International Space Station astros prepare to rejoin us Earthlings Three astronauts from the International Space Station are expected to fly home tomorrow after spending 172 days floating in space. Expedition 48 Commander and NASA astronaut Jeff Williams, Soyuz commander and Flight Engineer Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka from Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, will leave the ISS in the …
Other designs of course.
Since the lack of gravity is one of the main problems this has to be something they're considering?
http://www.scifiideas.com/sfi/10-space-station-concepts/
Could Passive magnetic bearings be used for friction free support of the stations rotating section using permanent magnetic attractive, repulsive forces or both?
Though if the solar panels were on one end of the station facing the sun they could spin too.
unlike a traditional motor bearing design with a small surface area it would have to be far larger I guess.
Though if the solar panels were on one end of the station facing the sun they could spin too along with the habitat section.
Giant spinning space-stations seems a little ambitious at our current technology-level.. However: Would it be so difficult to have a centrifuge that astronauts could sleep in? It could be relatively small, housed entirely inside a non-spinning pressurized container. 8 hours (OK, so I don't know how long these guys get in bed but let's say 8) of the equivalent of 1.2 G should be enough to offset some of the damage surely?
> You've done that deliberately haven't you?
Yes
But seriously, there seems to be a trend for "Oh it's not efficient enough" or "how do we protect the crew during a 6 month flight", "We need a new set of ultra light, ultra strong materials"
How about a MSR style rector(s) driving a VASMIR style set of engines, bolt on more until you hit the ability to make 2 Gravity's, then run the damned thing at 50%
Sometimes the right answer is in fact a bigger hammer
and MechJeb, cuz you always need a Jeb on board :)
Wouldn't you then have a problem that all of your gravity was at the back, until you start braking and then it's suddenly at the front?
Well, unless you flip the ship around to do the braking. Still, you'd have to design your interior to be like a skyscraper and not like a submarine.
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