Space Habs

From: Dan Wylie-Sears

> How much do we know about how much gravity is enough?
> People have lived for substantial lengths of time in free fall,
> but has anyone done anything like raising mice in half-gee
> centrifuges in space?

This is currently a big unknown.

At one point, the plans for ISS included a drum centrifuge about a meter in radius which could have been used for this purpose. But I'm pretty sure it got dropped due to budget cuts. At one time the Mars Society was trying to get a satellite up to perform this kind of experiment (they have an obvious interest in demonstrating that 1/3 G is OK), but it seems like that effort also has fallen to the wayside.

It's really a shame, because an experiment performed in LEO could simultaneously answer questions about how to simulate gravity for permanent space stations as well as long-duration space craft, and also about how we might expect to fare long-term on both the moon and Mars.

Regards,

Mike Combs