How to determine port and starboard on a rotating wheel space station?Would Building a Waypoint/Colony station in Slip Space be Logical?What if first contact from extraterrestials is them trying to dock with the space stationMinimum radius for a rotating wheel space station to feel flatGateway guardian stationsInner ring on rotating wheel space station?Docking on the outer edge of a rotating wheel space stationLaunching spaceships from the outer edge of a rotating wheel space stationZero G area on rotating wheel space stationMost dangerous place on a rotating wheel space station?Elevator on rotating wheel space station
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How to determine port and starboard on a rotating wheel space station?
Would Building a Waypoint/Colony station in Slip Space be Logical?What if first contact from extraterrestials is them trying to dock with the space stationMinimum radius for a rotating wheel space station to feel flatGateway guardian stationsInner ring on rotating wheel space station?Docking on the outer edge of a rotating wheel space stationLaunching spaceships from the outer edge of a rotating wheel space stationZero G area on rotating wheel space stationMost dangerous place on a rotating wheel space station?Elevator on rotating wheel space station
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$begingroup$
The ISS uses port and starboard to differentiate between the two sides of the station.
(The Harmony node photographed after it was attached to its temporary location on the International Space Station)
Would forward always be in the direction the ship is rotating, and from there port and starboard would be determined?
Image source.
space-constructs navigation
edited 2 hours ago
Cyn
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Bob516Bob516
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add a comment |
$begingroup$
The ISS uses port and starboard to differentiate between the two sides of the station.
(The Harmony node photographed after it was attached to its temporary location on the International Space Station)
Would forward always be in the direction the ship is rotating, and from there port and starboard would be determined?
Image source.
space-constructs navigation
edited 2 hours ago
Cyn
16.7k2 gold badges35 silver badges75 bronze badges
asked 8 hours ago
Bob516Bob516
44414 bronze badges
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The ISS uses port and starboard to differentiate between the two sides of the station.
(The Harmony node photographed after it was attached to its temporary location on the International Space Station)
Would forward always be in the direction the ship is rotating, and from there port and starboard would be determined?
Image source.
space-constructs navigation
edited 2 hours ago
Cyn
16.7k2 gold badges35 silver badges75 bronze badges
asked 8 hours ago
Bob516Bob516
44414 bronze badges
$endgroup$
The ISS uses port and starboard to differentiate between the two sides of the station.
(The Harmony node photographed after it was attached to its temporary location on the International Space Station)
Would forward always be in the direction the ship is rotating, and from there port and starboard would be determined?
Image source.
space-constructs navigation
space-constructs navigation
edited 2 hours ago
Cyn
16.7k2 gold badges35 silver badges75 bronze badges
asked 8 hours ago
Bob516Bob516
44414 bronze badges
edited 2 hours ago
Cyn
16.7k2 gold badges35 silver badges75 bronze badges
asked 8 hours ago
Bob516Bob516
44414 bronze badges
edited 2 hours ago
Cyn
16.7k2 gold badges35 silver badges75 bronze badges
edited 2 hours ago
Cyn
16.7k2 gold badges35 silver badges75 bronze badges
edited 2 hours ago
Cyn
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16.7k2 gold badges35 silver badges75 bronze badges
asked 8 hours ago
Bob516Bob516
44414 bronze badges
asked 8 hours ago
Bob516Bob516
44414 bronze badges
asked 8 hours ago
Bob516Bob516
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4 Answers
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$begingroup$
There's really no reason to assume they would use port and starbord. However, if we start from the assumption that the nautical orientations (port, starbord, fore, aft, deck, overhead) will be used, the only practical direction "fore" could be is along the direction of movement. That would in port and starboard down.
However, there are plenty of other systems out there that might be used. You might leverage the right hand rule and define them as "along rotation" and "against rotation." The right hand rule is almost universally agreed upon to be the correct way to assign direction (which really means that physics majors get violent really quickly if you try to shove a left handed coordinate system on them, and we don't like to seem them violent!) The port/starboard directions will always be either in the same direction as this rotation vector, or opposed.
