{"id":8299,"date":"2013-04-08T10:00:58","date_gmt":"2013-04-08T16:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/?p=8299"},"modified":"2013-04-06T14:29:36","modified_gmt":"2013-04-06T20:29:36","slug":"g-is-for-gravity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/g-is-for-gravity\/","title":{"rendered":"G is for Gravity"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"cmdr_hadfield_juggling\"<\/a>
Commander Hadfield planning a zero-g easter egg hunt earlier this month on the ISS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Possibly one of the most defining aspects of space is the sensation of free fall.\u00a0 Of course, gravity exists in space, the same as it does everywhere else in the universe (probably<\/a>), but in space we feel its effects differently because we aren’t close enough to a body of sufficient mass to feel a strong pull.\u00a0 That, and our spaceship itself is also in free fall, so if that’s our frame of reference we feel no weight because there’s nothing for weight to push back on … but that’s a concept probably best left for O is for Orbit.<\/p>\n

The thing is, as fun as weightlessness can be, in the long-term it can have some negative health effects<\/a>, such as deterioration of bone and muscles, weakening of the immune system, etc.\u00a0 The effects of micro gravity on human fertility are not very well-studied, but there’s some speculation that conception and gestation would be impossible, since embryos need gravity in order to implant properly.\u00a0 Humans are adapted to live on the surface of Earth, and that means living with a constant 10 m\/s2<\/sup> or so of gravitational acceleration.<\/p>\n

For future space colonies and spacefaring civilizations, this means we need to find a way to simulate the effects of gravity in a micro-gravity environment.\u00a0 There are a few common ways to deal with this problem:<\/p>\n