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>you could capture a near-earth asteroid and just tunnel your space station into it, using the material inside the asteroid for construction material This is a

>you could capture a near-earth asteroid and just tunnel your space station into it, using the material inside the asteroid for construction material This is a cool idea. Maybe you could get the whole thing spinning and have really efficient gravity generation due to its mass.

deleted 7y ago
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fit2rule 7y ago
This had me thinking - are we looking for objects in space that should not be spinning, but are spinning? This'd at lest let us know there is life out there with the same problem, right? I really wonder if that's part of the checklist for 'an odd object in space which we should investigate further' ..
- m4rtink 7y ago
  Any artificial extrasolar objects that use spin for gravity would be far to small for current telescopes to resolve, not to mention detect their spin, if they are circular.
  - fit2rule 7y ago
    I'm guessing we've exhausted the search for such objects in our own solar system ..
    - m4rtink 7y ago
      Oh, right - tha's actually a good idea & one can measure rotation rates of asteroids: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fast_rotators_(minor_planets) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fast_rotators_(minor... BTW, the recently discovered extra-solar asteroid also had quite some rotation IIRC.
- kgilpin 7y ago
  I don’t think it would be too long before the aliens evolved away from the need to spin. There would be so many advantages to adapting to zero G.
m4rtink 7y ago
Scott Manley did a video about this - turns out this is pretty energy intensive (asteroids are heavy & you are spinning up the whole thing) & not doable at all for many asteroid types due to insufficient material strength of the asteroid. Therefore, internal centrifuges in an asteroid cavern or spinning stations made from metal and/or advanced materials (wheels up to ONeil Island 3 design) are a much better bet than spinning asteroids.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

fit2rule 7y ago

This had me thinking - are we looking for objects in space that should not be spinning, but are spinning? This'd at lest let us know there is life out there with the same problem, right? I really wonder if that's part of the checklist for 'an odd object in space which we should investigate further' ..

m4rtink 7y ago
Any artificial extrasolar objects that use spin for gravity would be far to small for current telescopes to resolve, not to mention detect their spin, if they are circular.
- fit2rule 7y ago
  I'm guessing we've exhausted the search for such objects in our own solar system ..
  - m4rtink 7y ago
    Oh, right - tha's actually a good idea & one can measure rotation rates of asteroids: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fast_rotators_(minor_planets) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fast_rotators_(minor... BTW, the recently discovered extra-solar asteroid also had quite some rotation IIRC.
kgilpin 7y ago
I don’t think it would be too long before the aliens evolved away from the need to spin. There would be so many advantages to adapting to zero G.

m4rtink 7y ago

Scott Manley did a video about this - turns out this is pretty energy intensive (asteroids are heavy & you are spinning up the whole thing) & not doable at all for many asteroid types due to insufficient material strength of the asteroid. Therefore, internal centrifuges in an asteroid cavern or spinning stations made from metal and/or advanced materials (wheels up to ONeil Island 3 design) are a much better bet than spinning asteroids.