Other cultures might also have their own opinions. From the reading I have done, the Chinese often deal with directions using cardinal directions. While we might say "walk down this street, take a right, and then take the next left," they might say "walk north, then turn east, and keep walking until the next chance to turn north." More interestingly, I have heard of these directions being malleable. Some martial arts schools teach that "south" is always the side that the teacher is on, regardless of the cardinal direction. This is very convenient because it makes the instructions the same, no matter what direction, while retaining the absoluteness of the direction giving they are used to.
A Chinese station might choose to label the directions north, south, east, and west, based on the position that the captain of the station is facing when he is at his post.
Depending on what orientation the spinning satellite is in, constellations might be used. We often specify coordinate systems that point towards particular zodiacs during the vernal equinox to disambiguate like this. We might talk of a rotation towards Libra or Gemini. If the spin is not in a convenient direction for this, we might pick major stars
answered 7 hours ago
Cort AmmonCort Ammon
114k18 gold badges204 silver badges397 bronze badges
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
Using astronomical features would seem to be serious overkill and massively complicated if all you're trying to do is find your way around a space station.
$endgroup$
– Keith Morrison
3 hours ago
$begingroup$
@KeithMorrison Perhaps. I wanted to just include a lot of options. If a civilization finds that they deal with a lot of different shapes of stations, and needs one way to notate directions on all of them, something complicated like a zodiac might come forth. We have all sorts of interesting ways to handle directions. Just remember, "the enemy's gate is down!"
$endgroup$
– Cort Ammon
2 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Space is 3D, so simply differentiating front and back isn't good enough. You need a plane that port and starboard are normal to. So you need something non-rotating down the middle; something ventral or dorsal.
Internal to the rotating section, port and starboard are meaningless. I would split it into hemicircles, much like the Earth's hemispheres. And I would refer to directions as fore and aft, or upspin and downspin.
answered 7 hours ago
Ryan_LRyan_L
5,69210 silver badges30 bronze badges
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
The people in the space station aren't dealing with 3D any more than you are walking on the exterior of a sphere right now when it comes to giving directions to get around it.
$endgroup$
– Keith Morrison
3 hours ago
$begingroup$
@KeithMorrison True for the passengers, not true for any crew involved in navigation or piloting.
$endgroup$
– Ryan_L
55 mins ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Consider the Earth. Right now we're all on the outside of a rotating spherical object, which is essentially the inverse of your scenario, and yet people don't require massively complicated 3D navigational systems to get from place to place or to give directions. East is the direction in which the planet is rotating, and the other directions derive from that.
Using cardinal directions works for planets or fixed structures on those planets, but people will likely have a psychologically hard time using it for a space station. The easiest way I can see it working is as follows:
Spinward/forward: toward the direction you're moving tangentially.
Antispinward/backward: the opposite direction.
Port: facing spinward, the side to your left.
Starboard: facing spinward, the side to your right.
Up: Toward the axis of rotation.
Down: Away from the axis of rotation.
Simple, and straightforward. Because the spin direction is fixed, it's something everyone can agree on, and because you've got simulated gravity, everyone has the same understanding of "up" and "down", just as we do on Earth even though. Everything else derives from that.
answered 2 hours ago
Keith MorrisonKeith Morrison
8,7051 gold badge16 silver badges33 bronze badges
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Do it like the Right Ascension of the Ascending Node (RAAN) in orbital mechanics. Chose a reference frame and link your starboard and port to that.
answered 6 hours ago
MParmMParm
1,0263 silver badges9 bronze badges
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4 Answers
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active
oldest
votes
4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
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$begingroup$
There's really no reason to assume they would use port and starbord. However, if we start from the assumption that the nautical orientations (port, starbord, fore, aft, deck, overhead) will be used, the only practical direction "fore" could be is along the direction of movement. That would in port and starboard down.
