Subject:
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Re: Wings [was: Re: Building big]
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.space, lugnet.loc.au
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Date:
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Thu, 21 Jun 2001 20:33:27 GMT
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Viewed:
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7567 times
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"Jesse Alan Long" <joyous4god2@yahoo.com> writes:
> In lugnet.space, William R. Ward writes:
> > That may be true, but I don't think anyone knows for sure, because we
> > haven't tried going that fast yet. My spacecraft follow a very "hard
> > SF" policy - no FTL travel, no artificial gravity, etc. But that's
> > not to say that it's the only way...
>
> There has existed artificial gravity for years in the space programs, most
> notably our space program, all over the world. These same companies are
> working with contractors to develop newer types of engines such as an ion
> propulsion system for the future replacements of the space shuttle, of which
> some people may say that they may be in production and used in outer space
> as early as the year 2003.
The only form of "artificial gravity" that is currently possible is to
use a centrifuge structure to simulate gravity. If you've seen the
film "2001: A Space Odyssey" you will remember the doughnut-shaped
room where the men worked and excercised - the rotation of that room
caused a simulated gravitational pull outwards from the center of the
ship using centripetal force. Another design involves pods which
rotate around a central axis.
In Star Trek, Star Wars, and other TV and movie depictions of
spacecraft, the people are always walking around on flat surfaces,
just as if they were on Earth. This is of course because zero-gravity
is very difficult to simulate for the purposes of filming the show.
So they make up a technology of "artifical gravity" which is part of
the story, that the Enterprise or Millennium Falcon, or whatever, has
"gravity generators" that pull people towards the "floor". However,
this is a gross violation of the laws of physics. In a real space
ship like the Shuttle, there is no perceptible gravity and people just
float around. It makes things like eating, sleeping, and going to the
bathroom somewhat complicated as you might imagine...
The problem with zero-gravity is that human bodies don't handle it
well. Our bodies evolved with the need to constantly pump blood up to
your head, and your bones and muscles are built to constantly fight
the pull of gravity. In a zero-G environment, these body systems
weaken, and when you return to Earth after an extended stay, it
requires several weeks or even months of rehabilitation before you can
be accustomed to Earth gravity again. So on Mir and the ISS,
astronauts and cosmonauts need to exercise frequently to minimize this
effect. However, it doesn't seem to be possible to eliminate it with
current technology.
--Bill.
--
William R Ward bill@wards.net http://www.wards.net/~bill/
(formerly known as hermit@bayview.com)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Life is too important to take seriously.
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Wings [was: Re: Building big]
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| (...) Thank you, Bill, for telling me what the name of that technology was in my letter. There is a fatal flaw in your response, however, Bill. You seem to think that it is impossible to conduct this type of technology yet you already answered how (...) (23 years ago, 21-Jun-01, to lugnet.space, lugnet.loc.au)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Wings [was: Re: Building big]
|
| (...) There has existed artificial gravity for years in the space programs, most notably our space program, all over the world. These same companies are working with contractors to develop newer types of engines such as an ion propulsion system for (...) (23 years ago, 21-Jun-01, to lugnet.space, lugnet.loc.au)
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