Low G effects on permanent space dwellers Forum: Spacesettlers
Thread: Low G effects on permanent space dwellers
# 8168 bydougmay@... on June 13, 2006, 9:55 p.m.
Member since 2021-10-03
The more I think about it, I guess any health benefit from low G
would only be temporary. You would at first be stronger, but as your
body got used to the lower G, you would become weaker until you
settled in at about the same relative strength you had in 1G, only
now you would be unable to return to 1G. Machines and manufacturing
robots, of course would have an advantage, but they could be housed
separately. Zero/low G would likely have use in for vacation resorts
and spas, hospital burn units, amusement parks, and that sort of
thing, but muscular atrophy would probably be inevitable after a few
years.
1. I'm a little concerned about spin gravity. If I were in space
staring at Earth or Saturn or something, I would rather not see it
incessantly spinning around. Perhaps I just need to get over it
though. I'm not exactly sure I can picture how fast 2-3 RPMs would
be. I would hope that any station has a stable viewing platform
where one could Earth gaze without spinning. Some people get sick
easier than others.
2. I also envision someday that the main stations will be surrounded
by hundreds of smaller stations. Some will be small communities of
50-100 people in what would be effectively like apartment buildings
or gated communities on Earth. They could have regular shuttle
service into the main settlement. Other people will want to live in
even smaller communities, possibly even single family stations. The
main station could have hundreds of ports on it so these people could
dock during the "day" while they go to work or the store. After work,
or on the weekends, they could undock and go out on their own. These
single family ships would be too small for spin gravity, so they
would be in near zero G for these times. Of course, they would need
better radiation shielding than we have today, and such a small ship
would be more vulnerable to disaster. You would also have the risk of
bad drivers crashing into your spaceship, although that would be
minimized if each vessel were centrally controlled while within, say
100 miles of the main station. The freedom and isolation of being in
my own space house is very appealing to me. You would even have the
freedom to fly to another space station in some cases, although your
space house would not be able to come down to Earth. The moon, maybe,
but not Earth.
doug