One serious problem with this poll: scale. You wouldn't spin up structures with the volume of ISS. It's too big a cost and nuissance relative to what you can do with the limited volume. You wouldn't spin up a six person mission taking a slow route to Mars because you can't do any burns. But you might want to spin up a colonization ship, regardless if it's going slower or faster.
I'd argue there's a lot of room for innovation here.
Currently working to start up a company because some engineer friends and I believe we have such a solution, and a way to bootstrap from small unmanned prototypes hence my interest in starting this poll.
Quote from: mikelepage on 08/12/2017 05:03 amI'd argue there's a lot of room for innovation here.We'll need lots of innovation once we start expanding humanity out into space, and ways to keep humans healthy will be important.QuoteCurrently working to start up a company because some engineer friends and I believe we have such a solution, and a way to bootstrap from small unmanned prototypes hence my interest in starting this poll.Best wishes on that. And while it's good to survey the public, make sure you figure out who will actually pay you money for building such a solution - it's important to talk with your potential customers as early as possible.Also, check out the Founder Institute "Star Fellow" program. Their initial class may have have already started, but you can figure out whether it's a good fit for your needs (it may, but it may not).
Thanks for the tip. It sounds quite similar to the MoonshotX Gemini program (based here in Australia - gearing up to start after IAC) which is an incubator I'm considering doing.
Other physiological factors are at play.But the vestibular system is a big deal. First words on Mars are probably going to be, "I've fallen, and I can't get up!"I've wondered why this hasn't been demonstrated on ISS. It's probably hard enough just doing what they are doing now rather than being put into a federally funded spin cycle.
Regardless of what I voted for, my real answer would depend on how well SG works.
If we only require 1/10th of a g, and can tolerate ~10rpm, then the answer is "all the time, because why not, it's essentially free."
If the answer is never less than 1g and never more than 1rpm, then the answer is never. (Because by the time you have structures large enough, you'll need to have already solved the problems in another way, so why bother with the expense, or you will have given up on long duration HSF/settlement/colonisation if you can't, so why bother with the expense.)
There is currently on the ISS a small centrifuge in the Kibo module. Some of the mice that have been sent up have been put in it. Nothing larger-scale primarily due to the cost, engineering issues, but there have been some proposals. A purpose-built rotating space station would be a better idea.
That's a hell of a gap between 6 weeks and 14 months.
Regardless of what I voted for, my real answer would depend on how well SG works. If we only require 1/10th of a g, and can tolerate ~10rpm, then the answer is "all the time, because why not, it's essentially free." If the answer is never less than 1g and never more than 1rpm, then the answer is never. (Because by the time you have structures large enough, you'll need to have already solved the problems in another way, so why bother with the expense, or you will have given up on long duration HSF/settlement/colonisation if you can't, so why bother with the expense.)IMO, asking a question based on time, when we don't know anything about size/cost/difficulty, is premature.
Build a cylindrial station that rotates around a node at the center. Little volume at any given gravity. But along that cylinder all gravities from 0 to max are available for experiments. At the end two rigid or inflable habitats might be added to give more volume at max gravity.
My favorite though nobody seems to agree with me. Build a cylindrial station that rotates around a node at the center. Little volume at any given gravity. But along that cylinder all gravities from 0 to max are available for experiments.
At the end two rigid or inflable habitats might be added to give more volume at max gravity.
Some testing of different rotational speeds would be interesting. The limits presently set seem to accomodate sensitive persons immediately. It seems people do get adjusted to movement at sea over time. So with adjustment many people may be able to tolerate much higher rotation to achieve useful gravitation with smaller diameters.
Quote from: guckyfan on 08/19/2017 08:15 amAt the end two rigid or inflable habitats might be added to give more volume at max gravity.I would say no, especially if you're hanging them off the end of a rotating structure, because inflatables are not the right type of structure for that application.