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Why no wheel?
Posted:
Wed Dec 06, 2017 12:33 pm
by spacemonkey
Way back when I was a kid, all the science fiction books had the space station looking like a big bicycle wheel and rotating slowly to create artificial gravity. Needless to say its not how it turned out. Why not, did it make everyone puke or what? Just curious.
Re: Why no wheel?
Posted:
Wed Dec 06, 2017 11:30 pm
by Spider
Re: Why no wheel?
Posted:
Thu Dec 07, 2017 10:52 am
by John Galt
it would need to be a few football lengths in diameter in order for it to rotate comfortably at 1g. which, for what we've put up in space, is massive.
i think it's conceivable still now though, especially if we ramp up space mining, and 3d metal printing machines. if we can do the work in space that saves all the cost of lifting which is the main reason why we haven't created this. if someone wants to make a space station that is used as a terminal from LEO to the rest of the solar system, they probably will be making a spinning station. tourists/business travelers to the moon or whatever would do better with some amount of gravity.
i know in spacelab they ran circles around a module to show the premise worked, which is probably why all the scifi stories from that age had it as a common theme
Re: Why no wheel?
Posted:
Thu Dec 07, 2017 11:42 am
by The Comrade
inflatable habitats will make it more feasible in the near future.
Re: Why no wheel?
Posted:
Thu Dec 07, 2017 2:16 pm
by exploited
Re: Why no wheel?
Posted:
Thu Dec 07, 2017 4:32 pm
by The Comrade
her name is samantha and i love her curves
Re: Why no wheel?
Posted:
Fri Dec 08, 2017 11:56 am
by NAB
Re: Why no wheel?
Posted:
Fri Dec 08, 2017 2:10 pm
by spacemonkey