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The big obstacle for spinning artificial gravity is that it won't really work on a small spacestation. It has been not tried because we never had the option of

The big obstacle for spinning artificial gravity is that it won't really work on a small spacestation. It has been not tried because we never had the option of a so large station where it would make sense to try - I'm not saying that it's not hard, however, the fact that we haven't attempted it is not evidence that it's hard, it's fully explained by the needs and restrictions of our size-limited spacestations like ISS for which each module is limited to a 4.5 meter tube because of launch vehicle limitations. Another reason why it's not done is because one of the reasons why we have a space station is to do microgravity experiments, and having artificial gravity only hurts that.

phreeza 5y ago
Not really, you can do it with a cable tether and a counterweight. I think Zubrins Mars Direct called for such a setup.
- BrianOnHN 5y ago
  Counterweight might be good use for excess in the meteor capture & exploit industry.
nickff 5y ago
There was a plan to have a 'spinning module' on the ISS, but NASA cancelled it. NASA has never really supported artificial gravity, likely because none of the NASA Centers is really focused on it.
- qayxc 5y ago
  > likely because none of the NASA Centers is really focused on it. That's what I thought until I started looking into it. The module has actually been built (several versions in fact), but never completed and launched. It turned out during tests and simulations that the station's structural integrity was at risk and so it was decided not to attach a centrifuge to it. Whether these concerns were warranted I cannot say, but engineers at NASA deemed it too risky to try.
iampivot 5y ago
I'm wondering if aiming for less than 1G of artificial gravity would be sufficient to counter the ill effects of zero gravity environments? If you could opt for, say 0.3g, then the required speed would be greatly reduced.

phreeza 5y ago

Not really, you can do it with a cable tether and a counterweight. I think Zubrins Mars Direct called for such a setup.

BrianOnHN 5y ago
Counterweight might be good use for excess in the meteor capture & exploit industry.

nickff 5y ago

There was a plan to have a 'spinning module' on the ISS, but NASA cancelled it. NASA has never really supported artificial gravity, likely because none of the NASA Centers is really focused on it.

qayxc 5y ago
> likely because none of the NASA Centers is really focused on it. That's what I thought until I started looking into it. The module has actually been built (several versions in fact), but never completed and launched. It turned out during tests and simulations that the station's structural integrity was at risk and so it was decided not to attach a centrifuge to it. Whether these concerns were warranted I cannot say, but engineers at NASA deemed it too risky to try.

iampivot 5y ago

I'm wondering if aiming for less than 1G of artificial gravity would be sufficient to counter the ill effects of zero gravity environments? If you could opt for, say 0.3g, then the required speed would be greatly reduced.