However, there are plenty of other systems out there that might be used. You might leverage the right hand rule and define them as "along rotation" and "against rotation." The right hand rule is almost universally agreed upon to be the correct way to assign direction (which really means that physics majors get violent really quickly if you try to shove a left handed coordinate system on them, and we don't like to seem them violent!) The port/starboard directions will always be either in the same direction as this rotation vector, or opposed.
Other cultures might also have their own opinions. From the reading I have done, the Chinese often deal with directions using cardinal directions. While we might say "walk down this street, take a right, and then take the next left," they might say "walk north, then turn east, and keep walking until the next chance to turn north." More interestingly, I have heard of these directions being malleable. Some martial arts schools teach that "south" is always the side that the teacher is on, regardless of the cardinal direction. This is very convenient because it makes the instructions the same, no matter what direction, while retaining the absoluteness of the direction giving they are used to.
A Chinese station might choose to label the directions north, south, east, and west, based on the position that the captain of the station is facing when he is at his post.
Depending on what orientation the spinning satellite is in, constellations might be used. We often specify coordinate systems that point towards particular zodiacs during the vernal equinox to disambiguate like this. We might talk of a rotation towards Libra or Gemini. If the spin is not in a convenient direction for this, we might pick major stars
answered 7 hours ago
Cort AmmonCort Ammon
114k18 gold badges204 silver badges397 bronze badges
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
Using astronomical features would seem to be serious overkill and massively complicated if all you're trying to do is find your way around a space station.
$endgroup$
– Keith Morrison
3 hours ago
$begingroup$
@KeithMorrison Perhaps. I wanted to just include a lot of options. If a civilization finds that they deal with a lot of different shapes of stations, and needs one way to notate directions on all of them, something complicated like a zodiac might come forth. We have all sorts of interesting ways to handle directions. Just remember, "the enemy's gate is down!"
$endgroup$
– Cort Ammon
2 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
There's really no reason to assume they would use port and starbord. However, if we start from the assumption that the nautical orientations (port, starbord, fore, aft, deck, overhead) will be used, the only practical direction "fore" could be is along the direction of movement. That would in port and starboard down.
However, there are plenty of other systems out there that might be used. You might leverage the right hand rule and define them as "along rotation" and "against rotation." The right hand rule is almost universally agreed upon to be the correct way to assign direction (which really means that physics majors get violent really quickly if you try to shove a left handed coordinate system on them, and we don't like to seem them violent!) The port/starboard directions will always be either in the same direction as this rotation vector, or opposed.
Other cultures might also have their own opinions. From the reading I have done, the Chinese often deal with directions using cardinal directions. While we might say "walk down this street, take a right, and then take the next left," they might say "walk north, then turn east, and keep walking until the next chance to turn north." More interestingly, I have heard of these directions being malleable. Some martial arts schools teach that "south" is always the side that the teacher is on, regardless of the cardinal direction. This is very convenient because it makes the instructions the same, no matter what direction, while retaining the absoluteness of the direction giving they are used to.
A Chinese station might choose to label the directions north, south, east, and west, based on the position that the captain of the station is facing when he is at his post.
Depending on what orientation the spinning satellite is in, constellations might be used. We often specify coordinate systems that point towards particular zodiacs during the vernal equinox to disambiguate like this. We might talk of a rotation towards Libra or Gemini. If the spin is not in a convenient direction for this, we might pick major stars
answered 7 hours ago
Cort AmmonCort Ammon
114k18 gold badges204 silver badges397 bronze badges
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
Using astronomical features would seem to be serious overkill and massively complicated if all you're trying to do is find your way around a space station.
$endgroup$
– Keith Morrison
3 hours ago
$begingroup$
@KeithMorrison Perhaps. I wanted to just include a lot of options. If a civilization finds that they deal with a lot of different shapes of stations, and needs one way to notate directions on all of them, something complicated like a zodiac might come forth. We have all sorts of interesting ways to handle directions. Just remember, "the enemy's gate is down!"
