lakes & ponds in a space colony

On 10/31/14 8:04 AM, David Jarrell speckledpig@... [spacesettlers]

> It would sure be a mess if the rotation was ever disrupted or stopped.

Sure would! Of course stopping a 2 megatonne rotating mass would
require a major disaster anyway. Angular momentum can't just
disappear... unless you have a counter-rotating mass and a net angular
momentum of zero, I suppose.

More likely, if a habitat is poorly designed, is that it would start to
tumble. Same angular momentum, just around a different axis. The water
in this case would then pool in the endcaps (or whatever you have
furthest away from that axis).

Of course in real life, surely the engineers will think of that and
design a habitat that is stable around the intended spin axis!

> What is the mechanism for maintaining the rotation of the habitat?
> Thrusters/motors? Just curious.

Yeah, like Adam, I favor using electric motors, which requires a
counter-rotating section (or other mass). Of course this does raise the
possibility of your rotation stopping, which as you say, sure would be a
mess!

Best,
- Joe