Jump to content

The Centrifudge

gabyalufix

By gabyalufix
in KSP1 The Spacecraft Exchange

 Share

Recommended Posts

gabyalufix

gabyalufix

Posted
Posted

So I decided to make a space station with gravity. Cheap, quick, easy, no thrills, nothing fancy. Pure whim.

I did the math, figured out what I needed, and set to work. I decided to go with a 10-meter radius centrifuge, and I calculated that to get 1g, I needed around 10 rotations per second.

So I built it. Quick, dirty, easy. Not gonna win any beauty contests here. i used the saturn V rockets and a KW challenger rocket and that 3m x 5 splitter that I always use. SSTO.

zlYht.jpg

Ok, we\'re up. Let\'s spin her up! Each big hab mod is made to carry 250 kerbins, packed in like passengers on a 747. So we\'ve got a good 1000 people in fake gravity. good times.

4zcaH.jpg

Ok, problem. She\'s maxed out at a little better than 1 rotation per second. (I counted 30 in 27seconds) Not even close to enough! Dammit!

fCyzH.jpg

Well, let\'s see what g-force I did get, then. Ugh. Shoot. Let\'s take a look at the math . . . wait . . . uh oh . . .

oh . . . oh dear . . .

So before, when I said I needed 10 rotations per second? that was wrong. I needed 10 per minute. . . .

So I just subjected my 1000 innocent kerbins to 47gees. Now, ok, that might be survivable. I mean there was that one human who survived at 46g for like, a split second. With crippling injuries. And this thing has been spun up for how long? Several minutes . . . Hoo boy.

So yeah. Anyone want a few habitation modules full of liquified kerbins?

The moral of this story: always check your math. Or not, kerbins is cheap.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tim_Barrett

Tim_Barrett

Posted
Posted

Too bad we can\'t have realistic centrifuges yet, since all parts are directly attached to the craft. A real interplanetary craft will have it\'s own section for a spinning module, and the rest will remain in one direction.

But untill then, its fiesta time! Spicy kerbosalsa!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
gabyalufix

gabyalufix

Posted
  • Author
Posted

It looks like authors have considerable disagreement on this. If you set the requirements to 1g and the radius to 25m, you get all greens and yellows, indicating that at least some estimates indicate that this would be 'comfortable'.

It\'s a little unclear how these measures would scale, since these calculations combine the strength of gravity (which is the same between kerbin and earth), and distances (which are scaled differently).

On one hand, they are shorter, and thus the gravity differential would be less noticable. On the other hand, they still presumably have some sort of internal rotational sense similar to the liquid-filled tubes found in humans, and being smaller doesn\'t change how quickly they are being spun. For example, just because mice are smaller does not make them less susceptible to dizziness.

So no, it does NOT necessarily mean that a comfortable centrifuge would be 1/4 the size.

I wonder if I could pull off a 50 foot centrifuge . . .

Link to comment
Share on other sites
benjaminlawrence27

benjaminlawrence27

Posted
Posted

I think the main problem with this, is that a centrifuge type device is just not meant to be launched into space, it should be launched in pieces and assembled in space. I commend you for trying this, however, because it\'s ingenious. Again, I\'ll say that I would just shoot for a lower gravity within the device. It wouldn\'t be great, but it would be enough for the kerbonauts to feel comfortable in the pseudo-gravity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...