$endgroup$
– Cort Ammon
2 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
There's really no reason to assume they would use port and starbord. However, if we start from the assumption that the nautical orientations (port, starbord, fore, aft, deck, overhead) will be used, the only practical direction "fore" could be is along the direction of movement. That would in port and starboard down.
However, there are plenty of other systems out there that might be used. You might leverage the right hand rule and define them as "along rotation" and "against rotation." The right hand rule is almost universally agreed upon to be the correct way to assign direction (which really means that physics majors get violent really quickly if you try to shove a left handed coordinate system on them, and we don't like to seem them violent!) The port/starboard directions will always be either in the same direction as this rotation vector, or opposed.
Other cultures might also have their own opinions. From the reading I have done, the Chinese often deal with directions using cardinal directions. While we might say "walk down this street, take a right, and then take the next left," they might say "walk north, then turn east, and keep walking until the next chance to turn north." More interestingly, I have heard of these directions being malleable. Some martial arts schools teach that "south" is always the side that the teacher is on, regardless of the cardinal direction. This is very convenient because it makes the instructions the same, no matter what direction, while retaining the absoluteness of the direction giving they are used to.
A Chinese station might choose to label the directions north, south, east, and west, based on the position that the captain of the station is facing when he is at his post.
Depending on what orientation the spinning satellite is in, constellations might be used. We often specify coordinate systems that point towards particular zodiacs during the vernal equinox to disambiguate like this. We might talk of a rotation towards Libra or Gemini. If the spin is not in a convenient direction for this, we might pick major stars
answered 7 hours ago
Cort AmmonCort Ammon
114k18 gold badges204 silver badges397 bronze badges
$endgroup$
There's really no reason to assume they would use port and starbord. However, if we start from the assumption that the nautical orientations (port, starbord, fore, aft, deck, overhead) will be used, the only practical direction "fore" could be is along the direction of movement. That would in port and starboard down.
However, there are plenty of other systems out there that might be used. You might leverage the right hand rule and define them as "along rotation" and "against rotation." The right hand rule is almost universally agreed upon to be the correct way to assign direction (which really means that physics majors get violent really quickly if you try to shove a left handed coordinate system on them, and we don't like to seem them violent!) The port/starboard directions will always be either in the same direction as this rotation vector, or opposed.
Other cultures might also have their own opinions. From the reading I have done, the Chinese often deal with directions using cardinal directions. While we might say "walk down this street, take a right, and then take the next left," they might say "walk north, then turn east, and keep walking until the next chance to turn north." More interestingly, I have heard of these directions being malleable. Some martial arts schools teach that "south" is always the side that the teacher is on, regardless of the cardinal direction. This is very convenient because it makes the instructions the same, no matter what direction, while retaining the absoluteness of the direction giving they are used to.
A Chinese station might choose to label the directions north, south, east, and west, based on the position that the captain of the station is facing when he is at his post.
Depending on what orientation the spinning satellite is in, constellations might be used. We often specify coordinate systems that point towards particular zodiacs during the vernal equinox to disambiguate like this. We might talk of a rotation towards Libra or Gemini. If the spin is not in a convenient direction for this, we might pick major stars
answered 7 hours ago
Cort AmmonCort Ammon
114k18 gold badges204 silver badges397 bronze badges
answered 7 hours ago
Cort AmmonCort Ammon
114k18 gold badges204 silver badges397 bronze badges
answered 7 hours ago
Cort AmmonCort Ammon
114k18 gold badges204 silver badges397 bronze badges
answered 7 hours ago
Cort AmmonCort Ammon
114k18 gold badges204 silver badges397 bronze badges
114k18 gold badges204 silver badges397 bronze badges
$begingroup$
Using astronomical features would seem to be serious overkill and massively complicated if all you're trying to do is find your way around a space station.
