3 ms·

Why did nobody do this yet? It would totally be a great prototype for stuff in orbit.

by amstan 2y ago

Cthulhu_ 2y ago
Closest thing I can think of is rotating houses / restaurants, but they go very slowly. It would have to be big enough to avoid people getting dizzy, and even then it would still be a factor I think. That said, size/scale is less of a concern on the moon I would argue.
- xnorswap 2y ago
  You inspired me to look up if there were many still going and I was saddened to discover there are no longer any operational ones left in the UK.
jstanley 2y ago
All parts would be spinning at the same angular velocity, so unless it's really far away from its centre of rotation (expensive, inconvenient) you'd experience more acceleration near the centre than at the edges. Maybe that doesn't matter.
- scotty79 2y ago
  One of the commenters here has the right idea. Train riding forever on circular slanted track could easily house some living spaces, offices and gyms. You could book a stay there for few weeks and after that feel like you are walking on air once you come back to normal life.
  - Nevermark 2y ago
    Circular dome colony over a very large rotating space, running on concentric rings of superconducting rails. Spokes of slidable inner-outer weights to counter balance its residence’s movements. Running on reliable constant nuclear power, from a safe distance. Maximum gravity at the tilted edges. Only natural gravity at the center. Enter & exit from a tunnel that connects under the center. Aside from the challenges of location & distance from Earth, if we can build small mobile cities on water (mega cruise lines) on the untamed ocean in Earth gravity, surely a small stationary spinning platter city in low gravity is possible. I think humans are going to find out that one g has many uses besides health. Good for a lot of manufacturing too. Gravity is a stabilizer, vertical organizer, anchor. Just as low gravity will have many advantages. Being able to quickly “adjust” gravity, by moving location, will be significant.
    - eru 2y ago
      > Being able to quickly “adjust” gravity, by moving location, will be significant. Who is doing the adjusting and the moving? I don't think you'd want to move anything large. You'd build eg your factory in the environment where it's best; and build a second factory in a different environment, instead of moving them around. However, if you eg making computer chips, you might move those around between different environments, depending on the processing step.
      - Nevermark 2y ago
        Yes, I meant move materials and parts between g-force specific equipment. If entire factories needed to "move" up and down in g-forces, they should be in their own variable spin bowls! Not sure what kind of factory that would be.
scoopr 2y ago
I just keep thinking about this short film[0] that explores the views you can see with rotational artificial gravity, and how nauseating it could be :) [0] https://vimeo.com/869858712 https://vimeo.com/869858712 also available as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiPmgW21rwY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiPmgW21rwY
- Nevermark 2y ago
  Just point the axis at the major body of interest, Earth, moon, Jupiter, etc., and it would slowly rotate in a stationary position, instead of spinning around you. Or align the axis with the major light source if that is different, like the sun for inner solar system locations, and at least the lighting won't keep moving around. Not much different from watching scenery go by in a vehicle then.

Why did nobody do this yet? It would totally be a great prototype for stuff in orbit.

by amstan 2y ago

Why did nobody do this yet? It would totally be a great prototype for stuff in orbit.

Closest thing I can think of is rotating houses / restaurants, but they go very slowly. It would have to be big enough to avoid people getting dizzy, and even then it would still be a factor I think. That said, size/scale is less of a concern on the moon I would argue.

xnorswap 2y ago
You inspired me to look up if there were many still going and I was saddened to discover there are no longer any operational ones left in the UK.

jstanley 2y ago

All parts would be spinning at the same angular velocity, so unless it's really far away from its centre of rotation (expensive, inconvenient) you'd experience more acceleration near the centre than at the edges. Maybe that doesn't matter.

scotty79 2y ago
One of the commenters here has the right idea. Train riding forever on circular slanted track could easily house some living spaces, offices and gyms. You could book a stay there for few weeks and after that feel like you are walking on air once you come back to normal life.
- Nevermark 2y ago
  Circular dome colony over a very large rotating space, running on concentric rings of superconducting rails. Spokes of slidable inner-outer weights to counter balance its residence’s movements. Running on reliable constant nuclear power, from a safe distance. Maximum gravity at the tilted edges. Only natural gravity at the center. Enter & exit from a tunnel that connects under the center. Aside from the challenges of location & distance from Earth, if we can build small mobile cities on water (mega cruise lines) on the untamed ocean in Earth gravity, surely a small stationary spinning platter city in low gravity is possible. I think humans are going to find out that one g has many uses besides health. Good for a lot of manufacturing too. Gravity is a stabilizer, vertical organizer, anchor. Just as low gravity will have many advantages. Being able to quickly “adjust” gravity, by moving location, will be significant.
  - eru 2y ago
    > Being able to quickly “adjust” gravity, by moving location, will be significant. Who is doing the adjusting and the moving? I don't think you'd want to move anything large. You'd build eg your factory in the environment where it's best; and build a second factory in a different environment, instead of moving them around. However, if you eg making computer chips, you might move those around between different environments, depending on the processing step.
    - Nevermark 2y ago
      Yes, I meant move materials and parts between g-force specific equipment. If entire factories needed to "move" up and down in g-forces, they should be in their own variable spin bowls! Not sure what kind of factory that would be.

scoopr 2y ago

I just keep thinking about this short film[0] that explores the views you can see with rotational artificial gravity, and how nauseating it could be :) [0] https://vimeo.com/869858712 https://vimeo.com/869858712 also available as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiPmgW21rwY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiPmgW21rwY

Nevermark 2y ago
Just point the axis at the major body of interest, Earth, moon, Jupiter, etc., and it would slowly rotate in a stationary position, instead of spinning around you. Or align the axis with the major light source if that is different, like the sun for inner solar system locations, and at least the lighting won't keep moving around. Not much different from watching scenery go by in a vehicle then.