Those reckless moon astronauts (was Why gravity helps people work faster)

--- In spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com, "brooksn" wrote:
> First, this assumes that traction 'friction' is the predominate reason for forklift tipping

No.

> and that current forklifts are all 'at' the edge of their acceptable range for safe operation.

By definition, every activity in every business is operating at the edge of safety. Competition ensures this. Increase gravity, and business can be conducted faster.

> wouldn't increasing the mass of the forklift 6 fold remove the issue

No, but downforce blowers could help. These have caveats, such as mobilizing debris on the floor/ground/roadway. McLaren experimented with this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLaren_F1

"to improve downforce which is increased through the use of two electric Kevlar fans to further decrease the pressure under the car."

> many transportation facilities use rollers/conveyor belts to move goods

Good point. Gravity inversely limits conveyor-belt speed.
More gravity = more speed potential

Conveyor belts on the moon would be forced by the moon's 1/6th gravity to operate at 1/6th the speeds of conveyor belts on Earth.

> I recall astronauts 'walking' with some difficulty but not at 1/6th the speed

You weren't watching them in a confined industrial environment. Whether it's in an office, a warehouse, or a factory, in double gravity I can accelerate twice as hard, corner twice as hard, and stop twice as hard as I can in normal gravity. We saw the astronauts moving at reckless high speeds on the moon because they didn't need to worry about crashing into anyone.