Quote:
Starhawk said:
Question 2:
Okay so we all see on Star Trek and Bab 5 and yadda yadda that Artificial gravity is the ultimate sign of the advanced uber race well I have a question regarding this.
As we have seen in such things as Babylon 5 Earth Alliance and Nexus: The Jupiter Incident rotating sections is the poor mans way of getting gravity on a starship, so my question is this why if it is as simple as a rotating section does the US not crank out space ships with rotating sections?
|
First, artificial gravity is only really useful for manned spacecraft, and the most important reason for sending people into space nowadays is so that they can perform experiments in zero g. Having the whole ship rotate would make those experiments possible only at the center of the ship, and having just a section of it rotate would cost extra. Also, and perhaps most important, the rotating section would have to be BIG in order to avoid seriously disorienting the astronauts. If you've ever been in a centrifuge and looked away from the center, you'll know what I mean. The human perception system does not handle that kind of rotation very well.
Quote:
El_Phil said:
What on earth do you want gravity for? It will massively increase the cost and complexity of said ship and remove the only reason for doing research in space, zero gravity. Other than that a space lab is just really expensive and not as good normal.
|
Nothing except artificial gravity can prevent muscles from atrophying and bones from weakening during extended stays in space. Even with highly rigorous exercise regimens, astronauts that stay in space for months, or maybe even weeks, aren't even able to stand up on their own when they return to Earth. The whole human maintenance cycle evolved around the assumption of gravity always being present, and the human body has a distinct tendency to deteriorate in long term weightlessness.