4 ms·

This is endemic of the problems at NASA. The concept is likely sound, and the problem likely needs to be solved, but doing it in such a tiny and insignificant w

This is endemic of the problems at NASA. The concept is likely sound, and the problem likely needs to be solved, but doing it in such a tiny and insignificant way.....spin the spaceship, dont vacuum the space people.

thatguy0900 5y ago
Is the problems of nasa that they don't have an unlimited budget? Why make a experimental rotating artificial gravity spacecraft when a fancy sleeping bag will do the trick?
- Valgrim 5y ago
  We should experiment on rotating artificial gravity anyway, if only to expand our knowledge of space colonization: https://www.nasa.gov/careers/our-mission-and-values https://www.nasa.gov/careers/our-mission-and-values > Mission: Lead an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial and international partners to enable human expansion across the solar system and bring new knowledge and opportunities back to Earth. Support growth of the nation's economy in space and aeronautics, increase understanding of the universe and our place in it, work with industry to improve America's aerospace technologies and advance American leadership. But I agree that it should be a completely different mission than the International Space Station.
Out_of_Characte 5y ago
using centrifugal force would require a complete redesign and billions of dollars. Whereas the ISS space station is for a few people for a few months and mostly for research. sophisticated space stations would have to wait untill a turning point in profitability is reached. Space elevators are still in the realm of science fiction and are on the edge of theoretical feasability
- samwillis 5y ago
  Agree this is a sound solution for now however the the ISS is currently only approved for service until 2024 (this will clearly be extended) and plans need to be made for its replacement. With the (moderately) high probability that the SpaceX Star Ship will succeed and go into active service in the next few years the cost to orbit is going to drop significantly. There is an opitunity soon to rethink what a space station is. Realistically the internal area of a Star Ship could make a space station in the same vain as ISS, and would be “cheap”. But we could also feasibly construct a rotating station with the use of Star Ship. Space is about to undergo a transformative change in how people approach building in it.
  - Out_of_Characte 5y ago
    So far, most space endeavours are related to science in some way. which is problematic because there is little to no return on investment. also, everything we have and consume is on earth. I can't think of many products which are low in mass but extremely high in value and could benefit from the only properties of space we control right now; weightlessness and orbits. To me, cheaper rockets could only help building a future space elevator which would reduce costs significantly but we would still need something to do in space. So what do you think the first economic incentive will be to enrich society?
  - starlust2 5y ago
    Sierra, Axiom, and Blue Origin are all working on commercial successors to the ISS. Axiom's first modules will launch 2024ish and initially be connected to the ISS.
srdev 5y ago
Spinning the spaceship is a pretty hard problem. There's all sorts of constraints on how fast you can spin it for a given radius, and you have to spin it fast enough to be useful. The end result is that you're looking at a pretty huge spaceship that will take a lot of power to start spinning. Its not unreasonable to look at a smaller-scale solution given a world of limited budgets.
- samwillis 5y ago
  Scott Manley did a video looking at this, it’s a good and informative watch: https://youtu.be/nxeMoaxUpWk https://youtu.be/nxeMoaxUpWk The gist is that is actually doable at the same(ish) scale as the ISS. Bigger is better but we can do it at a radius as little at 40m.
frosted-flakes 5y ago
The whole point of the ISS is that it provides a stable zero-G environment for experiments. Spinning it would be counter-productive.
- dredmorbius 5y ago
  It's possible to spin on section and not another. Vibration would likely be an issue, but already is.
  - garaetjjte 5y ago
    How to walk from fixed to rotating section then?
    - dredmorbius 5y ago
      Via the hub. https://yewtu.be/watch?v=0iiXUeil5fQ https://yewtu.be/watch?v=0iiXUeil5fQ https://yewtu.be/watch?v=nxeMoaxUpWk&t=11m6s https://yewtu.be/watch?v=nxeMoaxUpWk&t=11m6s
jimkleiber 5y ago
How would one dock with a rapidly spinning spaceship?
- whoisburbansky 5y ago
  One would dock to the axis of rotation, I would think, spinning up your spaceship to match station spin?
  - jimkleiber 5y ago
    Ah, from my layman's perspective that seems to makes sense. A spinning top has an axis that doesn't move, so dock there, but if the people are to enter, the docking ship needs to spin at the same speed or they'll feel the difference immediately. Thank you!
- HPsquared 5y ago
  The docking port would need to be coaxial with the axis of rotation.
- nofunphil 5y ago
  a docking station at the central point that the ship rotates around
- T-A 5y ago
  Elegantly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZoSYsNADtY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZoSYsNADtY or heroically: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3lcGnMhvsA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3lcGnMhvsA
elihu 5y ago
Spinning the ISS to achieve artificial gravity would be possible if the ISS had been designed for that from the beginning, but as far as I know it wasn't, so they'd have to either replace the whole thing or construct an addition that spins. I'd like to see ISS greatly expanded now that access to space is getting cheaper, but given the constraints, designing vacuum sleeping bags is reasonable. (Also, expanding our range of techniques to limit the adverse effects of zero-G is useful in the long run. Ideally we won't have many people who need to be in zero-G for extended periods of time even if travelling to space becomes routine, but still the knowledge is good to have just in case.)

thatguy0900 5y ago

Is the problems of nasa that they don't have an unlimited budget? Why make a experimental rotating artificial gravity spacecraft when a fancy sleeping bag will do the trick?

