MMM Classics Year 10: MMM #s 91-100 - Moon Society

“English” on a ball (for example) depending on whether it is
thrown east (spinward), west (antispinward), north (left of
east), or south (right of east).
And now for a more complete illustration.
Zero G Events and Games
All known and currently practiced forms of human
athletic activity and sport have evolved in a commonly stratified
environment horizontalized by gravity at (for all practical
purposes) a set given level which we have come to call “1 G”
or Earth-standard. This invisible, silent but essential and transcendental
component will be absent in space (though it can be
inadequately mimicked by artificial gravity against the inner
surface of an outer hull by rotation-induced centrifugal force. -
On that, later.)
So when it comes to potential events in freefall or drift
space, we will be starting with a fresh blackboard - almost. I
say almost because some aspects or varieties of terrestrial exercise
and sport are independent of gravity. Isometric and other
resistance exercises where one muscle works against another
are an example, and isometric events might replace weightlifting
in orbit. Another salvageable component is the resilient
ball. Thrown against a surface, a ball will bounce whether
gravity rules or not. Here then is a start, and a significant one.
Given these two starting points, the next inseparably
linked pair of challenges will be (1) to design a versatile space
gymnasium-arena-court volume that is relatively inexpensive
to erect and maintain, and (2) co-design a diverse family of
events and sports activities to be exercised and played therein.
And we must do both carefully with due consideration to nonpremature
standardization.
In space, where pressurized facilities must be maintained
in an ambient vacuum environment, curve-contained
volumes are the most stable and natural. We are talking about
cylinders, spheres, and donut-shaped toroids. In addition to
shape, we must pay critical attention to radius and volume as
they will shape everything. We will need facilities that are
large enough to house satisfying activities, yet economic to
provide. Compromise, or better “co”-”promise” will be the
order of the day.
Cylinders recommend themselves as the most voluminous
shapes for the mass involved that can be built on Earth
and launched ready to use in space, transported there in cargo
holds or, with a faring, stacked above or alongside a rocket
booster piggyback style. But even the largest practical such
structures (e.g. an empty or emptied retrofitable shuttle external
tank) will be rather restrictive in the activities it can host. It
would be a start.
ET Hydrogen Tank, Dimensions
Inflatable structures such as even larger cylinders,
spheres, and toroids can provide significantly more volume for
the launched mass. They would have to be easily retrofitable,
inside and out (i.e. meteorite shields), A more elegant solution
is the “hybrid” rigid-inflatable, the inflatable with an attached
rigid works-packed core or end (see MMM # 50, and 51 references
above.) Carefully codesigned for a compatible mix of
sports and athletic events, all the equipment needed for reconfiguration
for the various hosted activities would unfold, popout,
or be simply stored to be hand-deployed in a compact
works core/locker section which might even include, in more
elaborate successor versions, locker room type facilities.
Below: hybrid inflatable sphere (upper)
hybrid inflatable cylinder (lower)
Donut-shaped toroids can come in “tight” (below, left)
or loose (below, right) configurations and might offer interesting
space in which challenging sports could be played or
alternately host a number of simultaneous individual player
events.
In the tight torus, the “pinch zone” can serve as “goal”
or “backboard” for a concentric “basket” of sorts per suggestive
illustration below. Various sections of the torus walls can
be zoned (lined or color-coded) for different aspects of play.
All surfaces will be potential rebound surfaces, some fair,
others possibly foul.
The assumption, of course, is that any of these structures
would be non-rotating, and attached by shirtsleeve pressurized
passageway to a host station or orbital facility or cruise
ship. But we could always play around with “free” rotation,
fitted with ball-bearing connections to the host facility so that it
could “acquire” rotation spun up or down by the action-reaction
play that is taking part inside them. That might certainly
add interesting variables! For example, paired contestants or
teams could do their thing in opposite directions, and the resultant
torque differential would clearly indicate which side is
gaining the upper hand.
Alternately, individuals or teams could rally against
the clock and starting from a zero-G stop, work to spin up the
facility and end up running on the periphery in an artificial
gravity situation. Standardization of such a free-rotating facility
would have to be strictly controlled and might be too difficult,
however. Making provision for judging areas and at least token
media and spectator galleries will be a design challenge, hopefully
with some elegant solutions. Just as important will be
designing works cores or event pantries that will support a
diverse yet compatible variety of events and sports activities.
Moon Miners’ Manifesto Classics - Year 10 - Republished January 2006 - Page 76