O'Neil cylinders

From: "andy-nimmo"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2001 12:34 AM
Subject: Re: [spacesettlers] Re: why outer space?

> Hi Al,
>

Hi all,

> If you read "The High Frontier" by the late Professor Gerard K. O'Neill,
> you will see that he took this into account in his design. He balances
> the rotation by having two cylinders spinning in opposite directions,
> but attached. Several other scientists have endorsed his views.
>

I'm enjoying the opportunity presented by my physical presence in the United
States along this week and buying every interesting book that I can find. On
Sunday, I finally found "The Higher Frontier", a title that I tried to get
via overseas order at Amazon.com and Barnes and Nobles a couple of months
ago, but it was out-of-stock.

I still didn't start reading the book (my to-read stack is currently very
high, as one may imagine), but if I remember correctly the counter-rotating
pair of cylinders thing is also used to cancel the gyroscopic effect. In
that way, the pair can slowly rotate in a way that they are always pointing
to the sun. (A single cylinder would function as a gyro and point always in
the same direction - meaning that it would point away from the sun depending
on its location along the orbit.)

> Best wishes, Andy.
[snikt]

Best wishes, Lucio.