$endgroup$
– Keith Morrison
3 hours ago
$begingroup$
@KeithMorrison Perhaps. I wanted to just include a lot of options. If a civilization finds that they deal with a lot of different shapes of stations, and needs one way to notate directions on all of them, something complicated like a zodiac might come forth. We have all sorts of interesting ways to handle directions. Just remember, "the enemy's gate is down!"
$endgroup$
– Cort Ammon
2 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Using astronomical features would seem to be serious overkill and massively complicated if all you're trying to do is find your way around a space station.
$endgroup$
– Keith Morrison
3 hours ago
$begingroup$
@KeithMorrison Perhaps. I wanted to just include a lot of options. If a civilization finds that they deal with a lot of different shapes of stations, and needs one way to notate directions on all of them, something complicated like a zodiac might come forth. We have all sorts of interesting ways to handle directions. Just remember, "the enemy's gate is down!"
$endgroup$
– Cort Ammon
2 hours ago
$begingroup$
Using astronomical features would seem to be serious overkill and massively complicated if all you're trying to do is find your way around a space station.
$endgroup$
– Keith Morrison
3 hours ago
$begingroup$
Using astronomical features would seem to be serious overkill and massively complicated if all you're trying to do is find your way around a space station.
$endgroup$
– Keith Morrison
3 hours ago
$begingroup$
@KeithMorrison Perhaps. I wanted to just include a lot of options. If a civilization finds that they deal with a lot of different shapes of stations, and needs one way to notate directions on all of them, something complicated like a zodiac might come forth. We have all sorts of interesting ways to handle directions. Just remember, "the enemy's gate is down!"
$endgroup$
– Cort Ammon
2 hours ago
$begingroup$
@KeithMorrison Perhaps. I wanted to just include a lot of options. If a civilization finds that they deal with a lot of different shapes of stations, and needs one way to notate directions on all of them, something complicated like a zodiac might come forth. We have all sorts of interesting ways to handle directions. Just remember, "the enemy's gate is down!"
$endgroup$
– Cort Ammon
2 hours ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Space is 3D, so simply differentiating front and back isn't good enough. You need a plane that port and starboard are normal to. So you need something non-rotating down the middle; something ventral or dorsal.
Internal to the rotating section, port and starboard are meaningless. I would split it into hemicircles, much like the Earth's hemispheres. And I would refer to directions as fore and aft, or upspin and downspin.
answered 7 hours ago
Ryan_LRyan_L
5,69210 silver badges30 bronze badges
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
The people in the space station aren't dealing with 3D any more than you are walking on the exterior of a sphere right now when it comes to giving directions to get around it.
$endgroup$
– Keith Morrison
3 hours ago
$begingroup$
@KeithMorrison True for the passengers, not true for any crew involved in navigation or piloting.
$endgroup$
– Ryan_L
55 mins ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Space is 3D, so simply differentiating front and back isn't good enough. You need a plane that port and starboard are normal to. So you need something non-rotating down the middle; something ventral or dorsal.
Internal to the rotating section, port and starboard are meaningless. I would split it into hemicircles, much like the Earth's hemispheres. And I would refer to directions as fore and aft, or upspin and downspin.
answered 7 hours ago
Ryan_LRyan_L
5,69210 silver badges30 bronze badges
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
The people in the space station aren't dealing with 3D any more than you are walking on the exterior of a sphere right now when it comes to giving directions to get around it.
$endgroup$
– Keith Morrison
3 hours ago
$begingroup$
@KeithMorrison True for the passengers, not true for any crew involved in navigation or piloting.
$endgroup$
– Ryan_L
55 mins ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Space is 3D, so simply differentiating front and back isn't good enough. You need a plane that port and starboard are normal to. So you need something non-rotating down the middle; something ventral or dorsal.
Internal to the rotating section, port and starboard are meaningless. I would split it into hemicircles, much like the Earth's hemispheres. And I would refer to directions as fore and aft, or upspin and downspin.
answered 7 hours ago
Ryan_LRyan_L
5,69210 silver badges30 bronze badges
$endgroup$
Space is 3D, so simply differentiating front and back isn't good enough. You need a plane that port and starboard are normal to. So you need something non-rotating down the middle; something ventral or dorsal.
