The Glass is the name given by Japanese scientists to their most recent ambitious notion for such a concept.
As NASA plans to return humans to the moon by the end of this decade, the race is on to come up with concepts for a lunar habitat that can house humans for an extended period.
This gigantic, 400-meter-tall structure would spin every 20 seconds to achieve ‘normal gravity’ and therefore reproduce life on Earth.
At a press briefing, experts from Kyoto University and Kajima Corporation, a Tokyo-based construction company, showed a visual representation of the concept.
There are also plans to include forests and waterfronts to replicate Earth’s biodiversity, as well as a transportation system named the “Hexagon Space Track System.”
This interplanetary space train, as named by the researchers, would travel between Earth, the moon, and Mars while generating its gravity.
Yosuke Yamashiki, director of the SIC Human Spaceology Center at Kyoto University, stated, “There is no such plan in other countries’ space development programs.”
The researchers wrote: “Humanity is currently transitioning from the era of “staying” in outer space to the era of “dwelling” on the moon and Mars.
What kind of atmosphere and resources will be needed to do this? Also, what perspectives and technologies will be necessary to provide food, clothes, and shelter, as well as to establish a social organization on the moon and Mars?
Regarding the concept for The Glass, they said, “By residing in this facility, humans can have children with peace of mind and keep a body that can at any point return to the earth.”
The experts elaborated, ‘The Hexatrack system is an interplanetary transit system for the Earth, the moon, and Mars that maintains 1G over vast distances.
In the future space society (core society) where life on the moon and Mars becomes a reality, each colony (residential group) will carry out economic activities, and many people will move for business and tourism. During long-term movement, an artificial gravity transportation system by rotation with the railway system as the basic module will be used to reduce the negative health effects of low gravity.
However, it seems unlikely that the concept will be implemented anytime soon.
Reportedly, it would take almost a century to construct The Glass, although a simpler version may be on the moon by 2050.
Additionally, researchers have a long-term goal for their concept, namely the construction of two independent facilities named “Lunar Glass” for the moon and “Mars Glass” for Mars.
With a boom in space tourism anticipated as companies such as Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin advance their launch capabilities to propel people into orbit, the researchers stated that they wanted to come up with an idea that would “reduce the impact of low gravity on the health of people living on the moon or Mars.
This is because NASA and colleges around the world have discovered that a persistent condition of weightlessness and traveling between different gravitational fields can cause bone loss, back pain, and kidney stones.
However, Japanese scientists have stated that research on low gravity is limited to the maintenance of the adult body and its effect on the birth and development of children.
Takuya Ohno, an architect and researcher at Kajima, stated, “Developing a residential facility with Kyoto University that utilizes artificial gravity will be a watershed event in space research.
We shall try to ensure that this collaborative study is beneficial to humanity.
