3 ms·
The other option (from the science fiction, anyway) would be to revolve part of the spacecraft enough to generate sufficient centripetal force to approximate gr
by douche 10y ago
The other option (from the science fiction, anyway) would be to revolve part of the spacecraft enough to generate sufficient centripetal force to approximate gravity. It's become almost a trope since 2001, but I'd imagine there are some significant engineering challenges to actually implement such a thing. How do you keep the drum rotating, without spinning the rest of the craft? How do you engineer bearings that can handle the force, while at the same time dealing with vacuum and extremes of temperature? There's a lot of moving parts, and moving parts wear, seize, and can fail catastrophically...
- jessaustin 10y agoIf the bearings prove difficult, just rotate the whole thing.
- unlikelymordant 10y agoYou can just spin the rest of the craft as well. No moving parts required.
- dredmorbius 10y agoThat increases mass and engineering considerations. Designing a satellite or space probe is (structurally) pretty simple: you need a central truss or platform which is going to be subjected to very little stress or torque. Pressurised compartments up the complexity a lot. Leaks are bad. Big, fast leaks are really bad. Even with out gravity, thermal gradients (sunlit side, dark side) present significant stress. Pressurised compartments under constant 1g strain are even more complex. You've got stresses and strains, mass, things get dropped and bumped inside, etc. Mass costs money. About $1k to $40k per kg in LEO, though the lower end of that's becoming more viable. Elon Musk and others would like to get down to $200 kg, though I find that unlikely.