Space Settlement the Easy Way

> On Jul 10, 2015, at 11:06 AM, Joe Strout joe@... [spacesettlers] wrote:
>
> Al Globus alglobus@... [spacesettlers] wrote:
>
> > I suspect that in not-too-long space hotels will rotate at a low level
> > to provide enough artificial gravity to make using the toilet reasonable
> > easy (using a micro-g toilet requires quite a bit of training). Then it
> > will be easy to get some data at (probably low) partial g.
>
> If I were the hotelier, I'd go for lunar gravity (0.16 G or so). This
> can be achieved with a 25-m radius spinning at 2.5 RPM, so is quite
> easy, and then you get to put "It's just like being on the Moon!" in
> your marketing materials.
>
> (If we find that 2.5 RPM is bad for tourism, then at 50 m radius you
> would spin at 1.7 RPM, and at 100 m radius, it'd be 1.2 RPM.)
>
Its probably ok, but if you go to 2 rpm it is almost certainly not much of a problem except for very susceptible individuals (for short term stays, for long stays 2.5 rpm should be just fine). See http://space.alglobus.net/papers/RotationPaper.pdf for the gory details of why this is probably so.

>
> You might also get some government/big-corporate customers who want to
> train for lunar operations there, or researchers who want to study the
> effects of long-term lunar habitation. So, lots of income opportunities.
>
> In fact the practical value of the research we could do with a lunar
> gravity research facility is so great, it quite boggles my mind that we
> don't already have such a facility. People centuries from now are going
> to look back at the dawn of spaceflight and be utterly baffled at the
> back-asswards way we approached it, neglecting both the Moon and
> artificial gravity for over half a century.
>
> But I firmly believe that in the long run, fiercely stupid policies are
> unsustainable... it'll all correct itself sooner or later, and we can
> already see signs of this happening now.
>
> Best,
> - Joe
>

joe@strout.net
[spacesettlers] <
spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com
> wrote:
Al Globus

alglobus@...

[spacesettlers] wrote:
> I suspect that in not-too-long space hotels will rotate at a low level
> to provide enough artificial gravity to make using the toilet reasonable
> easy (using a micro-g toilet requires quite a bit of training). Then it
> will be easy to get some data at (probably low) partial g.
If I were the hotelier, I'd go for lunar gravity (0.16 G or so). This

can be achieved with a 25-m radius spinning at 2.5 RPM, so is quite

easy, and then you get to put "It's just like being on the Moon!" in

your marketing materials.
(If we find that 2.5 RPM is bad for tourism, then at 50 m radius you

would spin at 1.7 RPM, and at 100 m radius, it'd be 1.2 RPM.)
Its probably ok, but if you go to 2 rpm it is almost certainly not much of a problem except for very susceptible individuals (for short term stays, for long stays 2.5 rpm should be just fine). See
http://space.alglobus.net/papers/RotationPaper.pdf
for the gory details of why this is probably so.
You might also get some government/big-corporate customers who want to

train for lunar operations there, or researchers who want to study the

effects of long-term lunar habitation. So, lots of income opportunities.
In fact the practical value of the research we could do with a lunar

gravity research facility is so great, it quite boggles my mind that we

don't already have such a facility. People centuries from now are going

to look back at the dawn of spaceflight and be utterly baffled at the

back-asswards way we approached it, neglecting both the Moon and

artificial gravity for over half a century.
But I firmly believe that in the long run, fiercely stupid policies are

unsustainable... it'll all correct itself sooner or later, and we can

already see signs of this happening now.
Best,
- Joe