The Joy of Zero G
We don't really need to discuss details that
people can imagine for themselves, but basically, floating has got
to be fun! Anything that makes you giggle in such a situation surely
has to be a good thing! Among other effects, being weightless will
mean that you and your partner can manoeuvre round each other
without danger of either of you - or any parts of you - getting
squashed! No more arms or legs going numb!
It's surely also true
that there will be a certain "knack" to be learned for
"rendezvous and docking". In fact, quite a number of ideas
have already been published about this in both fiction and
non-fiction books. For example, one author has suggested using
special four-legged shorts
to hold couples together!
Another has suggested (apparently
seriously) that three people will always be needed! (Well, I guess
tastes differ - but not for me, thanks!)
Other authors have
proposed a range of special furniture and fittings in zero-G
bed-rooms for holding onto to prevent you floating around and
bumping your head against the walls!
So far, people who've
stayed in orbit have generally slept in sleeping bags attached to
the wall - but remember, in zero G, walls, floor and ceiling are the
same. This has been mainly in order to take up as little of the
limited space as possible.
In orbiting hotel rooms, probably
a mattress or futon against the "wall", and a sheet or
blanket with a large patch of velcro at each corner will be
preferred. This will be enough to keep you in place "in bed",
and should work for double beds as well as for single beds. But
there's clearly plenty of scope for entertaining experimentation! By
bedroom designers - and by users!
The cheaper end of the
spectrum of sleeping accommodation will be used by hotel staff (and
students?) and will be more cramped - something like a sleeping-bag
in a broom-cupboard!
Anyway, we can presumably be confident
that honeymoons in orbit will become a significant segment of the
space tourism market!
Space
Future - The Joy of Zero G
Lunar Exploration Suit
from Kevitivity
by
kevin
Photo courtesy of the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory / NASA.
1960 photo shows Allyn B. "Hap" Hazard
wearing a space suit he designed.
Hap was a Senior
Development Engineer in the Missile Engineering Section of JPL in
1959 when he wrote a plan for manned space exploration. JPL was
transitioning from missiles to space exploration, and Hap had a lot
of ideas about the subject. In March 1961, Hap left JPL to work at
Aerojet, and presumably to work on the suit and his other
inventions. In addition to the suit, he designed and built a
hydrofoil boat and a snow making machine during his time at JPL.
An Experimental Engineering class at UCLA studied the suit, and
Mattel created an astronaut toy that wore a replica of it.
Even
today, many web sites include the story of Hap Hazard, his space
suit, and Major Matt Mason (the toy).
Kevitivity
» Lunar Exploration Suit
NASA HOSTS WORKSHOP TO DISCUSS EXPLORING NEAR EARTH OBJECTS
NASA will host an interactive workshop to identify objectives for
exploration missions to near-Earth objects, or NEOs,
on Aug.
10-11 at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel in Washington.
The
event will bring together experts and key leaders from NASA, other
government agencies, industry, academia, and
international
communities. They will discuss past experiences and
focus on objectives, capabilities, and concepts of operations for
human and
robotic exploration of NEOs.
The primary
goals for the workshop are to increase the collective understanding
of NEOs, communicate NASA's preliminary plans for a human mission to
a NEO, and get input on proposed mission objectives. The workshop
includes a series of briefings, panels, and breakout
sessions.
Space is limited. Journalists interested in
attending the workshop's Aug. 10 plenary sessions and reports from
the Aug. 11 breakout
sessions should register by Aug. 6 with
Michael Braukus at michael.j.brau…@nasa.gov.
A
live video stream of the plenary sessions and reports on the
breakout sessions will be available on NASA's Exploration website.
To
access the stream and a schedule of events,
visit:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=http://www.nasa.gov/exploration&usg=AFQjCNEB7zpj66C8_1tLaojOrR5NmsdAmQ
For
more information about NASA and agency programs,
visit:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=http://www.nasa.gov&usg=AFQjCNFtj-2VYUKhl8UO2FFVYdu30c2ZZg
A
vision born at MIT will ride last space shuttle
A
vision born at MIT will ride last space shuttle
Boston
Globe – Large-scale experiments are common in the world of
physics, where massive accelerators or detectors are necessary to
re- create the conditions of the early universe or detect ghostly
particles that shower down from exploding stars. Many are designed
and built by committee. But the alpha magnetic spectrometer, or AMS,
bears the distinct imprint of Ting. He put together a team of 600
scientists and shepherded the project through political, scientific,
and logistical obstacles.
