Science Fiction Dictionary
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

Latest By
Category:


Armor
Artificial Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work

"The trouble with too much genre SF is that it's so obviously the product of the conscious mind."
- William Gibson

Gravity-Simulator Harness  
  Device that simulates gravity's effect on muscles to keep in shape while in space.  

Lots of physiological changes occur in zero gravity. The pull of gravity on Earth provides a resistive force that automatically maintains muscles and bones. Perhaps some sort of device would help you maintain muscle tone?

"When we got back," Joe told Brown, "we were practically invalids. No exercise up here. This time we've brought some harness to wear. We've some for you, too..."

Joe got out the gravity-simulator harnesses. He showed Brent how they worked. Brown hadn't official instructions to order their use, but Joe put one on himself, set for full Earth-gravity simulation.

He couldn't imitate actual gravity, of course. Only the effect of gravity on one's muscles. There were springs and elastic webbing pulling one's shoulders and feet together, so that it was as much effort to stand extended—with one's legs straight out—as to stand upright on Earth. Joe felt better with a pull on his body.

Brent was upset when he found that to him more than a tenth of normal gravity was unbearable. But he kept it on at that. If he increased the pull a very little every day, he might be able to return to Earth, in time. Now it would be a very dangerous business indeed. He went off to put the other members of the crew in the same sort of harness.

Technovelgy from Space Tug, by Murray Leinster.
Published by Belmont in 1953
Additional resources -

I know that NASA worked on devices to keep astronauts in shape in the early 1970's on Skylab. I'm sure the Russians had their own version for their cosmonauts.

Studies have shown that astronauts regain lost blood volume within a few days; muscle mass can be recouped within a month or so. It may take a day on Earth for every day in space for full recovery of muscle function. Some changes, like bone mass loss, may never fully return.

Read more about The Zero G Battle: How Astronauts and Cosmonauts Cope

Comment/Join this discussion ( 1 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Space Tug
  More Ideas and Technology by Murray Leinster
  Tech news articles related to Space Tug
  Tech news articles related to works by Murray Leinster

Gravity-Simulator Harness-related news articles:
  - Astronaut Tim Peake Completes Space Marathon
  - COLBERT Treadmill Long SF History
  - Adaptability Training System Helps Space Travelers Return
  - Astronaut Exercise Video, Predicted By SF Writers
  - ARED Keeps ISS Astronauts Fit
  - ROCKY - Resistive Overload Combined With Kinetic Yo-Yo
  - LBNP Device Not Quite 'Artificial Gravity'
  - Tiangong Space Station! Exercise Like It's 1953

Articles related to Space Tech
Starship Special Edition For Lunar Shuttle
Capturing Asteroids With Nets
Project Hyperion - Generation Ship Designers Needed!
Marslink Proposed By SpaceX

Want to Contribute an Item? It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add it here.

<Previous
Next>

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

 

 

Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

Science Fiction Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's   1950's
1960's   1970's
1980's   1990's
2000's   2010's

Science Fiction in the News

Miss Alabama Beauty Contest Offers Different Standards
'...they moved with the ease of dandelion puffs.'

Has Musk Given Up On Full Self Driving (FSD)?
'...some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre...'

Drones In Vast Airborne Grids
'These pods were programmed to hang in space in a hexagonal grid pattern...'

Starship Special Edition For Lunar Shuttle
Love those special edition spaceships.

Capturing Asteroids With Nets
'...the meteor caught and halted just as a small boy catches a swift ball in his cap.'

Project Hyperion - Generation Ship Designers Needed!
'We have decided that it shall be but one ship... it must contain everything needed to take us through the generations.'

AI Welfare Position At Anthropic Filled By Human
'You’re the robopsychologist of the plant, so you’re to study the robot itself...'

Marslink Proposed By SpaceX
'It was the heart of the Solar System's communication line...'

Simple Way To Defeat AI Face Recognition
'... designed to foil facial recognition systems.'

More SF in the News

More Beyond Technovelgy

Home | Glossary | Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.