A New Concept in Artificial Gravity Systems

A concept is presented of a rotating artificial gravity system for manned orbital vehicles and stations which requires no expenditure of propulsive mass to attain full-vehicle rotation. The device proposed is a deployable reaction flywheel of large radius, consisting of small weights at the ends of light flexible cables driven by a motor through the leading action of cranks at the "flywheel" hub. Deployment and retrieval techniques are described. The device can be applied to most full-vehicle rotation configurations that have been proposed in the past, making it possible to start and stop rotation frequently for a negligible amount of hardware weight and power. This makes it practicable to schedule frequent periods of vehicle rotation for crew gravity therapy and convenience of operations such as internal maintenance 011 a minimum interference basis with periods of nonrotation for such operations as observation, experimentation, maneuver, rendezvous, and docking. Nomenclature /) = cable equivalent diameter, in. E = kinetic energy, ft-lb G = acceleration, g g = gravitational acceleration, ft/sec2 HP = horsepower / == moment of inertia, slug-ft2 I = crank normal offset, ft R — radius, ft s = stress, psf Sr = specific reactant consumption, Ib/kw-hr T = tension, Ib t = time, sec V = velocity, fps W = weight, Ib 77m = mechanical efficiency co = angular velocity, rad/sec Subscripts^