How SpaceX Could Create Artificial Gravity on the Journey to Mars
Watching Scott Kelly struggle to walk after a year in space should be a sobering reminder to those making plans to travel to Mars. In spite of an extensive exercise regimen and the best treatment that fifty years of space medicine can muster, recovering from extended zero-g remains a tremendous physical challenge.
There are two factors which mitigate this risk with respect to the trip to Mars:
- The outbound leg to Mars is expected to take 120 days, roughly a third of the time that Kelly spent in orbit.
- Martian gravity is only 40% of Earth’s gravity.
But these factors are immaterial when one considers that any Mars mission will require that astronauts hit the ground running, as it were — rather than beginning a long period of recovering from zero-g exposure, the astronauts will need to begin punishingly physical work. Arriving on Mars enfeebled will be at best pointless and at worst fatal. How can this problem be solved?
The traditional thinking on artificial gravity is to create rotating ships — like the old Rotor carnival ride, centrifugal force will press the crew…
