When it comes to space, many questions come to mind. Astronauts, environmental conditions, tasks… In addition, gravity is also one of the emphasized issues.

Bride details about artificial gravity let’s take a look.

First, let’s try to understand what artificial gravity is.

Looking at Einstein’s thought experiment: gravity and acceleration are equivalent It seems that it is. That is, if we were to enter a spaceship that was accelerating at 1G, we would not be able to tell the difference between the ship we were in and any other room on Earth.

So in a sense this is the effect of gravity. can be imitated by acceleration shows. On the other hand, the artificial gravity systems we see in science fiction productions are based on this principle.

It is theoretically possible for spaceships to create artificial gravity by continuously accelerating, or to create gravity using centrifugal force by spinning the vehicle.

However, at this point a problem arises. Unfortunately, these operations are very difficult and expensive to perform. For example, to continuously increase the speed Huge amounts of fuel are required. The method of rotating spacecraft only works on very large spacecraft.

In addition, when astronauts spend long periods of time in a low-gravity environment, with various health problems they are faced with. For example, their faces swell, muscle performance decreases and osteoporosis can occur.

Chris Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut, expresses the negative effects of artificial gravity as follows:

Chris Hadfield

“Weightlessness may seem like a great thing, but it comes at a high price. If you don’t have constant stress, your body becomes lazy, your muscles start to waste, your bones are reabsorbed into your body.

To minimize these negative effects, astronauts have strict exercise programs is subjected. However, it is quite controversial whether artificial gravity is a solution that can completely eliminate these effects.

In summary, this is one of the biggest reasons why artificial gravity is not used on the International Space Station This technology is quite expensive and challenging. is that it is.

Our other content that may interest you: