Space Problems in Gravity

Introduction: (Initial Observation)

Living in space is a need for astronauts and scientists who study Astronomy, Cosmology and certain other types of research. As time passes, new information and developments will force more human to live in space for a longer time. Living in space requires facing new problems and challenges. Many of these problems are related to no gravity conditions that exists inside space stations. The purpose of this project is to discover and explore some of those problems and possibly propose some solution for them.

Information Gathering:

Find out about gravity and it’s effects and benefits. Read books, magazines or ask professionals who might know in order to learn about the zero gravity problems. Keep track of where you got your information from.

Write what questions comes to your mind about a zero gravity condition. Following are some sample questions:

1. Is there gravity in space? If there is why doesn’t moon fall in to earth? Why don’t satellites fall on the earth?
2. It is true that gravity decreases with distance, so is it possible to be far away from a planet or star and feel no gravity?
3. What are the problems of zero gravity for human?
4. Can you get a cup of water and drink it?
5. How do you drink where your body has no orientation or is upside down?
6. What direction does the flame go if you light up a match?
7. How does the heat exchange happens (Convection) without gravity.
8. Think about equipment, tools and appliances that you have at home. Which one will have problems in space                  and which one will work just as good?
9. How do you go to bathroom and pee (Urinate)?
These type of questions can help you to focus your search and find more information.

Also search for:

1. Effects of zero gravity in human
2. Effects of zero gravity in plants
3. Problems of zero gravity.
4. Zero gravity flame

Click here to see another good link about gravitational forces.

For information about space and gravity visit NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory site.

Is there any gravity in space? Click here to find out.

If you really like to read more and find out how gravity is the main mover and shaper of the Universe. visits “What are your ideas about Gravity”

To know more about the problems of zero gravity for human, search the Internet for “Roswell aliens”. Eye-witness accounts of the bodies of small beings who had crashed in New Mexico qualify scientifically sound. That is, prior to any public scientific understanding of what evolutionary effects zero-gravity might impart on an animal or human. Roswell witnesses provided a description of creatures who have been in zero gravity for a long time.

Following are some of the descriptions of Roswell aliens that might be related to living in zero gravity conditions.

1) Roswell aliens described as under 4 feet tall.

2) Roswell aliens described as humanoid/bipedal with large heads.

3) Roswell aliens described as completely hairless.

6) Roswell aliens described as very thin and frail looking.

This description is provided by eye-witnesses who did not have the benefit of today’s scientific understanding of zero-gravity evolution. For people the government labeled as incompetent and misguided, they were great guessers!

Question/ Purpose:

What do you want to find out? Write a statement that describes what you want to do. Use your observations and questions to write the statement.
The purpose of this project is to find out about the possible problems in space related to gravity. Also find out what method can be used to control a person and hold him/her in place.

You may also use this second question:

How does the mass of a person affect the choice of magnetic shoe strength?

Identify Variables:

When you think you know what variables may be involved, think about ways to change one at a time. If you change more than one at a time, you will not know what variable is causing your observation. Sometimes variables are linked and work together to cause something. At first, try to choose variables that you think act independently of each other.
For the second question you may define variables as shown here:

Independent variable is the shape and size of magnetic shoe.

Dependent variable is the maximum force it can hold.

Please note that forces are caused by motions, not by gravity.

Hypothesis:

Based on your gathered information, make an educated guess about what types of things affect the system you are working with. Identifying variables is necessary before you can make a hypothesis. Following are sample hypotheses:
My first hypothesis is:

My hypothesis is that in space all physical definitions related to weight of objects will change. In space cotton and iron weight the same (nothing/ zero). In space you are never overweight and you will not need a cane if your leg is broken.

My second Hypothesis is:

Stronger shoe magnet is required for larger persons.

Experiment Design:

Design an experiment to test each hypothesis. Make a step-by-step list of what you will do to answer each question. This list is called an experimental procedure. For an experiment to give answers you can trust, it must have a “control.” A control is an additional experimental trial or run. It is a separate experiment, done exactly like the others. The only difference is that no experimental variables are changed. A control is a neutral “reference point” for comparison that allows you to see what changing a variable does by comparing it to not changing anything. Dependable controls are sometimes very hard to develop. They can be the hardest part of a project. Without a control you cannot be sure that changing the variable causes your observations. A series of experiments that includes a control is called a “controlled experiment.”
Experiment 1:

Design and make a working model of the equipment that can be used in space.

Following are some examples:

A chair with straps
A bed with straps
A drinking bottle with special provisions for zero gravity
Flower pot for growing plants at zero gravity
Magnetic shoes for zero gravity
You can do your experiment based on any of the above ideas or thousands of other ideas that you may come up with. For here we describe magnetic shoes as an experiment for this project.

