A way to simulate gravity perfectly in the space station

[Hypercube]

I was just wondering, let's say NASA were to install a large electromagnet inside the floor of the ISS, if the astronauts were to wear some kind of magnetic materials in their shoes and around their wrists and torso, wouldn't that theoretically be able to perfectly mimic gravity? Since the electromagnet would be under the floor not the floor itself, the astronauts would simply be pulled towards the floor, but not get stuck to it. This would obviously affect their lower bodies more than their upper bodies since their feet would be closer to the floor, but still; I can't think of a reason that this shouldn't be able to work, at least to some degree.

[insane_alien]

its not a perfect simulation of gravity then is it.

 

it has a few major issues

1/ Power, its going to be sucking up a whole load of juice that the ISS doesn't have

2/ Size, its going to be taking up a whole load of space that the ISS doesn't have

3/ Cooling, its going to require more cooling than the ISS is capable of.

4/ it would bugger up a whole range of experiments

 

a more feasible solution is rotation. especially as it does not require any power once it is going.

[John Cuthber]

I understand that a major part of the problem with zero gravity is that it affects (or rather, doesn't affect) the balance organs in the inner ear.

Together with the problems give above I think it's a non starter.

[antimatter]

I think they employ rotation in 2001, though it's been a while since I read the book...

I do remember though in the movie they use something like velcro so that people can walk upside down.

[Riogho]

I say we accelerate the space station so that the forces acting on our bodies are equal to 1g.

 

I win.

[brian_dean20]

since we are on the topic of artificial graivity,,, can anyone tell me what would happen if the following was to be done in empty space....... take an object of lets say 1000 mass and lets say rotate it at 10,000 rpm,,, would any gravitational change occur?

[Cmac22]

since we are on the topic of artificial graivity,,, can anyone tell me what would happen if the following was to be done in empty space....... take an object of lets say 1000 mass and lets say rotate it at 10,000 rpm,,, would any gravitational change occur?

 

im not quite sure what you are asking here. first... 1000 mass i suppose we can just make that kilograms... but 10,000 (rotations per minute) could mean anything! it depends on the size of the object and the size of the orbit and so on, or axis if u want to rotate it on an axis. and what do u mean gravitational change!? change relative to what? do u mean to simulate gravity inside a spacecraft by rotating it? i think then u would be talking about centrifugal force, which isnt exactly a gravitational change but i suppose would feel similar in this case. or do u mean the gravitational force of the object itself?

[insane_alien]

there will be no gravitational change.

 

there will be a centrifuge effect though that will mimic gravity but it will not be gravity. this would only appear if you were on the incside surface and rotatng with it.

 

outside there would be no change.

[YT2095]

there would be a Very Tiny change.

 

as the angular velocity increased so would it`s mass, but by Tiny amount I mean very tiny, like if it was 1000 tons and spinning at that rate, it may gain a gram in mass kinda Tiny

the effect a paperclip would have on you.

[CaptainPanic]

All options for artificial gravity that simply pull you down, like magnetism or elastics are only useful to give your bone structure something to do (your bones fights this effect, and keep you up). But all other internal organs don't really feel anything, and your blood will for example still go up as easy as it will go down.

 

I think only rotation can overcome this.

[John Cuthber]

Riogho's idea is good.

"I say we accelerate the space station so that the forces acting on our bodies are equal to 1g.

 

I win.

"

But he only wins if he can think of a way to supply the power required to maintain the acceleration.

[Klaynos]

as the angular velocity increased so would it`s mass, but by Tiny amount I mean very tiny, like if it was 1000 tons and spinning at that rate, it may gain a gram in mass kinda Tiny

 

Care to explain? Especially when you bear in mind the mass is a Lorentz invariant.

[John Cuthber]

Would reletivity give rise to an increase in mass?

It would certainly have a lot of energy (though I think the estimate of a gram is a few orders of magnitude worth of optimistic)

[Klaynos]

Would reletivity give rise to an increase in mass?

It would certainly have a lot of energy (though I think the estimate of a gram is a few orders of magnitude worth of optimistic)

 

Mass is a Lorentz invariant, so at least in SR, no the mass would not change... I don't know enough GR to comment on that though.

[Riogho]

Riogho's idea is good.

"I say we accelerate the space station so that the forces acting on our bodies are equal to 1g.

 

I win.

"

But he only wins if he can think of a way to supply the power required to maintain the acceleration.

 

Hamster power!

[insane_alien]

Hamster power!

 

Google has all the good ones. I mean, have you seen the hamster powering the SFN servers?

 

Skinny little runt with only three legs. and that was before Sayonara³ got to him.

[Dark matter]

I think this would feel incredibly... disjointed because the magnets would have more effects on some parts of your body than others.

 

It's much easier to simulate a gravitational field with centrifugal force.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Google has all the good ones. I mean, have you seen the hamster powering the SFN servers?

 

Skinny little runt with only three legs. and that was before Sayonara³ got to him.

 

Don't worry. We feed him

[John Cuthber]

I have found a perfect solution to the problem. Leave the space station on the ground. Cheap easy gravity- and no overworked hamsters.

[stingray78]

JAAJAJAJA

Check this around.

http://www.tubepolis.com/play.php?q=ARTIFICIAL%20GRAVITY&title=Artificial%2BGravity%2BResearch&engine=1&id=G6mFG8z2UX8&img=http%253A%252F%252Fi.ytimg.com%252Fvi%252FG6mFG8z2UX8%252Fdefault.jpg

[Klaynos]

I have found a perfect solution to the problem. Leave the space station on the ground. Cheap easy gravity- and no overworked hamsters.

 

Hrmmm then you could get some gullable people say it's a "low earth orbit" and that they're really in space, put in some cameras and you have yourself a TV show....

[insane_alien]

Hrmmm then you could get some gullable people say it's a "low earth orbit" and that they're really in space, put in some cameras and you have yourself a TV show....

 

its been done. it was on tv here in the uk a year or two ago IIRC, can't remember the name.

[antimatter]

I think this all has to do with the magnet strength.

For example, if they were extremely powerful magnets, it would rip the hemoglobin right out of your bloodstream, which is quite...unpleasant.

[insane_alien]

haemoglobin is not attracted by magnets.

[antimatter]

Yes it is.

Haemoglobin (sorry, misspelled it the first time) has large quantities iron, thus making it veeery magnetic.

A strong enough magnet could literally rip it out of your bloodstream, thus...pain.