0-G problems

Evolution, in the natural sense, is a long drawn out process stretching into millions of years. Evolution is also a trial and error process in which a few evolutionary paths out of thousands may succeeds.

Our body as it is, without any meddling, will probably find it difficult to adjust to zero G. What modern medical science is capable of is another story. Future humans - aided by high profile growth of the medical/business establishment (lacking a sense of what is natural and what is unnatural) - may try to engineer a clone that does better in zero G, or perhaps a sandwiched human/machine
system.....

But when you come to think of it, living in zero g is silly. In the limited confines of the space station where astronauts are just trying to prove a point, not doing much useful work anyway, it may not matter. But imagine a large space hab one mile in diameter, where you happen to live, which does not have artificial g. How will life be there? You will have to sleep in a pouch or attach a safety belt when you sleep. or you cannot be sure where in the room you will be in the morning. To go to the toilet when you get up you will have to take the support of the walls, which will have grasping handles and crawl along like an old man. You can't walk because the first step you take will launch you and you will hit your head on the roof. To be able to walk you will have to wear magnetic shoes or some similar innovation. If you are angry during a meeting and bang your fist on the table, once again you will take off and hit your head on the ceiling. (In fact one thing you will need in a zero g environment is a helmet, or pretend you are an old man and move very very slowly). In a zero g environment the coordinate of anything which is not anchored down cannot be precisely defined and things will try to float away at the slightest excuse. Is there great freedom in a zero g environment? If you happen to be without your magnetic boots and take an indiscreet step you will launch yourself and you are not going to stop moving till you have moved for a mile and hit the other end of the Habitat. Of course you can move with the help of a backpack and thrusters - that will probably be your second skin. With backpack and thrusters you won't need your legs, so it will soon become fashionable to have them amputed. You will have to keep your young uns tightly strapped, if you let them loose there is no saying which end of the habitat they will end up. For careless guys, like most of us on earth, it is going to be an eternal mess-up.

Selvaraj

From: omar vega
To: spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 3:27 AM
Subject: Re: [spacesettlers] 0-G problems

Mike:

When I said "evolve" I mean in the long term; really
in the long term. Ten of thousands of years more, at
least.

Meanwhile, the only way to colonize space is by
building space settlements, as the ones proposed by
O'Neill. We all of us agree in that point, I think.

The only advantage (that I foresee) of humans adapted
to gravity, is that space cities could grow in three
dimensions, and would be more flexible and cheaper
than space settlements. But this is only speculation.
The only proposals that are based in facts, and sound
science, are the ones of rotating cities.

By the way, I believe in the future people will
populate the moon and mars building in their surfaces,
but I also believe that space settlement is the way
mankind will use to colonize Jupiter and Saturn. The
satellites of those planets may hold lots of
resources, and It just doesn't make sense to establish
posts in those surfaces. It isn't possible either to
land in those huge planets. So, there space settlement
have the lead.

Omar Vega

--- "Combs, Mike" wrote:
> From: omar vega [mailto:oevega@...]
>
> > I agree with you, because I believe that in the
> long
> > term humans will have to adapt to live in zero
> > gravity.
>
> Why do you believe this when it's no significant
> expense or great
> engineering difficulty to provide a substitute for
> gravity via rotation?
>
> > If Man need to change to achieve that, It may
> > be the way to go. In nature it's called evolution.
>
> Don't get me wrong; I bet some segment of
> space-based humanity probably
> will chose to "evolve" in this direction. But I
> don't think all would.
> I don't even expect that most will.
>
> Regards,
>
> Mike Combs
>