Bruce Dorminey reports that long stays in space have a major hitch. Medical studies on the effects of microgravity on astronauts after many months in low-Earth orbit (LEO) can not get around one hard truth. Humans, all critters, did not evolve for life without gravity. Thus, artificial gravity habitats are now being discussed as a crucial component of long-duration near-Earth asteroid (NEA) exploration and mining missions.
Artificial gravity will be particularly important for years-long commercial missions where real-time telerobotics will need to be performed by crews housed in proximity to the asteroid itself. Such gravity habitats would also be useful for years-long exploration of low-gravity bodies such as the Moon, Mars , or eventually even the moons of the outer planets.
William Kemp, a Washington, D.C.-area defense contractor, thinks he and business partner, Ted Maziejka, have come up with a design that offers a viable solution in such instances. It is a 30-meter diameter cylindrical space station, capable of creating variable artificial gravity by spinning the cylinder about its long axis.
If we want to stay in space longer than a year we are going to have to have artificial gravity systems or else we are going to sacrifice people in the process, Kemp, Founder and CEO of United Space Structures in Falls Church, Va., as told to Forbes.
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