{"id":1650,"date":"2026-05-22T23:47:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T04:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/intrasolstories.com\/staging\/2297\/?p=1650"},"modified":"2026-05-22T23:48:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T04:48:21","slug":"1650-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intrasolstories.com\/staging\/2297\/1650-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Class C Space Station Design"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"nfd-container nfd-text-md nfd-wb-text__text-1 wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"nfd-max-w-prose wp-block-group is-vertical is-content-justification-left is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-c4dc4a55 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<h2 class=\"nfd-text-xl nfd-text-balance wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:600\">Space Station Design<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap wp-block-paragraph\">Here is some of the data for my Class C space station, the class of IA-6. While my default design allows for up to 25 wheels (1 km long cylinders), IA-6 (aka Fomalhaut) has only 18 wheels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Classs C (Standard Wheel 3.7 km diameter) <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"389\" height=\"84\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/intrasolstories.com\/staging\/2297\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Class-C-2026-05-23-003143-1.jpg?fit=389%2C84&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1652\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/intrasolstories.com\/staging\/2297\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Class-C-2026-05-23-003143-1.jpg?w=389&amp;ssl=1 389w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/intrasolstories.com\/staging\/2297\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Class-C-2026-05-23-003143-1.jpg?resize=300%2C65&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 389px) 100vw, 389px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"539\" height=\"322\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/intrasolstories.com\/staging\/2297\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Borg-Wheel-Back.webp?resize=539%2C322&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-841\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/intrasolstories.com\/staging\/2297\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Borg-Wheel-Back.webp?w=539&amp;ssl=1 539w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/intrasolstories.com\/staging\/2297\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Borg-Wheel-Back.webp?resize=300%2C179&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 539px) 100vw, 539px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Space Station Design Here is some of the data for my Class C space station, the class of IA-6. While my default design allows for up to 25 wheels (1 km long cylinders), IA-6 (aka Fomalhaut) has only 18 wheels. Classs C (Standard Wheel 3.7 km diameter) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6.1 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Class C Space Station Design - Intra-Sol Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/intrasolstories.com\/staging\/2297\/1650-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Class C Space Station Design - Intra-Sol Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Space Station Design Here is some of the data for my Class C space station, the class of IA-6. While my default design allows for up to 25 wheels (1 km long cylinders), IA-6 (aka Fomalhaut) has only 18 wheels. Classs C (Standard Wheel 3.7 km diameter) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/intrasolstories.com\/staging\/2297\/1650-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Intra-Sol Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-23T04:47:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-23T04:48:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/intrasolstories.com\/staging\/2297\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Class-C-2026-05-23-003143-1.jpg?fit=389%2C84&amp;ssl=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Weber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Weber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/intrasolstories.com\\\/staging\\\/2297\\\/1650-2\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/intrasolstories.com\\\/staging\\\/2297\\\/1650-2\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mark Weber\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/intrasolstories.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/81b86d69f4931749a8ca4777613c3cf6\"},\"headline\":\"Class C Space Station Design\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-23T04:47:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-23T04:48:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/intrasolstories.com\\\/staging\\\/2297\\\/1650-2\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":48,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/intrasolstories.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/intrasolstories.com\\\/staging\\\/2297\\\/1650-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/intrasolstories.com\\\/staging\\\/2297\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/Class-C-2026-05-23-003143-1.jpg?fit=389%2C84&amp;ssl=1\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/intrasolstories.com\\\/staging\\\/2297\\\/1650-2\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/intrasolstories.com\\\/staging\\\/2297\\\/1650-2\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/intrasolstories.com\\\/staging\\\/2297\\\/1650-2\\\/\",\"name\":\"Class C Space Station Design - 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Life got in the way, but the stories in my head never stopped coming, and now I have carved out time to write some of them down. I like to combine a little reality with a little magic in my work. I provide the perspective that magic is just science we don\u2019t yet understand. I also address metaphysical questions like, \u201cWhat is a soul?\u201d and \u201cWhere do memories truly reside?