this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2025
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Did the whole "space craft rotates to simulate gravity" thing really begin with 2001?
I think von Braun may be the originator but I could be wrong, you be surprised how incestuous the relationship between science and science fiction is. Regardless 2001 is probably what popularized it.
Its not incest. Its progression. You have to imagine something to create it. Just look at the original star trek and cell phones. They were not two sisters getting down with one another. At best they were 2nd cousins who meet at the family reunion once a year and hook up.
As a kid, I remember hearing about simulating gravity by spinning a space ship. I was excited to see it happen in 2001, so my recollection is that it was already a known concept, and I was just a kid at the time.
I doubt it ... but that's a really good question ... to answer it you'd need to look at at least a century and a half of science fiction. I don't think Jules Verne thought of it (haven't read all his stuff), but it might have been Aristotle for all I know.
Yeah seems like something Clarke, Heinlein or Asimov could've come up with. But also seems like an idea that could go back to Newton's time.