Procedures:

Get some small plastic figures and some small magnets. use a strap or tape or glue to attach the magnets to the feet of human figures. Get a large empty can that is made from iron or galvanized iron and use that as a model of space station.

Let the figures stand on the sides of this bucket or can in different orientations.

If you can not find small plastic figures, just make them yourself from cardboard or wood dowels. This is a sample made of wood dowel and some glue, nail and screws.
Magnet that we used is called latch magnet. You can buy it from any hardware store. Wood dowels can also be purchased from craft stores or hardware stores.

Picture at the top of the page shows our wooden man standing on the walls of an empty can.

Observations: Play, experiment or try your model to see if it can do what you expect and if any problems may happen. Write down any problem you may observe. Recommend solutions if you can. Also try the solutions you recommend if possible.

Discussion:

How strong and large should be the magnets to support the weight of an astronaut?

Since there is no gravity in a space station, there is no weight as well. So a few small magnets attached to the shoes should work good.

Additional Experiments:

1. NASA has a page with a simple experiment that I recommend you to try.
2.  Based on your studies, make a model figure of an alien who comes from outer space (Zero Gravity Condition)

Experiment 2: How does the mass of a person affect the choice of magnetic shoe strength?

For your experiment you hang the wooden human upside down in the can or any other metal surface and test to see how much force is required to separate him from the surface.

Experiment:

Place your wooden human with magnet shoes on a metal surface. The metal must be iron or steel so that it can attract the magnet. Most metal cans and refrigerators and metal cabinets work fine for this test. Use a spring scale to pull the wooden model and separate it from the surface. See how much force did you use to separate the model from the surface. Do this three times for each size magnet you test. Record the results. Take the average and write that in your results table.

Your results table may look like this:

Make a graph:

Use the above table and make a bar graph and have a visual presentation of your results. Make one vertical bar for each of the magnet type/size you test. Under each bar write the type and size of magnet. The height of each bar will represent the magnetic strength of each magnetic shoe. This will be the force needed to separate the shoe or the wooden man from the iron surface.

Materials and Equipment:

For the experiment that we are suggesting and many other models for zero gravity project, you can use small magnets, cardboard, glue, strings and small wooden pieces.
The Spring Scale is needed to measure the pull force of magnet shoes. Spring scales are used for many physics, mechanics and engineering tests. Spring scales and magnets are available at ScienceProjectStore.com.

Results of Experiment (Observation):

Experiments are often done in series. A series of experiments can be done by changing one variable a different amount each time. A series of experiments is made up of separate experimental “runs.” During each run you make a measurement of how much the variable affected the system under study. For each run, a different amount of change in the variable is used. This produces a different amount of response in the system. You measure this response, or record data, in a table for this purpose. This is considered “raw data” since it has not been processed or interpreted yet. When raw data gets processed mathematically, for example, it becomes results.

Calculations:

If you do any calculations for this project, write your calculations in this part of your report.

Summery of Results:

Summarize what happened. This can be in the form of a table of processed numerical data, or graphs. It could also be a written statement of what occurred during experiments.

It is from calculations using recorded data that tables and graphs are made. Studying tables and graphs, we can see trends that tell us how different variables cause our observations. Based on these trends, we can draw conclusions about the system under study. These conclusions help us confirm or deny our original hypothesis. Often, mathematical equations can be made from graphs. These equations allow us to predict how a change will affect the system without the need to do additional experiments. Advanced levels of experimental science rely heavily on graphical and mathematical analysis of data. At this level, science becomes even more interesting and powerful.

Conclusion:

Using the trends in your experimental data and your experimental observations, try to answer your original questions. Is your hypothesis correct? Now is the time to pull together what happened, and assess the experiments you did.

Related Questions & Answers:

What you have learned may allow you to answer other questions. Many questions are related. Several new questions may have occurred to you while doing experiments. You may now be able to understand or verify things that you discovered when gathering information for the project. Questions lead to more questions, which lead to additional hypothesis that need to be tested.

Possible Errors:

If you did not observe anything different than what happened with your control, the variable you changed may not affect the system you are investigating. If you did not observe a consistent, reproducible trend in your series of experimental runs there may be experimental errors affecting your results. The first thing to check is how you are making your measurements. Is the measurement method questionable or unreliable? Maybe you are reading a scale incorrectly, or maybe the measuring instrument is working erratically.

If you determine that experimental errors are influencing your results, carefully rethink the design of your experiments. Review each step of the procedure to find sources of potential errors. If possible, have a scientist review the procedure with you. Sometimes the designer of an experiment can miss the obvious.

References:

Life and Microgravity Science: http://www.ssl.umd.edu/space/microgravity.html

Artificial Gravity: http://www.complete-isp.com/mars/aero2.htm