermann Noordung's 1929 Wohnrad design, to Wernher von Braun's famous 1952 Collier's wheel station and Disney television specials. It explains the physics behind spin gravity, including the formula a=ω²r, RPM-to-diameter tradeoffs, Coriolis effects limiting practical rotation speed, and why the outer rim rather than the sidewall serves as the floor, noting Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey got this detail right while many other films get it wrong. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How big does a rotating space station need to be to simulate one Earth gravity? The required diameter depends on rotation speed, following the formula a=ω²r. At 1 RPM, the ring needs to be about 1.79 km in diameter to produce one Earth gravity at the rim. At 2 RPM, only 447 meters is needed, and at 4 RPM just 112 meters, though faster rotation increases disorienting Coriolis effects on occupants. _Engineers weighing spin rate against structural cost can find more design tradeoffs like this on daily.dev._ ### Why do Coriolis effects limit how fast a rotating space station can spin for artificial gravity? Higher rotation rates make Coriolis effects increasingly noticeable to the human inner ear, causing disorientation when moving your head, climbing toward the hub, or walking against the spin direction. NASA artificial-gravity studies have often treated roughly four RPM as a practical tolerance threshold for humans, though this is not a hard physical limit and can improve with training. _daily.dev surfaces engineering deep dives for readers curious about the physics behind spacecraft design._ ### Who designed the first detailed technical design for a rotating wheel space station? Herman Potočnik, an Austro-Hungarian army officer writing under the pen name Hermann Noordung, published Das Problem der Befahrung des Weltraums in 1929, describing a rotating habitation wheel called the Wohnrad connected to a central hub. NASA has called it one of the first detailed technical space station designs, and it strongly influenced Wernher von Braun's 1952 Collier's magazine wheel station concept. _History-minded engineers tracking the origins of today's spacecraft concepts can follow more on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [An Early History Of Space Stations: Where’s My Wheel?](https://daily.dev/posts/an-early-history-of-space-stations-where-s-my-wheel--dzjwwsc5t) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Book Review: How to Build a Space Station by Jonathan Morrison](https://daily.dev/posts/book-review-how-to-build-a-space-station-by-jonathan-morrison-yrajuai1t) · Terence Eden · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [25 years of research in space](https://daily.dev/posts/25-years-of-research-in-space-bsxkjcgrg) · MIT Technology Review · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Managers on alert for “launch fever” as pressure builds for NASA’s Moon mission](https://daily.dev/posts/managers-on-alert-for-launch-fever-as-pressure-builds-for-nasa-s-moon-mission-ya9f970t6) · Ars Technica · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/an-early-history-of-space-stations-the-brick-moon-made-real-dunsqo2om) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"An Early History Of Space Stations: The Brick Moon Made Real","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/an-early-history-of-space-stations-the-brick-moon-made-real-dunsqo2om","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/an-early-history-of-space-stations-the-brick-moon-made-real-dunsqo2om"},"datePublished":"2026-08-20T14:13:19.489Z","dateModified":"2026-08-20T14:16:02.881Z","description":"A historical survey traces the rotating-wheel space station concept from Edward Everett Hale's 1869 fiction The Brick Moon through Tsiolkovsky, Oberth, and...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/f023ed28fb95f49d655c37a4819a1a4a?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/f023ed28fb95f49d655c37a4819a1a4a?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Hackaday","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Hackaday","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--JhDfhy70--/f_auto,q_auto/v1767541814/logos/hackaday","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/an-early-history-of-space-stations-the-brick-moon-made-real-dunsqo2om","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"","timeRequired":"PT7M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hackaday","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"An Early History Of Space Stations: The Brick Moon Made Real"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/an-early-history-of-space-stations-the-brick-moon-made-real-dunsqo2om#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How big does a rotating space station need to be to simulate one Earth gravity?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The required diameter depends on rotation speed, following the formula a=ω²r. At 1 RPM, the ring needs to be about 1.79 km in diameter to produce one Earth gravity at the rim. At 2 RPM, only 447 meters is needed, and at 4 RPM just 112 meters, though faster rotation increases disorienting Coriolis effects on occupants. Engineers weighing spin rate against structural cost can find more design tradeoffs like this on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Why do Coriolis effects limit how fast a rotating space station can spin for artificial gravity?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Higher rotation rates make Coriolis effects increasingly noticeable to the human inner ear, causing disorientation when moving your head, climbing toward the hub, or walking against the spin direction. NASA artificial-gravity studies have often treated roughly four RPM as a practical tolerance threshold for humans, though this is not a hard physical limit and can improve with training. daily.dev surfaces engineering deep dives for readers curious about the physics behind spacecraft design."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Who designed the first detailed technical design for a rotating wheel space station?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Herman Potočnik, an Austro-Hungarian army officer writing under the pen name Hermann Noordung, published Das Problem der Befahrung des Weltraums in 1929, describing a rotating habitation wheel called the Wohnrad connected to a central hub. NASA has called it one of the first detailed technical space station designs, and it strongly influenced Wernher von Braun's 1952 Collier's magazine wheel station concept. History-minded engineers tracking the origins of today's spacecraft concepts can follow more on daily.dev."}}]} ```