On: On the devastating effects of a year in space

[chrishacken]

There actually was a proposal for one.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nautilus-X

There's also this issue:

"Another problem is that we do know of adverse effects that arise at high rotational rates of speed. The Coriolis Effect has to do with rotating reference frames and it can seriously screw with the inner ear. The only way to maintain a strong centrifugal gravity while keeping rotational speed low is to lengthen the system as a whole — but the ISS isn’t nearly big enough."

Source: https://www.geek.com/news/geek-answers-why-doesnt-the-iss-ha...

[WalterBright → chrishacken]

One way to make it "big enough" is to put a weight on the end of a long cable, and spin the combination. It wouldn't need to be a full g either, some should be a lot better than nothing.

With a cable, though, there might be weird problems with oscillations.

[dredmorbius → WalterBright]

Or, alternatively, a zero-g banjo and opportunity for true space music.

[jessriedel → WalterBright]

Yea, I think tethers in space are still considered quite tricky.

[WalterBright → jessriedel]

One alternative is to replace the cable with a rigid tube, and then have living quarters at both ends. The tube is big enough for an astronaut to pass through. Sort of a one spoke section of a spoked wheel.

[brownbat → chrishacken]

Real Engineering had an episode on simulated gravity through rotation. It's a great channel, though I was a little disappointed this episode talked more about fictional examples than proposals like Nautilus-X. Great watch either way though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im-JM0f_J7s

[whatshisface → chrishacken]

Zero-G also makes people sick, but astronauts can get used to it. If you put someone in a small spinning station for six months, would they also get used to the motion sickness? What if you found someone suffering from (and that had learned to live with) permanent vertigo?

[foota → whatshisface]

Shouldn't motion sickness only happen when you have a reference frame? i.e., if you're on the space station you shouldn't be able to tell when it's spinning?

[aetherson → foota]

If the station is large enough. In smaller centrifuges, there'sre noticable Coriolis effects.

[travisjungroth → foota]

A rotating object isn't exactly the same as gravity. There's a rotational effect that exists, so you can tell the difference between being on the ground and in a centrifuge.

[syrrim → foota]

Only for non-inertial reference frames. If the station were rotating, it would therefore be accelerating, and you would be able to feel it.

[digi_owl → chrishacken]

So in effect if your feet are moving faster than your head by just enough for the inner ear to pick it up, you are likely to look at outcomes similar to motion sickness...