[ScoutFinch190]

Thank you guys for the tips!

@jbstanhope

In a symmetrical sphere, the gravity gets weaker the closer you get to the center. At the center the gravity is zero. Gravity will always pull toward the center, so if you were passing through the center, gravity would change directions. (If you want more details look up Newton’s shell theorem). Your planet is not spherically symmetrical because of the holes but I think if the holes were approximately evenly distributed it should be approximately correct.

 

So basically, if one were to fall on this holey planet, they would be in a mini orbit through the planet and around its core? in an asymmetrical planet, would there still  be no gravity at the planet’s center? Or would it be in patches all over the planet? What if the zero-gravity area was full of water and the external gravity was all that was keeping the water in the no-gravity zone?

I like the idea of the gravity train! What do you think would be a good amount of time for it to take?

@rusted-knight

Yeah, I was thinking that a super heavy material for artificial gravity would only work on a space station or something like it where people live. I also just wondered what would happen if it ever wore out, would people unwarily step on no-gravity zones and float?

Is there a lot of friction to travel through in space? what if there were tunnels people built as interplanetary highways?

I definitely was thinking that ships that regularly go onto planets would be zero-gravity… maybe there’s be large ships that are only in space that travel horizontally? I was thinking there’d be large transit ships for going between planets that would go at very high speeds, almost like trains in space.

Also, do I need to worry about aerodynamics in space? Would I need to worry about it on low-gravity planets?

We crazy people are the normal ones.

[Rusted Knight]

@scoutfinch190

If the material deteriorates similar to uranium, the gravity will weaken slowly. The people on the vessel may not notice the weakening until something or someone jumps a little higher or flies a little farther than normal. Water or other liquids might be an indicator. Liquids tend to turn into spheres in zero g.

Since space is a vacuum, friction should not be a problem. This also means that a space ship doesn’t need to be aerodynamic. That is as long as it stays in space. Vessels capable of reentry however do need wings of some form to control the landing. These vessels will also need a form of heat shielding as the atmosphere will be denser than space.

The Devil saw me with my head down and got excited. Then I said Amen

[ScoutFinch190]

Thank you for the tips! This is really helpful!

We crazy people are the normal ones.

[J. B. Stanhope]

@scoutfinch190

So basically, if one were to fall on this holey planet, they would be in a mini orbit through the planet and around its core?

 

Well it would be an orbit through the core, not around the core. It would basically be a straight line, they’d be going back and forth on. It’s a similar scenario to an oscillating spring. And that’s assuming the hole goes all the way through.

an asymmetrical planet, would there still be no gravity at the planet’s center? Or would it be in patches all over the planet?

 

I think it would mainly cause the no-gravity location to be not in the geometric center. It might be possible that there’d be multiple no-gravity points, depending on how the mass was arranged. I’m not really familiar with gravitational analysis of weirdly shaped objects.

What if the zero-gravity area was full of water and the external gravity was all that was keeping the water in the no-gravity zone?

 

That should work.

I like the idea of the gravity train! What do you think would be a good amount of time for it to take?

 

I looked more into the travel time, and it turns out the travel time doesn’t depend on distance from the center. It only depends on the density of the planet. For earth, it would take 42.24 minutes. For your Jupiter-size, earth-mass planet, it would take 25.57 hours.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by J. B. Stanhope.

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