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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Do gyroscopes work in zero gravity?
« on: 16/06/2012 14:58:37 »
Quite often on the nights i can't sleep i daydream about solutions to the problems of inter-stellar travel and while most of my ideas end up being more science fiction than plausible, i have always wondered if a gyroscope would work (e.g. stay in the same position) in the earths gravitational pull/further out into space.
The reason i wonder this is simply because i think it would work well as a way to maneuver craft faster than using thrusters. If a gyroscope rotating at a high speed was contained in a sphere and it stays in the same position, then you could use some sort of mechanics to move the craft around the sphere = a fast maneuver though of course this would need *some thrusters + a lot of propulsion to be able to slow down or change course.
I've thought on other ideas such as a fusion generator creating plasma that is ejected at high velocity but in my daydreaming i can't ever seem to think of a viable fuel source that wouldn't take up a large amount of space.
Also another problem i have in my daydreaming is the fact that if we ever have the capability to travel AS fast OR faster than light, how would we solve the problem of stellar debris, very small or big meteorites and other objects floating around out there? The only idea I've had yet is if we could somehow capitalize on dark matter, if it truly is pushing the galaxies away from eachother that would mean it is anti-gravity, pushing things away rather than pulling them in, if you could use dark matter you would have the ability to push objects away from the front of the craft.
I don't know much about science at all, just a lot of little bits and pieces here and there, like i understand how to slow a craft down in space you would have to put equal force to slow down as you did to speed up unless there is a gravitational force at work, thank you in advance for reading my ramblings it would be amazing to hear some real intelligent people pick apart my ideas:)
The reason i wonder this is simply because i think it would work well as a way to maneuver craft faster than using thrusters. If a gyroscope rotating at a high speed was contained in a sphere and it stays in the same position, then you could use some sort of mechanics to move the craft around the sphere = a fast maneuver though of course this would need *some thrusters + a lot of propulsion to be able to slow down or change course.
I've thought on other ideas such as a fusion generator creating plasma that is ejected at high velocity but in my daydreaming i can't ever seem to think of a viable fuel source that wouldn't take up a large amount of space.
Also another problem i have in my daydreaming is the fact that if we ever have the capability to travel AS fast OR faster than light, how would we solve the problem of stellar debris, very small or big meteorites and other objects floating around out there? The only idea I've had yet is if we could somehow capitalize on dark matter, if it truly is pushing the galaxies away from eachother that would mean it is anti-gravity, pushing things away rather than pulling them in, if you could use dark matter you would have the ability to push objects away from the front of the craft.
I don't know much about science at all, just a lot of little bits and pieces here and there, like i understand how to slow a craft down in space you would have to put equal force to slow down as you did to speed up unless there is a gravitational force at work, thank you in advance for reading my ramblings it would be amazing to hear some real intelligent people pick apart my ideas:)
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