A fascinating character from Pirate Sun is a short muscular man raised from an infant by an authoritative regime on a town wheel with 2g’s constant gravity. Although such a high gravity permanently shortened his stature, the effects of heightened gravity gave him a significant strength advantages when, as a soldier, he attacked those from town wheels with lesser gravity.
This fantasy got me thinking about artificial gravity applications of spinning a spacecraft. As I hear scientists discuss artificial gravity they mention 1g as a formula that for sure works for humans. And they discuss the desire to test long term impacts of one-sixth and one-third gravity for obvious reasons (moon and Mars), but I would be interested in evaluating the health impacts from sustained increased gravity. Okay, so we don’t send infants into orbit to prepare them for a life of forced service as an “Atlas”. But could some level of increased gravity prior to a long-duration mission outside of LEO give astronauts any heightened resiliency to the ravaging effects of micro-gravity?
And while we are on the topic. I really don’t see significant orbital tourism taking off until space stations offer artificial gravity in the bedrooms (as a minimum). Sure it’s fun to float around during the day, but high-paying space tourists (the kind that want a romantic second honey-moon, not the kind that have already climbed Everest) will want and expect their meals and personal bedroom cabins to contain 1g. The successful space hotels will offer gravity as a the norm with weightlessness as an optional activity to enjoy.
Now…back to my business books.
I agree with you. Artificial gravity would actually be quite attractive to space tourist-- especially if its lower gravity (maybe 1/6 to 1/3 G). Tourist could still have the option of going to the central axis of a rotating space station in order to experience a microgravity environment.
ReplyDeleteMarcel:
ReplyDeleteSome are aslo considering a station with multiple spinning wheels - each with their own g levels. Moon gravity in the morning, Mars in the afternoon, and weightless (as you say) in the central axis, before bed - sounds like a fun vacation to me.
I would think even higher than 1/3 to 1/6: high enough that you feel normal but still incredibly strong, youthful, and bouncy. Fountain of youth stuff. If 1/6 gravity doesn't hurt longevity at all then I suspect the first big killer app for the moon will be retirement centers for the wealthy.
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