Gravity Generators

Since the time of
the first orbital research stations in the Sol system, the difficulties
as well as the benefits presented by microgravity situations have been
exhaustively documented. The crews of the first true human-built
interstellar craft of the twenty-first century coped with acceleration
and zero-g coasting mission segments through the use of rotating
centrifuges, acceptable solutions for the day.

Humanoid organ
systems require gravitational and electromagnetic fields to insure
proper cellular growth and viability, simulating the natural conditions
present on most Class M worlds. Low-level field devices simulated the
planetary electrical and magnetic energy, and the descendants of many
twenty- to thirty-year flights arrived in a healthy state.

The general planform
 of the Nova starship returns to a more natural existence in that people
 are free to move about on planar surfaces with a constant gravity
holding them to the deck. Aboard the starship, this is accomplished
through the use of a network of small gravity generators. The network is
 divided into Two regions, two within the Primary Hull. Both work to
maintain the proper sense of "down," and are also actively tied to the
inertial damping field system to minimize motion shock during flight.

The two gravity
networks each support 400 generators. Fields overlap slightly between
devices, but this is barely noticeable. The gravity field itself is
created by a controlled stream of gravitons, much like those produced by
 the tractor beam. In fact, the basic physics is the same. Power from
the electro plasma system (EPS) is channeled into a hollow chamber of
anicium titanide 454, a sealed cylinder measuring 50 cm in diameter by
25 cm high. Suspended in the center of the cylinder, in pressurized
chrylon gas, is a superconducting stator of thoronium arkenide.

The stator, once set
 to a rotational rate above 125,540 rpm, generates a graviton field with
 a short lifetime, on the order of a few picoseconds. This decay time
necessitates the addition of the second layer of generators beyond 30
meters distance. The field is gentle enough to allow natural walking
without a gravity gradient from head to foot, long a problem in
brute-force physical centripetal systems.

The superconducting
stator remains suspended from the time of manufacture, and requires only
 an occasional synchronizing energy pulse from the EPS, normally once
each sixty minutes. In the event of EPS failure, the stator will
continue to provide an attraction field for up to 240 minutes, though
some degradation to about 0.8g will be detected.

Any perceived ship
motions that might disturb the stator gyroscopically are damped by
sinesoidal ribs on the inner surface of the anicium titanide cylinder,
effectively absorbing motions with an amplitude of less than or equal to
 6 cm/sec. All higher amplitude motions are relieved by the ship's
inertial damping field.

Gravity generators
are located throughout the habitable volume of the spacecraft. Because
of this, inertial potential can vary from one location within the ship
to another, especially during severe turning maneuvers. In order to
allow translation of excess inertial potential from one part of the ship
 to another, the gravity generators are connected together by a network
of small waveguide conduits that allow field bleed for gravitational
stability.