If you’re of a bookish bent and also of a certain age that starts with a “3,” you may well have gone through a phase in your childhood when you devoured every book in the local library on space/space travel/”the future” in general. If so, you may also emit a squeal of delight at these wonderful ’70s-era illustrations of space colonies, which we spotted at Visual News. The illustrations were commissioned by NASA as concept art of what future space colonies might look like, but to be honest, they look like they walked straight out of 50 Facts About Space or something similar. They’re not just a nostalgic pleasure for former (or current) sci-fi nerds, either — they’re a pretty fascinating insight into a romantic era when space really was viewed as the final frontier, as opposed to a whacking great drain on the federal budget. Sigh. Click through to check out a selection of our favorites.

Photo credit: NASA Ames Research Center

Photo credit: NASA Ames Research Center

Photo credit: NASA Ames Research Center

Photo credit: NASA Ames Research Center

Photo credit: NASA Ames Research Center

Photo credit: NASA Ames Research Center

Photo credit: NASA Ames Research Center

Photo credit: NASA Ames Research Center

Photo credit: NASA Ames Research Center

Photo credit: NASA Ames Research Center