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My impression is that while emulating gravity with a rotating reference frame is certainly possible, the things holding that approach back are engineering realities. In order to minimize the "gravity" gradient felt over the length of a human standing up, the radius of your spacecraft needs to be quite large.

If you are lifting that sort of mass already, your time is probably better spent lifting several tons or water that would be used to fill a double hull, providing protection from radiation. Then you can give your crew a few rubber bands and count on some minimal muscle loss. (We have kept people in space and reasonably healthy for the several months getting to Mars would take, but that is in LEO where radiation is much less of an issue).



Just have two capsules separated by a tether. No need for a torus of huge radius.


NASA has a deathly fear of tethers for some reason, but I suppose that wouldn't stop Musk.


Or even better, a rigid tunnel. That would allow people to travel between the two bodies, which would significantly improve their happiness.




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