What is Artificial Gravity?
Artificial gravity, also known as artificial gravity, refers to the simulation of the effect of gravity on the ground in space or in a free-fall environment.
- Artificial gravity system is used
- Gravity is essentially
- For decades, scientists have imagined a giant rotating space station capable of producing artificial gravity. However, this dream has not been realized. Due to the negative impact of zero gravity on the health of astronauts and the deeper space exploration missions that will be carried out in the future, such as exploring Mars and asteroids, it will be inevitable to build a spacecraft that can produce artificial gravity. In addition, with the rapid development of the commercial space travel industry, a huge inflatable wheel-shaped space station may emerge in the future, which can produce artificial gravity and allow tourists to enjoy a more comfortable space journey.
- Zero gravity affects astronaut health
- Living and working in space will adversely affect the health of astronauts. Astronauts returning to Earth from the International Space Station, although smiling at reporters, are difficult to stand on. This is still the case on the space station, and we can imagine how the future trip to Mars will affect astronauts. The journey to Mars lasted for several months. After suffering months of zero gravity (or microgravity), astronauts on the surface of Mars could hardly stumble, let alone walk.
- "Zero gravity will have a range of effects on astronauts' health, such as a decrease in bone density, muscle loss, and vision loss," said NASA biologist Sharmira-Buhatakharya. It has been shown that space flight can even adversely affect the immune system. During space flight, astronauts struggle to maintain balance, sleep is deprived, the blood vessels of the heart tend to slow down, and flatulence occurs. In addition, they can experience a range of space sickness symptoms, such as dizziness, depression, and fatigue. Bhattacharya's experiments and experiments conducted by other scientists over the past 50 years have shown that most symptoms are caused by zero gravity.
- Humans have not evolved characteristics suitable for survival in space. Scientists have been conducting research to understand and contain the adverse effects of weightlessness. Recently, the European Space Agency conducted a series of bed rest studies to understand the physical effects of 21 volunteers after 21 days of bed rest. Soon, NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency will collaborate on a one-year mission to the International Space Station to test a range of the latest theories against weightlessness, such as strengthening exercise and nutrition.
- Giant rotating wheel produces artificial gravity
- If humans travel to Mars, Jupiter, Saturn's moons or more distant celestial bodies, we obviously need to find more extreme solutions. One solution is to revive NASA's abandoned plan in the 1970s to create a spacecraft with its own artificial gravity. Early space station designs conceived artificial gravity (produced by huge rotating wheels). In the future, such space stations will become more common.
- In an article published in the Journal of the British Planetary Society in 1949, HE. Rose envisioned a "fuel supply station" for a lunar exploration mission. This design consists of 3 parts, which can be likened to a bowl, a bun and an arm. The "bowl" is a huge mirror designed to gather sunlight and heat water to generate steam power. That's right, to build a steam-powered space station. The "bread" section looks more like a bagel and sits behind a mirror. The "arm" extends from the "bun" side and connects to the docking port.
- With the help of spinning wheels in space, a more accurate description of artificial gravity or Rose's "false gravity effect" would be produced in such a way that the propeller rotates the "bowl" and "bun" along their axis, creating a centripetal force , Which in turn produces gravity. Anyone inside the hollow wheel will feel a similar effect to gravity, as if it were being dragged to the outside by a curved shell, which is actually the floor of the shell pushing them up. How much artificial gravity is generated depends on the size and speed of the rotating wheel. The larger the size, the faster the speed, and the greater the artificial gravity.
- At the end of the Apollo lunar exploration program in the late 1960s, NASA commissioned NASA to study the future space station. At that time, artificial gravity was a big factor in the design of all space stations. David Baker, a former NASA engineer who edited Spaceflight magazine and was involved in the design of the space station, said: "These space station studies now look very outdated. The space laboratory mission of the mid-1970s proved that the focus of building a space station is to Conducted microgravity research. So we abandoned the idea of artificial gravity. Now, we may need to do the research again. "
- Nautilus-X Helpless
- In the Library of the British Planetary Society in London, the author found a report on artificial gravity projects written by Baker in 1971. One of the reports mentions what McDonald-Douglas's so-called "space base" consists of a series of cylindrical space capsules. This base has a separate artificial gravity cabin section, which provides astronauts with artificial gravity equivalent to half of Earth's gravity. Another competing design from Rockwell North America is more ambitious, with a central core design, four cylindrical space capsules protruding from the central core, like spokes. Each capsule has a living area and a working area. Identical to the idea proposed by Ross in 1949, these capsules rotate along a central axis, producing artificial gravity.
- These designs are huge and can accommodate 12 to 50 astronauts, each with their own cabin, complete with tables and chairs in the cabin, and even a medical room. In 2011, a team of NASA, academia, and the aerospace industry made a proposal known as the "Nautilus-X", also known as the "multi-mission space exploration vehicle." According to their proposal, the Nautilus-X will cost $ 3.7 billion and will be designed to accommodate six people. Its shape is similar to a flying space station, with large solar panels and a series of interconnected pipes. This design is different from other designs in that a large hollow wheel surrounds the center. This wheel is similar to the inner tube of a bicycle and consists of a series of strong rings connected to each other by a soft-walled inflatable section. Structurally, this design is similar to NASA's request for Bigelow's space capsule, which is expected to be installed on the International Space Station in 2015.
- Nautilus-X looks similar to the International Space Station. Mark Holdman, who participated in the project, said: "Nautilus-X will be assembled in orbit, using the skills and experience gained during the assembly of the International Space Station." In 2011, the Shuttle Program's Technology Application and Evaluation Group ( TAAT) proposed this design. This team will focus on recent space exploration missions, develop new technologies or extend the life of existing technologies. They plan to make a prototype, install it on the International Space Station to validate the design, and then make a full-size version. Holderman said: "It will be the first spacecraft to truly provide astronauts with artificial gravity. Nautilus-X is also designed to lay the foundation for the development of a Mars spacecraft. This spacecraft will carry 9 Twelve astronauts head to Mars. "Due to the changing focus of exploration and lack of funding, the plan eventually died.
- Simpler, cheaper or direction
- With the reduced budget, the aerospace sector may be taking a simpler and cheaper route. If such a decision is finally made, they can learn from the "Gemini" mission implemented by NASA in the mid-1960s. At that time, astronauts used a rope to connect the space capsule to the unmanned docking station, allowing the two components to rotate around each other. In order to understand the theory behind this approach, you may wish to imagine using a rope to stir in a bucket filled with water, and the end of the rope will create a centripetal force in the bucket.
- For space agencies with tight budgets, they also have a lower cost option. MIT researchers performed a series of experiments using a small centrifuge to rotate a table or chair. Their idea was to rotate a similar item on the International Space Station and have astronauts tied to it to rotate, simulating gravity. Although this device can cause motion sickness-especially when moving the head-experimental results show that using this device can counteract a series of adverse effects caused by the loss of weight.
- Baker thinks there might be another way to build the first artificial gravity spacecraft. He said: "There is no doubt that a hotel built in space needs artificial gravity. Given that as many as 50% of astronauts have suffered from space sickness, artificial gravity will be an essential element if a hotel is built in Earth orbit "With the rapid development of the commercial space travel industry, this idea is not as out of reach as 10 years ago. Bigelow Aerospace, founded by hotel tycoon Robert Bigelow, partnered with NASA to provide it with its first inflatable space station capsule. Bigelow hopes to extend the tentacles of his real estate empire to the track. Perhaps someday in the future, we will see huge inflatable wheel-shaped space stations appearing in Earth orbit. However, this space station is intended for pocket-rich space tourists, not explorers heading to Mars. [3]