|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
artificial gravity a different idea...maybe?
Hi Folks
Just joined the group for the purposes of posting an idea. I have been doing a little reading today about artificial gravity and haven't seen magnetism mentioned at all. This may sound stupid but couldn't the floor of a spacecraft be magnetized and the crew wear suits that would be attracted to that floor? It would be more practical in a spacestation, which runs on photovoltaic, cause the electro magnetic floor would be a drain on electricity. Please let me know what you think. |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
artificial gravity a different idea...maybe?
"Johnson.." writes:
I have been doing a little reading today about artificial gravity and haven't seen magnetism mentioned at all. This may sound stupid but couldn't the floor of a spacecraft be magnetized and the crew wear suits that would be attracted to that floor? Notwithstanding the issue that strong magnetic fields tend to interfere with the proper operation of electrical equipment, there is the fundamental issue that magnetism only affects magnetic materials, whereas the primary characteristic of gravity and inertia is that both of them affect =ALL= forms of matter equally. Furthermore it is not the magnetic _FIELD_ that generates force on an object, but the magnetic field _GRADIENT_: ferromagnetic materials are attracted to a magnet because the field strength _INCREASES_ as one gets closer to the magnet, so that moving them closer to the magnet increases the magnetic field energy stored in the ferromagnetic object and the perturbation it makes in the surrounding field. If you put a chunk of iron in a perfectly UNIFORM magnetic field, it would feel no =NET= force at all --- it would merely feel a torque that would align it with the field, and even that only if it was asymmetrical. Hence, for your proposal to work, one would have to generate a constant magnetic field _GRADIENT_ of `X' tesla per meter throughout the volume of the crew space, i.e., it would need to be strongest at the floor, and linearly decrease with distance from the floor. Also, the so-called "magnetic lines of force" will appear to be diverging outward from some point or line source below the floor. This creates a number of problems: 1.) Maxwell's equations plus practical materials considerations impose physical limits on how large a volume over which one can produce a uniform magnetic field gradient. 2.) Since most healthy humans tend to be non-spherical, their magnetic suits will tend to align their bodies along the magnetic field lines --- which as I said, will appear to be DIVERGING from some point or line below the floor. This will mean the floors will have to be sharply curved unless their is a very strong uniform background field imposed along with the uniform field gradient. 3.) Unless all their tools are non-magnetic, they will attempt to align themselves along the magnetic field lines. Imagine trying to use a wrench or screwdriver that is constantly trying to twist itself out of your hand and line up perpendicular to the local magnetic field. 4.) Ferromagnetic materials are highly nonlinear; hence, if you put two chunks of iron in a magnetic field, their induced magnetic moments will cause them to exert complicated and difficult to predict forces on each other if you get them close together. Likewise for two humans wearing ferromagnetic suits. It would be more practical in a spacestation, which runs on photovoltaic, cause the electro magnetic floor would be a drain on electricity. I don't think you realize just how LITTLE power the solar panels on the space station will put out. The =TOTAL= power capability of the ISS is only 110 kilowatts, or roughly a mere 150 horsepower --- about the equivalent of three or four automobiles running flat out. The power requirements for your scheme would be ENORMOUS unless the magnets are superconducting --- and even them, the cost would be large, since it costs a LOT of power to keep a superconductor cold enough to superconduct (cryogenic refrigerators consume tens or even HUNDREDS of watts of power for every watt of heat they pull out of the cryostat!). In summary, their are multiple reasons why this idea would be both impractical and undesirable over the entire volume of a space station. It =MIGHT= perhaps be possible in a very small "exercise room" is a space station with MUCH more power to spare than the ISS, but I do not see that happening any time soon. -- Gordon D. Pusch perl -e '$_ = \n"; s/NO\.//; s/SPAM\.//; print;' |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
artificial gravity a different idea...maybe?
"Johnson.." wrote in message ...
Hi Folks Just joined the group for the purposes of posting an idea. I have been doing a little reading today about artificial gravity and haven't seen magnetism mentioned at all. This may sound stupid but couldn't the floor of a spacecraft be magnetized and the crew wear suits that would be attracted to that floor? It would be more practical in a spacestation, which runs on photovoltaic, cause the electro magnetic floor would be a drain on electricity. Please let me know what you think. You would just need permenant magnets embedded in the boots. The real reason for artificial gravity is that there are serious health consequences to living in a zero-gee environment for any length of time. Plus, it helps keep your stuff sorted. Karl Hallowell |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
artificial gravity a different idea...maybe?
