5 ms·
We really, really need more data on the responses of living creates to 1/8g. We've got all the 1g data. We've got a considerable amount of 0g data from ISS ex
by Symmetry 8y ago
We really, really need more data on the responses of living creates to 1/8g. We've got all the 1g data. We've got a considerable amount of 0g data from ISS experiments. But we just don't know how living creatures respond to lunar or martian gravity. And knowing that will be very important for future colonization efforts.
- cookingrobot 8y agoCouldn’t we get that from a spinning satellite closer to earth?
- mrtksn 8y agoNo, the satellites stay in orbit only because the net G they experience is 0.
- i_am_proteus 8y agoI believe the parent was referring to pseudogravity via rotation ('centrifugal force')-- hence the reference to a spinning satellite.
- mrtksn 8y agoAnd how this related to the proximity to the Earth? I think the OP meant being close to the Earth would result in a gravity due to the proximity.
- isostatic 8y agoI read it as being cheaper to get experiments there (1kg to LEO is cheaper than 1kg to soft land on the moon)
- mrtksn 8y agoIf that's the correct meaning, then O.K. My bad.
- cookingrobot 8y agoYes, exactly what I meant. It seems a lot easier to get an experiment into orbit than onto the moon. If you connect two halves of the satellite with a long tether, you could reduce the coriolis effects, if that's really an issue.
- bdamm 8y agoThere are spinning experiments on the ISS.
- Filligree 8y agoSpin can indeed create (effective) gravity, but it differs due to the coriolis effect. We'd have two options: We can build a really big satellite, so as to minimize that effect -- or we could assume plants aren't sensitive to it, and hope for the best. Needless to say, most scientists aren't fans of the second option. Incidentally, long-term it would be possible to achieve 1g on the moon by way of a similarly huge centrifuge.
- mrfusion 8y agoAnother option is simply using a tether and a counterweight.
- A2017U1 8y agoI can't grasp the centrifuge option, won't there still be two forces? It'll be more like those carnival rides than artificial gravity. A dropped ball won't fall straight "down".
- Filligree 8y agoOn Moon? The compartments would have to be tilted relative to the centrifuge, such that down becomes properly down.