Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
Spinning space station design
Is it cold in here?:
Which is a little counter-intuitive since the embryo/fetus is floating anyway.
Carl-E:
Floating, yes; but it's not in 0-g. Even floating, you have a sense of up & down, and a foetus would have some sense of mass from resting in the pelvis.
Although the 6-month pregnant friend we have staying with us would love 0-g if only to get the little bugger off her bladder...
Is it cold in here?:
There was a point in the WCDT about friction between a despun hub and a spinning station.
The power requirements of overcoming friction are surprisingly modest. Google has let me down coming up with exact numbers, but rotating restaurants and the Dubai rotating skyscraper use quite small motors. A high-tech structure like a space station might use magnetic bearings, cutting the power needs further.
Carl-E:
With nothing more than a free-to-rotate docking ring, you could walk (float) right into the hub and grab handles on the wall to adjust your momentum to match the station, then move out to the ring. It really wouldn't be any different than those fun-house rotating tunnels, and would probably be turning more slowly...
Is it cold in here?:
Less need for spin, with all the associated structural problems, if you can avoid deconditioning using high-tech clothing: http://www.txchnologist.com/2012/next-gen-space-couture-to-feature-slimmer-silhouettes-and-new-accessories
Simulated gravity would still be valuable for the way it simplifies plumbing.
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