Artificial gravity (sometimes referred to as pseudogravity) is the creation of an inertial force that mimics the effects of a gravitational force, usually by rotation.
Artificial gravity, or rotational gravity, is thus the appearance of a centrifugal force in a rotating frame of reference (the transmission of centripetal acceleration via normal force in the non-rotating frame of reference), as opposed to the force experienced in linear acceleration, which by the equivalence principle is indistinguishable from gravity.
In a more general sense, "artificial gravity" may also refer to the effect of linear acceleration, e.g. by means of a rocket engine.Rotational simulated gravity has been used in simulations to help astronauts train for extreme conditions.
Rotational simulated gravity has been proposed as a solution in human spaceflight to the adverse health effects caused by prolonged weightlessness.
However, there are no current practical outer space applications of artificial gravity for humans due to concerns about the size and cost of a spacecraft necessary to produce a useful centripetal force comparable to the gravitational field strength on Earth (g).
Scientists are concerned about the effect of such a system on the inner ear of the occupants. The concern is that using centripetal force to create artificial gravity will cause disturbances in the inner ear leading to nausea and disorientation. The adverse effects may prove intolerable for the occupants.
For all the attention we‘ve paid to ring habitats, we haven’t talked that much about the interior design of the central trunk yet, around which the rings rotate.
Just having one big hollow ship trunk, about 100 metre in diameter, would be a lot of wasted space. It would also be too easy for...
It's one of those staples of sci-fi. Unless you're going for a hard sci-fi that uses rotation or linear acceleration to achieve simulated gravity, your starship will likely use "gravity plating". As we all know, gravity plating is just a plot device, usually for shows with more limited budgets...
Hi! I'm curious what your take on this is. I'm taking an introduction to U.S. Government course and my professor was discussing the inefficiencies of the public sector; the discussion on politics isn't relevant here but he did make an interesting point about space travel. He argued that the...
Consider a hollow sphere roughly the size of the moon, spun up to produce 1g of centripetal acceleration along a band at its equator (about 15000 kph)
Big stuff, I know.
I have a few questions about the implication of such a system, and I hope someone can help me find some answers!
- How tall...
If a space station has artificial gravity created by spinning, how can it best be spun up to speed? Little attitude rockets could do it, but they would use up fuel, and limit your ability to change the spin rate in future. What if you had an external wheel that you spin up very fast in the...
Would a spinning space station as depicted below that use centrifugal force to create artificial gravity actually work? I'm thinking that it would not, this is because the centrifugal force would not affect an astronaut inside unless he was actually fastened mechanically to the hub. The fact...
Dear Experts,
I believe that we use the concept of Pseudo Forces, to analyze mechanics within an accelerating frame of reference. Pseudo force seems to be a 'correction' in acceleration provided to all the points that are not riveted to the accelerating frame of reference. And centrifugal force...