Buildings with rotating sections on mars to simulate higher gravity

[Blake00]

We've all seen the endless designs and scifi examples of future space ships and stations with rotating sections creating a centrifuge effect where if a certain spinning speed is achieved then the outer section can mimic earths 1G gravity. However there really doesn't seem to be much talk out there about what happens next when we get to Mars and spend a whole lot of time there lol. While Mars's light 0.37g gravity may be enough to circumvent some of the unpleasant affects astronauts have experienced from full weightlessness presumably it would only delay these effects due to still being so weak compared to the 1g our bodies are used to/built for on Earth. If we end up building a moon base such issues will be even more problematic on it's 0.16g surface if we plan to have people living in these bases for years on end.

Therefore humans will need places they can go that can simulate Earth's 1g gravity. Constantly having to return to rotating stations in orbit seems impractical and even if something is built on the surface they're not really going to have the free time to spend endless hours in there so I've seen suggestions of making sleeping chambers in rotating sections set at a certain angle which would be interesting. Saw an article about people merely cycling in a angled centrifugal building could do the work however requiring our own bodies to generate the required speed/power seems impractical since we burn out pretty quick so us spending time in a era where it's happening mechanically in the structure still seems better.

Building giant buildings with rotating sections on another world seems like an even tougher challenge than a spinning spaceship so I'm surprised there aren't more articles, papers, designs and plans on the possibilities and impossibilities relating to combating the effects of Mars's lack of gravity on our bodies.

 

[Geomartian]

Whhheeeee

 

[Pogo]

Not just sleeping quarters, they need to walk/run, lift stuff and so forth to keep up musculature, skeletal, and cardiovasculer, and probably everything else. Doesn’t happen sleeping . . .

 

[Clovis]

All of the more recent Hollywood space ships Ive seen in movies have a gym, break room, dineing room, meeting room and much more in the centrifuges. On a building or a HAB is a good point.

 

[Misha Marchuk]

This is actually a good idea, only I think that it will not be big buildings or bases, stations. It will not be a large building by design, a kitchen, dining room, bedroom, gym, etc. I also think there would be some kind of buffer zone in which this simulation of graphitization would be stored constantly

 

[Misha Marchuk]

Whhheeeee

Ahahaha, this is a good thing, I really laughed hard

 

[Catastrophe]

If I understand this correctly, there are two possibilities:
1. The rotating section is 'flat', meaning on the surface. The 'gravity' would then be perpendicular to the gravity of the planet: i.e., you would be thrown outwards and tending to be held against the outer wall (if one existed). Not much help in augmenting the low gravity of the planet.
2. The rotating section is 'vertical', meaning the plane of the structure is perpendicular to the surface. You would then be pressed against the outer wall (if one existed), but the artificial gravity would be variable - sometimes augmenting the gravity of the planet and sometimes acting in the opposite direction.

In short, I cannot see any useful system, but please enlighten me.

Cat

 

[Ken Fabian]

I've seen suggestions of making sleeping chambers in rotating sections set at a certain angle

I think Cat missed the angled part; like the centrifuges for training astronauts "down" becomes angled, between vertical and horizontal, where the forces balance between centrifuge and gravity.

Hypothetically it would work - and hypothetically the whole living space could be included but I suspect reducing it to minimum - just sleeping and/or gym for example - is just a concession to the costs and difficulties of building such complex structure in such extreme conditions.

Frankly the complex engineering and construction would be prohibitive - besides the mechanical structure, wear, tear and potential for failure there are issues like all those air and water and power and plumbing connections that will be made more difficult - and no room for stinting on any of it in an environment where leaks can turn deadly.

But I think building even basic, unmoving structures on Mars is prohibitive, so, hypothetically we may as well make the whole habitat like that.

 

[Catastrophe]

What if you resolve the forces in a diagram?

Does not look right to me.

Cat

 

[Ken Fabian]

Cat, I did a simple diagram ... but I am mystified as to how to insert it. I'm sure I've added images from my own computer before but can't remember - or find an attach image option. I am not good with html tags either. Drag and drop isn't doing it.

In any case, take a pie tin shape, flat on bottom with angled sides, a slice of a cone shape. Spin it.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Cat, I did a simple diagram ... but I am mystified as to how to insert it. I'm sure I've added images from my own computer before but can't remember - or find an attach image option. I am not good with html tags either. Drag and drop isn't doing it.

In any case, take a pie tin shape, flat on bottom with angled sides, a slice of a cone shape. Spin it.

Space.com does not allow for the uploading of images to it's site. To display images in your posts, you will need to use a third party image hosting site (I use imgur.com) and then link the image from there in a reply here.

Wolfshadw
Moderator

 

[Ken Fabian]

Okay, perhaps I didn't upload images to this site from my computer after all. I'm not going to go through the set up for a third party hosting site for this.

I think to be more precise, to get an apparent vertical across the whole floor - same at the inner edge as well as outer edge - the shape would not be a section from a cone, but a sliced through section from... a parabolic dish(?). ie curved radially as well as circular.

 

[Catastrophe]

Cat, I did a simple diagram ... but I am mystified as to how to insert it. I'm sure I've added images from my own computer before but can't remember - or find an attach image option. I am not good with html tags either. Drag and drop isn't doing it.

In any case, take a pie tin shape, flat on bottom with angled sides, a slice of a cone shape. Spin it.

Ken, you need a program like Imgur to put it on the Internet, then you can insert it. Cat

 

[Slarty1080]

We have good data concerning the effects of 1g and 0g on humans and other living things, but in between the information is scant or nonexistent. It could be that a long exposure to a very small gravitational field would provide disproportionate benefit compared to 0g. It could also be that long exposure to a gravitational field a bit less than 1g would produce a disproportionate harm compared to 1g. We don’t know and it is important to find out if people plan on spending a long time on Mars.

We could assume that the harm is proportional to the decrease in gravitational field, but that is just a guess. I suspect the health effects of reduced gravity are multifaceted and a lot more research is required.

 

[Slarty1080]

If I understand this correctly, there are two possibilities:
1. The rotating section is 'flat', meaning on the surface. The 'gravity' would then be perpendicular to the gravity of the planet: i.e., you would be thrown outwards and tending to be held against the outer wall (if one existed). Not much help in augmenting the low gravity of the planet.
2. The rotating section is 'vertical', meaning the plane of the structure is perpendicular to the surface. You would then be pressed against the outer wall (if one existed), but the artificial gravity would be variable - sometimes augmenting the gravity of the planet and sometimes acting in the opposite direction.

In short, I cannot see any useful system, but please enlighten me.

Cat

In a centrifuge running horizontally on the surface of a planet a force is exerted pushing out to the rim of the centrifuge. But gravity still acts on the centrifuge and its contents. The net effect is a combination of the two forces. In the picture below without the spinning motion, down would be as we normally experience it and the people would be sitting in stationary chairs. Without gravity the chairs would fly out at 90 degrees to the axis of rotation and the force exerted would depend on the speed and radius of rotation.

If both forces operate together it produces a net force at an angle between two. That is why the chairs are flung out at roughly 45 degrees. For people in these chairs down appears to be at a 45 degree angle to the ground. In principal there is no reason why these chairs should not be replaced by small cabins with excersie equipment.

https://www.thoughtco.com/thmb/w4Yt...st-sky-681909721-5ba4fc5246e0fb0025e2787e.jpg