Internal to the rotating section, port and starboard are meaningless. I would split it into hemicircles, much like the Earth's hemispheres. And I would refer to directions as fore and aft, or upspin and downspin.
answered 7 hours ago
Ryan_LRyan_L
5,69210 silver badges30 bronze badges
answered 7 hours ago
Ryan_LRyan_L
5,69210 silver badges30 bronze badges
answered 7 hours ago
Ryan_LRyan_L
5,69210 silver badges30 bronze badges
answered 7 hours ago
Ryan_LRyan_L
5,69210 silver badges30 bronze badges
5,69210 silver badges30 bronze badges
1
$begingroup$
The people in the space station aren't dealing with 3D any more than you are walking on the exterior of a sphere right now when it comes to giving directions to get around it.
$endgroup$
– Keith Morrison
3 hours ago
$begingroup$
@KeithMorrison True for the passengers, not true for any crew involved in navigation or piloting.
$endgroup$
– Ryan_L
55 mins ago
add a comment |
1
$begingroup$
The people in the space station aren't dealing with 3D any more than you are walking on the exterior of a sphere right now when it comes to giving directions to get around it.
$endgroup$
– Keith Morrison
3 hours ago
$begingroup$
@KeithMorrison True for the passengers, not true for any crew involved in navigation or piloting.
$endgroup$
– Ryan_L
55 mins ago
1
1
$begingroup$
The people in the space station aren't dealing with 3D any more than you are walking on the exterior of a sphere right now when it comes to giving directions to get around it.
$endgroup$
– Keith Morrison
3 hours ago
$begingroup$
The people in the space station aren't dealing with 3D any more than you are walking on the exterior of a sphere right now when it comes to giving directions to get around it.
$endgroup$
– Keith Morrison
3 hours ago
$begingroup$
@KeithMorrison True for the passengers, not true for any crew involved in navigation or piloting.
$endgroup$
– Ryan_L
55 mins ago
$begingroup$
@KeithMorrison True for the passengers, not true for any crew involved in navigation or piloting.
$endgroup$
– Ryan_L
55 mins ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Consider the Earth. Right now we're all on the outside of a rotating spherical object, which is essentially the inverse of your scenario, and yet people don't require massively complicated 3D navigational systems to get from place to place or to give directions. East is the direction in which the planet is rotating, and the other directions derive from that.
Using cardinal directions works for planets or fixed structures on those planets, but people will likely have a psychologically hard time using it for a space station. The easiest way I can see it working is as follows:
Spinward/forward: toward the direction you're moving tangentially.
Antispinward/backward: the opposite direction.
Port: facing spinward, the side to your left.
Starboard: facing spinward, the side to your right.
Up: Toward the axis of rotation.
Down: Away from the axis of rotation.
Simple, and straightforward. Because the spin direction is fixed, it's something everyone can agree on, and because you've got simulated gravity, everyone has the same understanding of "up" and "down", just as we do on Earth even though. Everything else derives from that.
answered 2 hours ago
Keith MorrisonKeith Morrison
8,7051 gold badge16 silver badges33 bronze badges
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Consider the Earth. Right now we're all on the outside of a rotating spherical object, which is essentially the inverse of your scenario, and yet people don't require massively complicated 3D navigational systems to get from place to place or to give directions. East is the direction in which the planet is rotating, and the other directions derive from that.
Using cardinal directions works for planets or fixed structures on those planets, but people will likely have a psychologically hard time using it for a space station. The easiest way I can see it working is as follows:
Spinward/forward: toward the direction you're moving tangentially.
Antispinward/backward: the opposite direction.
Port: facing spinward, the side to your left.
Starboard: facing spinward, the side to your right.
Up: Toward the axis of rotation.
Down: Away from the axis of rotation.