\u201d For if memories persist beyond the physical body, we have immortality, which makes the non-physical universe our greatest mystery. My World Building My imagined future draws inspiration from the classic rotating-wheel space station design and Gerard K. O\u2019Neill\u2019s cylindrical space colonies, bringing us a miles-long, miles-wide, orbiting playground for my protagonist\u2019s story. Electric drive replaces contemporary expelled propellants, making trips between planets take not years, but days. The stars come within our reach, but failed colorizations push us back into the solar system. My main character is born amongst the stars and tells no one what he found there. In my stores, we see ourselves through his eyes. We also see how others see him through harsh, presumptuous judgments. My Background A farm boy from Nebraska, I always dreamed of something bigger, though now, reminiscing about growing up, I had a great childhood. I went to college on an ROTC scholarship and a lot of help from my parents, and graduated from the University of Idaho with a BS in Electrical Engineering. Later, I earned my MSEE from the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson AFB and a second Master's in Systems Engineering from Florida Institute of Technology. I served in the Air Force for thirteen years of active duty, then later as a Reservist, retiring as a Lt Col from CENTCOM, MacDill AFB. My entire military career was as an engineer or technical specialist in communications and satellite systems. My civilian career started at Harris Corp (now L3Harris), where I worked as a Systems Engineer for about four years. Later, I moved to Northrop Grumman, where I also worked as a Systems Engineer for twenty-six years before retiring. I was always in communications systems, either as a technical specialist or a project lead. I worked on Joint STARS, E-2, and multiple special access programs in Melbourne and other NGC locations. My family sacrificed a lot during my career because I was gone a lot, both in the Air Force and while at NGC. My wife was diagnosed with MS while I worked at Harris, and even with this disability, she managed to do most of the work raising our three kids. Our oldest, Priscilla, is a financial data analyst. Our son, Neil, is a software architect who travels the world while still managing to keep a job. Our youngest and her husband are Air Force Majors instructing at the Air Force Weapons School in air battle management (i.e., AWACS). All of them are very different and very successful. I retired from NGC in 2024, where my work focused on the design of advanced communication systems for aircraft and spacecraft. I don\u2019t miss the long hours and non-existent weekends, but the people and the work made it an amazing career.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/intrasolstories.com\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/intrasolstories.com\\\/staging\\\/2297\\\/author\\\/mark\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Class C Space Station Design - Intra-Sol Stories","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/intrasolstories.com\/staging\/2297\/1650-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Class C Space Station Design - Intra-Sol Stories","og_description":"Space Station Design Here is some of the data for my Class C space station, the class of IA-6. While my default design allows for up to 25 wheels (1 km long cylinders), IA-6 (aka Fomalhaut) has only 18 wheels. 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Life got in the way, but the stories in my head never stopped coming, and now I have carved out time to write some of them down. I like to combine a little reality with a little magic in my work. I provide the perspective that magic is just science we don\u2019t yet understand. I also address metaphysical questions like, \u201cWhat is a soul?\u201d and \u201cWhere do memories truly reside?\u201d For if memories persist beyond the physical body, we have immortality, which makes the non-physical universe our greatest mystery. My World Building My imagined future draws inspiration from the classic rotating-wheel space station design and Gerard K. O\u2019Neill\u2019s cylindrical space colonies, bringing us a miles-long, miles-wide, orbiting playground for my protagonist\u2019s story. Electric drive replaces contemporary expelled propellants, making trips between planets take not years, but days. The stars come within our reach, but failed colorizations push us back into the solar system. My main character is born amongst the stars and tells no one what he found there. In my stores, we see ourselves through his eyes. We also see how others see him through harsh, presumptuous judgments. My Background A farm boy from Nebraska, I always dreamed of something bigger, though now, reminiscing about growing up, I had a great childhood. I went to college on an ROTC scholarship and a lot of help from my parents, and graduated from the University of Idaho with a BS in Electrical Engineering. Later, I earned my MSEE from the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson AFB and a second Master's in Systems Engineering from Florida Institute of Technology. I served in the Air Force for thirteen years of active duty, then later as a Reservist, retiring as a Lt Col from CENTCOM, MacDill AFB. My entire military career was as an engineer or technical specialist in communications and satellite systems. My civilian career started at Harris Corp (now L3Harris), where I worked as a Systems Engineer for about four years. Later, I moved to Northrop Grumman, where I also worked as a Systems Engineer for twenty-six years before retiring. I was always in communications systems, either as a technical specialist or a project lead. I worked on Joint STARS, E-2, and multiple special access programs in Melbourne and other NGC locations. My family sacrificed a lot during my career because I was gone a lot, both in the Air Force and while at NGC. My wife was diagnosed with MS while I worked at Harris, and even with this disability, she managed to do most of the work raising our three kids. Our oldest, Priscilla, is a financial data analyst. Our son, Neil, is a software architect who travels the world while still managing to keep a job. Our youngest and her husband are Air Force Majors instructing at the Air Force Weapons School in air battle management (i.e., AWACS). All of them are very different and very successful. I retired from NGC in 2024, where my work focused on the design of advanced communication systems for aircraft and spacecraft. I don\u2019t miss the long hours and non-existent weekends, but the people and the work made it an amazing career.","sameAs":["https:\/\/intrasolstories.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/intrasolstories.com\/staging\/2297\/author\/mark\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intrasolstories.com\/staging\/2297\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intrasolstories.com\/staging\/2297\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intrasolstories.com\/staging\/2297\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intrasolstories.com\/staging\/2297\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intrasolstories.com\/staging\/2297\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1650"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/intrasolstories.com\/staging\/2297\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1654,"href":"https:\/\/intrasolstories.com\/staging\/2297\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1650\/revisions\/1654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intrasolstories.com\/staging\/2297\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intrasolstories.com\/staging\/2297\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intrasolstories.com\/staging\/2297\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}