Artificial gravity ceases to be fiction

Artificial gravity has long been described inscience fiction novels and featured in films like 2001's Space Odyssey. Theoretically, the possibility of creating artificial gravity is not denied. However, before the projects that could be tested in the conditions of space stations in the near future, it almost did not reach. But very soon everything can change thanks to the efforts of the team CU Boulder.

Why artificial gravity?

In fact, everything is quite simple and the essenceenclosed in human physiology. The fact is that our bodies are arranged in such a way as to exist when an attraction force acts on all our internal organs and the musculoskeletal system. In the conditions of space stations, as you understand, there is practically no such impact, which in the future is fraught with the emergence of various health problems. And if the muscles and joints can be maintained in good shape, doing on special simulators, then you will not “train” the internal organs.

"Astronauts experience a loss of bone and musclemasses, a strong load on the cardiovascular system and have a lot of other risks, ”says Torin Clark, one of the leaders of CU Boulder. "Of course, there are a number of exercises and measures to maintain the health of astronauts, but artificial gravity would help solve all the problems at once."

How does the installation for the creation of artificial gravity

The developers themselves call the machine “centrifuge withshort radius of action. " The installation is a metal platform, similar to a hospital gurney. A man lays down on it, after which the platform begins to rotate. At first, it rotates slowly, gaining momentum over time.

“The angular velocity created by the centrifuge pushes the body to the base of the platform. It is almost the same as if you were standing on the ground. ”Mr. Clark explained the principle of action.

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At the same time in the course of development, engineers are faced withvery obvious problem: with a long rotation of a person begins to feel sick. Is it possible to get rid of such a side effect? As it turned out, you can. During the tests to the 10th session, all the subjects rotated comfortably in a centrifuge, without any problems. The rotation speed was 17 revolutions per minute.

This is interesting: How does the low gravity of the moon affect the health of astronauts?

Why not use the installation right now

Before embarking on a full-scalespace tests, scientists need to answer a series of questions. Namely, is the effect of learning to stay in a centrifuge permanently fixed, does such an approach not have remote health effects and, most importantly, how long the astronaut needs to take this “gravity bath” in order to compensate for all the negative effects of weightlessness. As soon as the expediency and safety of the approach developed by the CU Boulder team is proved, we can expect the appearance of the first working unit for creating artificial gravity in space conditions.

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