Live Science spotlights the potential of centrifuges to create gravity in space
Clark's Human Eccentric Rotator Device (HERD), a centrifuge used to test human responses to altered gravity scenarios.
Torin Clark was interviewed on the potential of centrifuges to create artificial gravity in space in a new article by Live Science.Ìý
"There's really no reason it couldn't happen. From a technical perspective, this is something that could happen in the very near future," Clark said.
Clark is an associate professor in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences and has ongoing human subject research on the impacts of altered gravity utilizing a rotation device.
The technology is a staple of sci-fi movies, but is grounded in real science. Its use in space could mitigate the health risks astronauts face due to extended time in microgravity. The primary obstacle to its development is cost.
While sci-fi films typically portray centrifuges as a large portion of a ship or space station, Clark's work presents options for much smaller, and therefore less expensive centrifuges.