3 ms·

I really wish we'd invest in developing a centrifugal alternative to gravity in space. It's good to know how the human body is affected by weightlessness but wh

• nine_k 9y ago
  The problem with a torus-form habitat is that it fits poorly onto a typical rocket. You can only fit a (long) tube onto a rocket. This means that a non-trivial building effort is required in space, as opposed to just attaching more cylinders together, ISS-style. Inflated structures have some promise here, but you probably also need something more solid to attach life-critical systems to, and something thicker to serve as a radiation shield, even while below the Van Allen belt. This is of course doable, but it's a new, untried territory, which means expensive R&D and even more expensive orbital operations. Without a pressing need to keep humans in space for years, it's unlikely to be undertaken. It's cheaper to build more efficient shuttle craft for space stations, and e.g. more efficient engines for a rocket to Mars, to cut the trip time.
  • stcredzero 9y ago
    The problem with a torus-form habitat is that it fits poorly onto a typical rocket. You can only fit a (long) tube onto a rocket. No, but a cable fits nicely into a rocket. Dividing up the ship into two pods would get you a nice long radius to minimize Coriolis effects. If one pod contains a nuclear reactor, for which you need separation from the crew compartment, then it's quite convenient.
• compsciphd 9y ago
  they did, then they cancelled it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrifuge_Accommodations_Module https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrifuge_Accommodations_Modu...