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Q&A

Comments on Manned Flight Inside an O'Neill Cylinder

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Manned Flight Inside an O'Neill Cylinder [closed]

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Closed as unclear by ArtOfCode‭ on Dec 31, 2025 at 13:12

This question cannot be answered in its current form, because critical information is missing.

This question was closed; new answers can no longer be added. Users with the Vote on Holds ability may vote to reopen this question if it has been improved or closed incorrectly.

O'Neill Cylinder

An O'Neill cylinder is a proposed long-duration spaceflight vehicle. The classic concept is a large spinning cylinder with an open interior in which passengers, cargo, and crew live on the inside surface of the hull. The spinning hull creates artificial gravity through centripedal force. The artificial gravity keeps an optional ecosystem including soil, water, and crops anchored to the ground.

Setup

In a 100m-diameter O'Neill cylinder designed for a surface centrifugal force of one gee (9.8 m/s/s).

The rotational velocity us .4427 radians/sec. This gives a ground speed of 22.1 m/s (49 mph).

Prograde Motion

If you travel 49 mph in the direction of motion (say clockwise) your rotational velocity doubles. This means you feel (omega-squared r) FOUR times the centripedal force "gravity" that you would feel standing still.

Retrograde Motion

You can also take flight by traveling against the direction of rotation (counterclockwise). At 49 mph, your rotational velocity is zero -- so too is your centripedal force "gravity".

History

3 comment threads

What's the question? (4 comments)
"O'Neil cylinder" is undefined. (2 comments)
It's actually 49.5 miles/hour. Check your math. (2 comments)
What's the question?
Olin Lathrop‭ wrote 9 months ago

You talk about perceived effects of artificial gravity from rotation when moving with and against that rotation. This is all well known. I also don't see a question. What it your point?

James McLellan‭ wrote 9 months ago

I have not seen it before. Yes, it should be obvious when you start to think about; but I don't recall it being explored in Rama or Babylon 5 (the two uses of O'Neill cylinders that I am familiar with).

Olin Lathrop‭ wrote 9 months ago · edited 9 months ago

There are other effects that will probably be more obvious to the inhabitants than the difference in gravity when moving with or against the rotation. Think about what happens when someone jumps in place, or two people throwing a ball back and forth. However, these things are again obvious and well known.

A flood of "Questions" that come down to "Looky me world, I done figgerd out this effect from high school physics!" would get rather tedious. There has to be a minimum bar for something not to be a dumb question. I'd say high school physics is the absolute minimum, although first semester freshman college physics would be better.

Olin Lathrop‭ wrote 9 months ago

I remember one Babylon 5 episode where Sheridan(?) somehow ended up floating in the interior of the rotating cylinder. They correctly talked about how he's fine, but after eventually drifting to the exterior, he'd effectively slam into things moving 50 miles/hour sideways to him. Koch got out of his encounter suite and flew up to save Sheridan, which finally revealed that Vorlons were what humans thought of as angels.

You are right, though. I don't remember mention of any other effects of the rotating habitat, let alone them being plot points. The "lower levels" were a thing, but it was never mentioned that the apparent gravity there was higher.