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| Skylab space station (Picture 1) |
Kimmo Huosionmaa
The modern way to think about spacecraft and other structure is that they might be modular, what means that they could be sent to the sky as little pieces. The Skylab space station was actually an empty stage of Saturn V rocket. One of the greatest idea to build the space station was once introduced by Wernher Von Braun. His idea was that to the skies might send rockets, what stages would equip with dock gates. In this “open wheel” structure every element can be replaced very easily in the case of damage. They would be very easy to connect together, and this process would be not more difficult than docking the spacecraft to the International Space Station. If the shape of the space station would be like “open wheel” without a ring, it can be continued and more elements can dock to it if there is needed more space. The open structure allows that next part can be docked to that body. This allows building gigantic space stations to the Universe by using rocket stages as an element of the gigantic space station.
That would allow to build a very large structure in the orbital trajectory or even more far from the Earth. This structure can be used as the space station, and if in the middle of that structure would put the ring, where is docking gates, those stages could be installed to the structure, what looks like a wheel of the chariot. There might not have a ring around this structure, and if those rocket stages would be used, that space station can be accomplished in secrecy.
If we think that this massive structure would make artificial gravity by using centripetal force, there might be very good conditions for living in that space station. But the problem of this kind of artificial gravity is that if it starts to roll too fast, the structure would be crashed. And the control of the rotating speed is the problem. The wheel-shaped space station might be equipped with electromagnetic power shield, what turns the alpha- and beta-rays away from this space station. This will cover the personnel of this manned station from cancer, what causes by the cosmic rays.
When we are thinking about this kind of colony in space, we must say that that person might be not very weak. In this text, I will write, like the problems of building this kind of structure have been solved. And if the rotating of space station makes the gravity over 1 G would those personnel have more strength than humans, who lives on the Earth. If this kind of colony would be used as spacecraft, what would travel to the other planets, would the rotating speed adjusted, that if that planet has 1,5 times powerful gravity field than Earth, the rotating speed would increase for matching with that gravity.
Or it might increase faster because that would give strength to those members of the colony, and if they face threats, they would have enough physical strength to eliminate the attackers. And this is the space version of doping. In this scenario, those rotating spaceships would travel thru the Universe. The magnetic drive could be installed to that structure, and it would give very high speed to those persons. There have been many plans to make this kind of wheel-shaped spacecraft or station. Technical problems of those plans have been huge, and this is the reason, why this plan ever accomplished.
Sources:
Picture 1
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/sl2-7-633a.jpg
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