Simple, and straightforward. Because the spin direction is fixed, it's something everyone can agree on, and because you've got simulated gravity, everyone has the same understanding of "up" and "down", just as we do on Earth even though. Everything else derives from that.
answered 2 hours ago
Keith MorrisonKeith Morrison
8,7051 gold badge16 silver badges33 bronze badges
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Consider the Earth. Right now we're all on the outside of a rotating spherical object, which is essentially the inverse of your scenario, and yet people don't require massively complicated 3D navigational systems to get from place to place or to give directions. East is the direction in which the planet is rotating, and the other directions derive from that.
Using cardinal directions works for planets or fixed structures on those planets, but people will likely have a psychologically hard time using it for a space station. The easiest way I can see it working is as follows:
Spinward/forward: toward the direction you're moving tangentially.
Antispinward/backward: the opposite direction.
Port: facing spinward, the side to your left.
Starboard: facing spinward, the side to your right.
Up: Toward the axis of rotation.
Down: Away from the axis of rotation.
Simple, and straightforward. Because the spin direction is fixed, it's something everyone can agree on, and because you've got simulated gravity, everyone has the same understanding of "up" and "down", just as we do on Earth even though. Everything else derives from that.
answered 2 hours ago
Keith MorrisonKeith Morrison
8,7051 gold badge16 silver badges33 bronze badges
$endgroup$
Consider the Earth. Right now we're all on the outside of a rotating spherical object, which is essentially the inverse of your scenario, and yet people don't require massively complicated 3D navigational systems to get from place to place or to give directions. East is the direction in which the planet is rotating, and the other directions derive from that.
Using cardinal directions works for planets or fixed structures on those planets, but people will likely have a psychologically hard time using it for a space station. The easiest way I can see it working is as follows:
Spinward/forward: toward the direction you're moving tangentially.
Antispinward/backward: the opposite direction.
Port: facing spinward, the side to your left.
Starboard: facing spinward, the side to your right.
Up: Toward the axis of rotation.
Down: Away from the axis of rotation.
Simple, and straightforward. Because the spin direction is fixed, it's something everyone can agree on, and because you've got simulated gravity, everyone has the same understanding of "up" and "down", just as we do on Earth even though. Everything else derives from that.
answered 2 hours ago
Keith MorrisonKeith Morrison
8,7051 gold badge16 silver badges33 bronze badges
answered 2 hours ago
Keith MorrisonKeith Morrison
8,7051 gold badge16 silver badges33 bronze badges
answered 2 hours ago
Keith MorrisonKeith Morrison
8,7051 gold badge16 silver badges33 bronze badges
answered 2 hours ago
Keith MorrisonKeith Morrison
8,7051 gold badge16 silver badges33 bronze badges
8,7051 gold badge16 silver badges33 bronze badges
add a comment |
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Do it like the Right Ascension of the Ascending Node (RAAN) in orbital mechanics. Chose a reference frame and link your starboard and port to that.
answered 6 hours ago
MParmMParm
1,0263 silver badges9 bronze badges
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Do it like the Right Ascension of the Ascending Node (RAAN) in orbital mechanics. Chose a reference frame and link your starboard and port to that.
answered 6 hours ago
MParmMParm
1,0263 silver badges9 bronze badges
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Do it like the Right Ascension of the Ascending Node (RAAN) in orbital mechanics. Chose a reference frame and link your starboard and port to that.
answered 6 hours ago
MParmMParm
1,0263 silver badges9 bronze badges
$endgroup$
Do it like the Right Ascension of the Ascending Node (RAAN) in orbital mechanics. Chose a reference frame and link your starboard and port to that.
answered 6 hours ago
MParmMParm
1,0263 silver badges9 bronze badges
answered 6 hours ago
MParmMParm
1,0263 silver badges9 bronze badges
answered 6 hours ago
MParmMParm
1,0263 silver badges9 bronze badges
answered 6 hours ago
MParmMParm
1,0263 silver badges9 bronze badges
1,0263 silver badges9 bronze badges
add a comment |
add a comment |
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