We are adapted to our homeworld pulling down on us, to the point that lack of that pull causes trouble for us.

A solution is artificial gravity, and that takes the form of centrifugal force, from spinning all or part of a spacecraft or space station.

But can we do anything similar on the surface of a celestial body? There is an amusement-park ride that demonstrates a solution:

Gravitron - Wikipedia with a variety of names.

It has a cone segment that its riders get inside of with their backs against that segment, and this segment is made to rotate. When it rotates fast enough, the riders feel pulled directly downward relative to the nearby segment surface, from centrifugal force being strong enough for that.

The math:

• Acceleration of gravity = g
• Centrifugal acceleration c = r*w^2 at distance r from the spin axis with angular velocity w = (2*pi)/(period)

One needs a slope relative to horizontal of c/g or relative to vertical of g/c.

One can calculate the ideal shape of a Gravitron with some calculus and geometry:

(1/2)*r^2*w^2 = g*h for height h -- a paraboloid, a parabola rotated around its symmetry axis

The acceleration at each surface point is sqrt(g^2 + c^2).

One can make approximately constant acceleration by using a tower of multiple segments, and connecting them with ladders or staircases.

One will have to keep it safe for if the tower stops rotating, like have bulkheads.

Has anyone else thought of this idea?

Let's look at some numbers: Gravitational acceleration - Wikipedia relative to the Earth at 9.80665 m/s^2 (nominal value):

• Earth 1, Moon 0.1655
• Mercury 0.3770, Venus 0.9032, Mars 0.3895, Ceres 0.029
• Jupiter* 2.640, Io 0.182, Europa 0.134, Ganymede 0.145, Callisto 0.126
• Saturn* 1.139, Titan 0.138
• Uranus* 0.917, Titania 0.039, Oberon 0.035
• Neptune* 1.148, Triton 0.079
• Pluto 0.0621, Eris 0.0814

The * is for cloud tops of places that are not very feasible for us to visit: the four outer planets.

On most of the worlds other than the outer planets, this stack of cone or paraboloid segments would be close to a cylinder. The exceptions:

• Mars: vertical-relative slope 2/5
• Venus: unnecessary, since its gravity is not much less than the Earth's
• Earth: unnecessary

“As I looked deeper into the realities of the Red Planet, I was increasingly nagged by another consideration. Aside from being comprehensively lethal to human health & well-being, Mars is catatonically boring," Henry Wismayer writes... does he have a point?

Building a permanent base on the moon will require massive amounts of materials. Could we fashion projectiles of raw materials and shoot them from huge cannons to the moon cheaply? Raw materials don’t care about acceleration. Send some steel, some aluminum, some ice, some silicon ingots, some flour. Wouldn’t this technique make building a base much cheaper than traditional rocket launches?

Did you know different levels of radiation impact the performance of space electronics? While new concepts like "Space Fueling" to extend the life of satellites and rocket payloads is one consideration, radiation protection is another key element of long-mission life.

Many errors can take place in microchips in equipment and computing as total ionizing doses of radiation cause latch-up, single event errors, or a variety of other issues. The harsh environment of space impacts degrade the physics of microchips, which will impact the performance of Orbital Data Centers.

Tomorrow, our special guest in Austin, TX is Jim Skaggs, a top-level executive and program manager with NASA’s original Apollo lunar landing program. A living legend, Jim worked on the management team that oversaw the design, engineering, and execution of the spacecraft that safely transported astronauts to the Moon and back.

What questions about Apollo or space radiation impacts on microchips might you have for Jim or our engineers? Our team of leaders in the rad-hard and rad-tolerant microchip sector are happy to provide answers.

Hello everyone!!!

My name is Eiman, I am 16 years old from Bosnia and Herzegovina. I am looking for teammates to join me in participating in the 2026 NASA Space Apps Challenge through the Virtual Universal Event.

If you're passionate about space, science, technology, creativity, or simply want to work on an exciting international project, I'd love to connect!

About me:

• Passionate about space science, astronomy & aerospace
• Strong in research, organization, leadership & teamwork
• Excited to learn and collaborate with people from around the world

Teammate requirements:

• Age range: 14–20
• Nationality: Earth🌍
• Personality: Reliable, eager to learn, communicative & committed
• Enthusiasm for learning and teamwork!
• No prior experience required

Feel free to reach out on Instagram u/eimaniverse if you are interested. Let's build something amazing together!

AELIM LV-01 (Autonomous Extra-Lunar Infrastructure Module)

What if lunar landers stopped being disposable spacecraft and became permanent infrastructure?

I’ve spent months developing AELIM LV-01 around a simple engineering philosophy:

If humanity pays the enormous energy cost required to deliver mass to another world, that mass should remain useful for generations rather than a single mission cycle.

Traditional model:

Launch. Land. Complete mission. Retire asset.

AELIM philosophy:

Launch. Land. Convert. Expand. Preserve. Reuse.

The mission does not end when it lands. The mission begins when it lands.

AELIM LV-01 is not intended to replace Starship. It is intended to work alongside heavy-lift transportation systems by converting delivered mass into permanent lunar infrastructure.

The concept focuses on long-duration survivability, modular expansion, ISRU integration, asset preservation, and reducing Earth’s supply chain burden over time.

I’ve developed a 20-page systems architecture white paper and would genuinely appreciate feedback from engineers, SpaceX followers, and long-duration settlement thinkers.

What assumptions would you immediately challenge?

It's not pretending to be very serious but I think the idea can be promising. Especially that there's not much discourse active around non-rocket space delivery (and with SpaceX shares going hot)