Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
Spinning space station design
Is it cold in here?:
OK, suppose you've matched spins but need to correct a slight drift to the left. You instinctively fire the right thrusters.
Suddenly you're going in circles.
Humans are highly trainable, so it might be possible to teach them to do the right thing. Computers would be a better bet.
Skewbrow:
Ok, "trivial" was an overstatement. Would "Something that a computer or a trained pilot can handle" be closer to the mark?
akronnick:
First you would have to align the axes, then you would match rotation, then dock.
It might be tricky for a human pilot, but for a computer controlled pilot, it would be simple.
cesariojpn:
Gundam.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO5-XGCqzfo
Kugai:
--- Quote from: DSL on 20 Jan 2012, 18:24 ---
--- Quote from: Precipice on 20 Jan 2012, 13:34 ---
--- Quote from: DSL on 20 Jan 2012, 10:10 ---For some entertaining nonsense, the original "Star Fleet Technical Manual" from the 1970s contains schematics for a giant spinning space station with, among other things, docking facilities *around the rim* for Enterprise and her fleetmates. Quite apart from the increased gravity, I'd hate to be the one who had to navigate a ship into one of those docks. Mr. Sulu'd be earning his pay, he would ...
--- End quote ---
Take a closer look at those schematics. It doesn't say anywhere that it spins, and it should be obvious that it doesn't. The floors don't follow the curve of the rim, they're flat. With a spin-induced gravity, if you stood near the end of a pie-shaped segment, it'd feel like the floor is tilted at a 30 degree angle. It must generate artificial gravity using the same technology as the Enterprise.
--- End quote ---
Huh. I remember my copy (long gone) saying it spun. And remembering, even as a sixth-grader, that it made no sense.
--- End quote ---
Take another look. The 'Buildings' of the station are set on the outer rim. Looking at it it seems to have the same constructional layout as Babylon 5 as to the relation of floors and decks layout. Admittedly, unlike B5, the Trek Universe has the benefit of Artificial Gravity, so it probably doesn't rely on rotational action gravity wise as that station does, so I'm guessing that the rotation is more of a slow 'Barbeque Roll' much like the Apollo spacecraft used during their journey to the moon.
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