Gee Plus
Adapting to a High RPM Environment
The Experiment
A 9 meter radius, rotating long-duration space habitat simulation on Earth, simulating 1.4 gees at 10 RPM. 1.4 gees is the vector sum of 1 gee horizontal and 1 gee vertical. Experimental subjects with BMI < 20, having a "gravitational BMI" < 28 but the same "metabolic BMI".
Postulates
(1) Humans evolved to run, hence may be optimized for > 1 gee
- see work by Joan Vernikos, NASA Ames (retired)
- zero gee causes rapid "aging"
(2) The human vestibular system can adapt to high RPMS
- Experiments with rotating rooms show 6 RPM adaptation in 3 days, 10 RPM in 5 days
- Experiments with rotating tube beds suggest 30 RPM ( ! ) adaptation for head movements
- Athletes undergo much faster head rotations
Goals
(1) Test the Vernikos theory: do healthy humans do better in > 1 gee environments?
- corollary: there is no lower-than-one-gee "sweet spot"; Moon and Mars gravity may partially accelerate aging as well
(2) Learn about long term vestibular adaption, and the transition from rotation to non-rotation
- test frequent transitions through the hub to 1 gee and 0 RPM
(3) Select astronauts for vestibular tolerance for rotating habitats in microgravity
(4) Make low BMI rotonauts into heros
Math
a = 9.81 \times gee ~=~ \omega^2 R ~=~ { \Large \left( { 2 \pi } \over T \right) }^2 R ~=~ 4 \pi^2 { \Large { R \over T^2 } } ~~~ T in seconds
gee \times T^2 \approx 4 R ~~~~~ T ~=~ 60 / RPM
R ~=~ { \Large \left( 30 \over RPM \right)}^2 gee