The National Space Society invites you to the next Space Forum
Thursday, April 24, 2024, 9:00 pm to 10:15 pm EST
Multiplanetary or Interplanetary?
With special guest
Joe Carroll
Retired Aerospace Engineer
Space Innovator and Speaker
Join us for a thought-provoking NSS Space Forum on one of the most fundamental—and overlooked—questions in human space exploration: How much gravity do we actually need to stay healthy? Retired aerospace engineer and space innovator Joe Carroll will explore the challenges of living and working in microgravity and propose a compelling solution.
After more than 50 years of research aboard space stations, one conclusion is clear: sustained microgravity is detrimental to human health. Despite extensive countermeasures—exercise, diet, and medication—new and serious health issues continue to arise with longer missions and larger crews. Yet we remain profoundly uninformed about human health in environments with partial gravity. Our only data comes from the twelve Apollo astronauts who spent just a few days on the Moon’s 1/6 g surface. We know virtually nothing about long-term effects in lunar or Martian gravity—1/6 g and 3/8 g, respectively—both far closer to zero g than to Earth’s full gravity.
Rather than risking astronaut health with long, expensive missions to the Moon or Mars, Carroll suggests a safer, faster, and more cost-effective alternative: simulating partial gravity in a long slowly rotating space station in low Earth orbit. Such a facility could reveal not only the physiological thresholds for healthy space living, but also the psychological and practical implications of life in reduced gravity environments. Could this be the key to determining whether humanity’s future lies on planetary surfaces—or only within rotating habitats engineered to sustain us among the stars? Join the space forum to learn more. Register using the link below.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Joe Carroll is a retired aerospace engineer who has been advancing the field of space transportation since 1981, with a particular focus on tether-based systems. He led the development of the Small Expendable Deployment System (SEDS), which successfully demonstrated controlled satellite deorbit without rockets in 1993 and again with SEDS-2 in 1994. He also contributed to the Tether Physics and Survivability Experiment (TiPS) in 1996. Carroll designed the deployer and wire systems for the Plasma Motor Generator (PMG), which proved electrodynamic thrust in orbit, and for the Tethered Electrodynamic Propulsion CubeSat Experiment (TEPCE). His work has also included innovative concepts for both uncrewed and crewed reentry vehicles for NASA and various space startups. A recognized thought leader in the space community, Joe Carroll is a frequent guest speaker at major aerospace events, including the National Space Society’s International Space Development Conference® (ISDC®).
Register today to reserve your seat and ask your questions. Use the link below.
Register no later than April 24 at 8 pm EST
