[sbierwagen]

It is unknown if it will be that easy. For obvious reasons, there have been no long-term studies in partial gravity. If 0.05g stops bone loss, great. If a full 1.0g and nothing less is required, then that's going to be a really onerous design constraint.

[Qem]

I wonder if this unknown may, in the end, turn out to be a great reason to motivate space exploration. A full G is the norm on Earth. Micro-G in orbital stations have known long-term negative effects on health. What if fractional-G actually has beneficial effects, like say, increasing average human lifespan a lot. The human circulatory system tends to fail early, causing a disproportional amount of deaths due to strokes or heart failure. It's far-fetched speculation on my part, but is not hard to imagine operating in a fractional-G environment could decrease wear and tear here, acting as a sort of medical treatment. In the end, people would have a great motivation for leaving Earth. Just dodging death, the ultimate enemy of all living things.

[shagie]

If a full 1.0g is required, that also makes it a much more difficult challenge on the moon. Spinning a module of a space station in zero g is one thing... trying to get a portion of a moon lab at 0.16g to 1.0g is a different challenge.

[shkkmo]

The advantage I see on the moon is that you have local mass to use. Yoy can build a large, banked circular track underground ground and then add cars as you expand.

[sbierwagen]

Uh, if human habitation on the Moon requires living inside a centrifuge, then there won't be a human colony.

[shkkmo]

It depends on how much gravity is needed for how much time to stave off the long term effects of zero gravity. If we're lucky, then just sleeping at a higher G may be enough and you just need the bunks built in a centrifugal train.