![]() An inside look causes positive g-load while and outside loop causes negative g-load. Banking an airplane in a 60 degree bank will cause g-loads on the body due to centripetal force. ![]() Again, it is the acceleration that is causing the load. When coasting (no acceleration nor deceleration forces) then there is no g-load (weightlessness in space).Īccelerating in a car, plane or spaceship causes g-loads. Our weight is the measure of that force acting on our mass.Īcceleration is a change in speed. The physical surface stops that acceleration. On Earth, gravity is a force that continues to pull us down toward the center of the Earth. The force of gravity on Jupiter and Saturn is stronger than that on Earth. Large masses have higher levels of gravitational attraction. Gravity works on a mass to pull it toward another mass. Chemical propellants do not burn for long enough to require such measures. Of course, such measures to counteract G forces can only ever be necessary with the use of nuclear or antimatter propellant. Any differences in density can result in the denser parts of the body tending to 'settle' towards the back of the ship, and so must be avoided where possible. The general gist: for lowish accelerations like 2 G, you don't need to do anything special to the human body, just make sure you're lying either prone or on your back, and remaining disciplined about your breathing.įor higher Gs, like 5G+, you need to carefully manage the human body, putting it in a gel-like cocoon of similar density, and substituting air for a breathable liquid. You can find more information than you ever wanted at Projectrho on this topic. Ignoring the major point that human tolerance of G forces is not the limiting factor on space travel, plenty of thought has been made on how to counteract G forces, not least by 60s sci-fi writers. Other than science fiction, there is no known technology that could take humans beyond the solar system. There are some promising high thrust / somewhat high specific impulse nuclear technologies that might be useful these are mired in politics. Ion thrusters are in use now, but none are quite ready for prime time when it comes to human spaceflight. There are some promising low thrust / high efficiency (high specific impulse) technologies such as ion thrusters that might help humans get beyond the Moon. The chemical engines currently used to propel spacecraft on interplanetary trajectories coupled with the tyranny of the rocket equation are the key reasons rocket cannot sustain high accelerations for an extended length of time. Just a few hundredths of a g of sustained acceleration would cut the trip time to Mars down to a week or so. The spacecraft then coasts all the way to Mars. It instead takes several months to get to Mars because the rockets used to get there only fire for a few minutes. If a rocket could sustain 1 g acceleration for a bit over a day, we could go to Mars in a bit over a day. The problem isn't so much that humans cannot sustain high G forces for any extended length of time: The problem is that rockets cannot.
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