Valgrim 5y ago
We should experiment on rotating artificial gravity anyway, if only to expand our knowledge of space colonization: https://www.nasa.gov/careers/our-mission-and-values https://www.nasa.gov/careers/our-mission-and-values > Mission: Lead an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial and international partners to enable human expansion across the solar system and bring new knowledge and opportunities back to Earth. Support growth of the nation's economy in space and aeronautics, increase understanding of the universe and our place in it, work with industry to improve America's aerospace technologies and advance American leadership. But I agree that it should be a completely different mission than the International Space Station.

Out_of_Characte 5y ago

using centrifugal force would require a complete redesign and billions of dollars. Whereas the ISS space station is for a few people for a few months and mostly for research. sophisticated space stations would have to wait untill a turning point in profitability is reached. Space elevators are still in the realm of science fiction and are on the edge of theoretical feasability

samwillis 5y ago
Agree this is a sound solution for now however the the ISS is currently only approved for service until 2024 (this will clearly be extended) and plans need to be made for its replacement. With the (moderately) high probability that the SpaceX Star Ship will succeed and go into active service in the next few years the cost to orbit is going to drop significantly. There is an opitunity soon to rethink what a space station is. Realistically the internal area of a Star Ship could make a space station in the same vain as ISS, and would be “cheap”. But we could also feasibly construct a rotating station with the use of Star Ship. Space is about to undergo a transformative change in how people approach building in it.
- Out_of_Characte 5y ago
  So far, most space endeavours are related to science in some way. which is problematic because there is little to no return on investment. also, everything we have and consume is on earth. I can't think of many products which are low in mass but extremely high in value and could benefit from the only properties of space we control right now; weightlessness and orbits. To me, cheaper rockets could only help building a future space elevator which would reduce costs significantly but we would still need something to do in space. So what do you think the first economic incentive will be to enrich society?
- starlust2 5y ago
  Sierra, Axiom, and Blue Origin are all working on commercial successors to the ISS. Axiom's first modules will launch 2024ish and initially be connected to the ISS.

srdev 5y ago

Spinning the spaceship is a pretty hard problem. There's all sorts of constraints on how fast you can spin it for a given radius, and you have to spin it fast enough to be useful. The end result is that you're looking at a pretty huge spaceship that will take a lot of power to start spinning. Its not unreasonable to look at a smaller-scale solution given a world of limited budgets.

samwillis 5y ago
Scott Manley did a video looking at this, it’s a good and informative watch: https://youtu.be/nxeMoaxUpWk https://youtu.be/nxeMoaxUpWk The gist is that is actually doable at the same(ish) scale as the ISS. Bigger is better but we can do it at a radius as little at 40m.

frosted-flakes 5y ago

The whole point of the ISS is that it provides a stable zero-G environment for experiments. Spinning it would be counter-productive.

dredmorbius 5y ago
It's possible to spin on section and not another. Vibration would likely be an issue, but already is.
- garaetjjte 5y ago
  How to walk from fixed to rotating section then?
  - dredmorbius 5y ago
    Via the hub. https://yewtu.be/watch?v=0iiXUeil5fQ https://yewtu.be/watch?v=0iiXUeil5fQ https://yewtu.be/watch?v=nxeMoaxUpWk&t=11m6s https://yewtu.be/watch?v=nxeMoaxUpWk&t=11m6s

jimkleiber 5y ago

How would one dock with a rapidly spinning spaceship?

whoisburbansky 5y ago
One would dock to the axis of rotation, I would think, spinning up your spaceship to match station spin?
- jimkleiber 5y ago
  Ah, from my layman's perspective that seems to makes sense. A spinning top has an axis that doesn't move, so dock there, but if the people are to enter, the docking ship needs to spin at the same speed or they'll feel the difference immediately. Thank you!
HPsquared 5y ago
The docking port would need to be coaxial with the axis of rotation.
nofunphil 5y ago
a docking station at the central point that the ship rotates around
T-A 5y ago
Elegantly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZoSYsNADtY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZoSYsNADtY or heroically: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3lcGnMhvsA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3lcGnMhvsA

elihu 5y ago

Spinning the ISS to achieve artificial gravity would be possible if the ISS had been designed for that from the beginning, but as far as I know it wasn't, so they'd have to either replace the whole thing or construct an addition that spins. I'd like to see ISS greatly expanded now that access to space is getting cheaper, but given the constraints, designing vacuum sleeping bags is reasonable. (Also, expanding our range of techniques to limit the adverse effects of zero-G is useful in the long run. Ideally we won't have many people who need to be in zero-G for extended periods of time even if travelling to space becomes routine, but still the knowledge is good to have just in case.)