Re: spaceships, terminology, windows

In article <ed7dhq$6ne$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Mary K. Kuhner <mkkuhner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
In article <44F6DC35.87353D93@xxxxxxx>, nyra <nyra@xxxxxxx> wrote:

During acceleration, things could start to get squishy at 10g+[1];
whether the ship could survive that would depend on how valuable ships
are - if they're important enough that it's considered a good idea to
receive a ship intact even after the entire crew has been evacuated
through an inch-diameter hole, it might make sense to build it sturdy
enough to survive a full-throttle AG failure.

Seems to me that if you are flying along at a constant speed, upside
down, and suddenly turn off the AG, everything onboard will experience
a sudden pull downward.

I want you think about this v*e*r*y carefully.... If you are
moving in space at constant space (otherwise known as "free
fall") and the artificial gravity shuts off...*what* is going
to pull you to the ceiling? For that matter what does "upside
down" actually mean in this context? "Upside down" relative
to *what*?

Anything loose will crash into the ceiling
at 1G acceleration--so the further they have to fall, the worse--
and anything tied down will experience a sudden load which could
possibly snap its ties. A person will have an experience something
like being on an amusement park ride.

And constant velocity, where is the 1G acceleration coming
from? That is...what is accelerating the ship if you're
moving at constant velocity?

In the case of the amusement park ride, you are subject to the
constant acceleration of the Earth's gravity. In open space,
*everything*--ship *and* contents--will be subject to
acceleration by outside influences, but that won't make the
contents accelerate with respect to the ship itself. (I'm
ignoring tidal effects, but unless you're quite near a
*really* massive object, they can safely be ignored. In orbit
around the Earth, for instance, does not constitute "close to
a really massive object.)

But I am still struggling with this--in particular, I don't think
I've ever seen a story that assumed AG that discussed what might
happen at the edge of the field. If gravity is perpendicular to the
floor in the main cabin and parallel to it in Engineering, stepping
through that door would be *bad*--wouldn't it?

My own expectation would be that the field would vary
smoothly. Thus, you might see the direction fo the AG field
shift, but it wouldn't be abrupt.

--
Hal Heydt
Albany, CA

My dime, my opinions.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: spaceships, terminology, windows
    ... a sudden pull downward. ... For that matter what does "upside ... as things which relied on gravity to keep them in place ... the ship, which could be disconcerting. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)
  • Re: spaceships, terminology, windows
    ... a sudden pull downward. ... For that matter what does "upside ... as things which relied on gravity to keep them in place ... the ship, which could be disconcerting. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)
  • Re: A Massless question?
    ... then why does gravity affect it. ... frame of reference, the light will always travel in a straight line. ... the ship will say the light is moving in a straight line, ... appear to bend opposite the direction of acceleration in the frame ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: Bending of light not well authenticated
    ... > ...you seem to claim to be able to observe a light beam being bent ... I am saying light beams in flat space appear bent when examined ... A companion ship agrees to shine a laser ... acceleration sees the beam not tracking a straight line, ...
    (sci.physics.relativity)
  • Re: The Physical Reality of SpaceTime
    ... "curvature of spacetime" is the answer there. ... frames of reference while at the same time account for acceleration. ... Because a human being inside the ship experiences the acceleration as ... we know that light follows a straight path. ...
    (sci.physics.relativity)
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