The Gravity Option

From: Ed Minchau

> , then the
> tensile strength required to hold atmosphere inside
> will probably exceed the tensile strength required to
> hold the hull together under centripetal acceleration
> by rather a large margin.

That's my understanding of it too, although when someone on this
maillist asked me for my source, I couldn't quite seem to track it down.
I wasn't sure if what I'd remembered reading was from O'Neill,
Heppenheimer, or elsewhere, but I had recalled them saying the air
pressure was the "lion's share" of the overall tensile load.

If anyone else can help with this, I believe the discussion was in the
context of what departures from Earth-normal conditions might convey the
greatest engineering advantages, and the conclusion was that it was more
advantageous to pursue a lower-pressure/higher-O2-content atmosphere
than to live with lower levels of gravity.

Regards,

Mike Combs