The discussion revolves around the concept of artificial gravity in spaceships, particularly through the use of rotation. Participants explore the implications of rotating habitats, the challenges of maneuvering, and the effects of Coriolis forces. The scope includes theoretical considerations, design challenges, and speculative ideas for science fiction applications.
Participants express a range of views on the feasibility and implications of various designs for artificial gravity. No consensus is reached on the best approach, and several competing ideas remain unresolved.
Participants highlight limitations such as the need for airtight joints for rotating components and the potential for motion sickness due to gravity variations in rotating systems. The discussion also reflects a lack of existing practical implementations of these concepts.
This discussion may be of interest to those involved in aerospace engineering, science fiction writing, or anyone curious about the challenges of creating artificial gravity in space travel.
It's likely that physiological effects vary with g (maybe even proportionally), but there are many practical reasons why partial g might be of value. Just the part about everything not physically attached to a wall floating away is a big issue.trainman2001 said:It doesn’t have to be 1g, does it? How much below 1g would humans still be able to retain normal biological functions and musculoskeletal integrity. It would be considerably less energy to accelerate at 1/3 g than 1g, or to spin a habitat to that level. It all depends on what we need to thrive over the long haul. Living on Mars or Moon at their reduced gravities would tell us a lot.
Variable gee would be useful for outbound and homebound voyages from Mars where the acclimation could be done gradually and naturally each way.russ_watters said:It's likely that physiological effects vary with g (maybe even proportionally), but there are many practical reasons why partial g might be of value. Just the part about everything not physically attached to a wall floating away is a big issue.