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If we're going to make it to another planet that far away, we're going to either need to put our astronauts in some type of suspended state or be able to give b
by hanniabu 11y ago
If we're going to make it to another planet that far away, we're going to either need to put our astronauts in some type of suspended state or be able to give birth and raise children on ships.
I wonder what the effects would be of a child forming in a womb, being born, and growing up in zero gravity conditions.
- SEJeff 11y agoVery very early onset osteoporosis when they come back to somewhere with gravity?
- prodmerc 11y agoGrowing up in zero G? I'm afraid the problems would be substantial. Not being able to walk, improperly formed skeleton and organs, extremely weak immune system, and I'm guessing much more...
- sokoloff 11y agoWhat's the zero-G impact on the immune system? (genuine question)
- SEJeff 11y agoIn short, it wrecks it: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/T_Cell http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/T_Ce... http://www.nasa.gov/content/study-reveals-immune-system-is-dazed-and-confused-during-spaceflight-u http://www.nasa.gov/content/study-reveals-immune-system-is-d... http://www.space.com/4302-stresses-immune-organs.html http://www.space.com/4302-stresses-immune-organs.html
- Turbots 11y agoRotate the ship fast enough to mimic 1G gravity... Solved!
- s_q_b 11y agoBuild a 1g spinning section, if that's what's needed for a generational ship. Such "slowboats" are going to need to be: 1. Incredibly expensive. 2. Massive beyond the scale of anything ever assembled in orbit. 3. Big enough to carry a self-sustaining colony, above minimum population size for genetic issues. So, newborns in zero-g, not necessarily needed, if we're really going to the stars the old fashioned way.
- siquick 11y agoIs #2 because we don't have rockets powerful enough to launch these ships into space?
- s_q_b 11y agoWell, really all three are due to insufficient launch capbility. We'll have to assemble the colony ship in orbit. Really, we need to build the Orion nuclear pulse ship for heavy lift and intra-stellar transport. Without a reworking of modern physics, the Alcubierre Drive for example, transport is going to take a loooong time. Even if we didn't need a backup planet, this is the next phase is human exploration. It's inherently part of human nature to expand our prescense.
- perilunar 11y agoThe won't be launched from earth or assembled in orbit from parts launched from earth - they'll be built from materials mined from asteroids
- Retric 11y ago