a picture of spaceship
People in spaceships move around as they would on Earth in many kinds of literature, movies, and TV episodes. Astronauts in space, on the other hand, float in real life. The distinction is not just because novels, movies, and television shows are all works of fiction. It’s because artificial gravity exists in such imaginary planets. It doesn’t work on our planet – at least not yet. But that might happen.
Gravity and Space
Gravity is an elemental force. It draws mass things toward each other. Objects with a high mass, such as the Earth, draw other objects to their cores. This is why, no matter where we are on the planet, we keep our feet firmly planted. Gravity, on the other hand, diminishes with distance. As humans go to the Moon or Mars, their gravitational attraction toward Earth decreases rapidly, leaving them adrift.
This may appear to be enjoyable. But life isn’t so great without gravity. Our bones and muscles do not have to work as hard in a gravity-free environment in the long run. They are weakened as a result of this. Blood and other physiological fluids do not flow correctly in its absence and might accumulate in the upper body. This can result in hearing loss.
“We know several methods to achieve the same impact as gravity using different forces,” says Mika McKinnon. It is located in Mountain View, California. And at least a couple of the more uncomplicated strategies could not be far off.
According to McKinnon, one method would be to “use electrical and magnetism as a manner of replacing for gravity.” “You can generate that magnetic field by circling electricity,” she explains. Magnetism is produced by the passage of electric current.
Walking against a magnet may potentially help to minimize bone and muscle loss in space. Being glued to the floor, however, is not the same as gravity. Fluids might still accumulate in the upper body. And your stomach would still be perplexed.
Living Without an Anchor
According to McKinnon, scientists might try to harness actual gravity. She points out that anything with mass has gravity. So having a lot of mass is a straightforward notion. “Build yourself a planet, and you’ll have enough,” she observes. However, she adds, “It’s not very handy to have to create or carry a planet about with you.” Instead, she says, the trick may be to pack a lot of mass into a tiny space.
Neutron stars, for example, have a high density. She claims that a teaspoon of neutron-star material might be enough to give humans gravity. Or a black hole the size of a “tiny pencil prick.” Both of these have a lot of gravity for their size.
But how could a black hole, no matter how small, be contained amid a spaceship? McKinnon responds, “That’s an engineering problem.” “And we don’t know what the engineering would be.”