"Johnson.." wrote:
I have been doing a little reading today about artificial gravity and haven't seen magnetism mentioned at all. This may sound stupid but couldn't the floor of a spacecraft be magnetized and the crew wear suits that would be attracted to that floor? It would be more practical in a spacestation, which runs on photovoltaic, cause the electro magnetic floor would be a drain on electricity. You could do that a lot cheaper with velcro. The point of artificial gravity is not that it makes it easier to get around (actually, it makes it harder) but that it prevents adverse health effects of zero-g, such as bone loss and muscle loss. |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
artificial gravity a different idea...maybe?
"Johnson.." wrote in message ...
Hi Folks Just joined the group for the purposes of posting an idea. I have been doing a little reading today about artificial gravity and haven't seen magnetism mentioned at all. This may sound stupid but couldn't the floor of a spacecraft be magnetized and the crew wear suits that would be attracted to that floor? It would be more practical in a spacestation, which runs on photovoltaic, cause the electro magnetic floor would be a drain on electricity. Please let me know what you think. Unfortunately, this only solves part of the problem. Velcro has been suggested (and used?) to make one's feet adhere to a surface. However, this doesn't prevent calcium loss in bones or make toilets flush any better. Best regards, Len (Cormier) PanAero, Inc. and Third Millennium Aerospace, Inc. ( http://www.tour2space.com ) |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
artificial gravity a different idea...maybe?
"Len" wrote:
Unfortunately, this only solves part of the problem. Velcro has been suggested (and used?) to make one's feet adhere to a surface. However, this doesn't prevent calcium loss in bones or make toilets flush any better. If velcro DID make toilets work or flush any better, I'd be worried. |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
artificial gravity a different idea...maybe?
You would just need permenant magnets embedded in the boots. The real
reason for artificial gravity is that there are serious health consequences to living in a zero-gee environment for any length of time. Plus, it helps keep your stuff sorted. Karl Hallowell The health consequences could be avoided by putting a load on the body, for example using bunge cords to pull the shoulders to the feet. This is similar to the treadmill they have that they run on. To really reproduce gravity and to perfectly match earth conditions you need a spinning habitat. This can be cheaply and easily done I don't know why this is an issue at all. The ship has to have a cylindrical habitat and this cylinder has to spin. The people on the inside surface can enjoy almost real gravity. Zoltan |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
artificial gravity a different idea...maybe?
"Johnson.." schrieb: the floor of a spacecraft be magnetized and the crew wear suits that would be attracted to that floor? It would be more practical in a spacestation, which runs on photovoltaic, cause the electro magnetic floor would be a drain on electricity. Please let me know what you think. Hallo May be you need a powerful magnetic field to hold a person on the ground. So the problem is: should the person be able to lift his feet? Also the design of today spacecraft uses all walls for equipment. Perhaps you include a little switch inside the shoes, so when the leg is lifted, the switch will turn off the magnetic field in the shoe. But as I think, some astronauts love it to fly from one corner to the other, of course, I will enjoy that. This can be more interesting for bigger spacecrafts, not so big that you get an effect when parts are rotate. But, what will happen outside the spacecraft, when you have a megnetic field running. Would this act like a particel collector? This will bombard your hull and can cause heavy damage. So you can construct a magnetic field around the space ship, that operate like such a collector, then maybe some micro meteorits collapsed inside this field and lose their energy there. Possible to lower the cosmic rays this way? lin |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
artificial gravity a different idea...maybe?
(Zoltan Szakaly) writes:
You would just need permenant magnets embedded in the boots. The real reason for artificial gravity is that there are serious health consequences to living in a zero-gee environment for any length of time. Plus, it helps keep your stuff sorted. Karl Hallowell The health consequences could be avoided by putting a load on the body, for example using bunge cords to pull the shoulders to the feet. Are you sure about this? Have there been any studies on these lines? I could certainly see this helping with skeletal issues, but is the skeleton the only thing that dislikes long-term zero-gee ? Lex |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
SPACE STATION IDEA | Jay | Space Station | 1 | November 22nd 03 12:10 PM |
Relevancy of the Educator Astronaut to the Space Program | stmx3 | Space Shuttle | 201 | October 27th 03 11:00 PM |
artificial gravity | Johnson.. | Space Station | 7 | August 22nd 03 05:48 AM |
"Big Rip" has problems with Thermodynamics ! | Morenga | Science | 9 | August 20th 03 02:22 PM |
Oceanographers Catch First Wave Of Gravity Mission's Success | Ron Baalke | Science | 13 | August 7th 03 06:24 AM |