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Old December 26th 16, 08:11 PM posted to sci.space.tech
Alain Fournier[_3_]
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Default Partial Torus Station

On Dec/26/2016 at 8:43 AM, David Hoag wrote :

Does anyone have any comments on the viability of a spacecraft such as the one I posted in the link below?

(I couldn't figure out how to post a photo so I posted it to my Facebook feed and linked it below.)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...1288363&type=3

I'm sure more learned people have considered such an intermediate approach to provide artificial gravity while conserving construction costs but it's hard to find information about current research on it.

If a successor to the ISS has been in the planning, why can't it be a partial torus?

David Hoag
Space Enthusiast



A full torus is a stronger shape than a partial torus. You would have
large stresses at the T junction where the axis meets the circle arc. If
you want to reduce costs by having less than a full torus, why not just
have a habitat at the end of a long spinning cable. At the other end of
the cable you can put a second habitat, or just dead weight (spent fuel
tanks could be used for the dead weight). The habitat can have any
shape, so you choose the shape which best suits your needs. That shape
is unlikely to be a partial torus.


Alain Fournier