The large diameter centrifuge, or LDC, is any centrifuge extending several meters, which can rotate samples to change their acceleration in space to enhance the effect of
gravity
In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...
. Large diameter centrifuges are used to understand the effect of
hyper-gravity (gravitational strengths stronger than that of the
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
) on biological samples, including and not limiting to plants, organs, bacteria, and astronauts (Such as
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
's Human Performance Centrifuge) or non-biological samples to undertake experiments in the field of fluid dynamics, geology, biochemistry and more.
Description
More often, the LDC is generally termed with the centrifuge situated within a dome structure at the
European Space Agency (ESA)'s campus known as
ESTEC
The European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) is the European Space Agency's main technology development and test centre for spacecraft and space technology. It is situated in Noordwijk, South Holland, in the western Netherlands, altho ...
. This centrifuge is an 8-m diameter four-arm centrifuge available for research. A total of six gondolas, each being able to carry a 80 kg payload, can spin at a maximum of 20 times the Earth's gravity, or a maximum of 67 revolutions per minute.
Full technical specification are available for free at the ESA website.
Competition and grants
The European Space Agency (ESA) and UNOOSA lets students compete with a research proposal for the use of the LDC.
[{{Cite web, title=LDC HyperGES Main Page, url=https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/psa/hsti/ldc_hyperges/ao_main.html, access-date=2020-07-30, website=www.unoosa.org] These competitions are known as the 'Spin Your thesis!'. When the proposal is accepted, they are guided at ESA/ESTEC to use the LDC. Support is given for a variety of different fields including biology, physics and chemistry.
See also
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Gravitropism
Gravitropism (also known as geotropism) is a coordinated process of differential growth by a plant in response to gravity pulling on it. It also occurs in fungi. Gravity can be either "artificial gravity" or natural gravity. It is a general featu ...
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Random positioning machine
A random positioning machine, or RPM, rotates biological samples along two independent axes to change their orientation in space in complex ways and so eliminate the effect of gravity.Jack J.W.A. van Loon (2007). Some history and use of the random ...
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Free Fall Machine
The free fall machine (FFM) is designed to permit the development of small biological sample such as cell cultures with a simulated effect of micro-gravity, under free fall conditions.Schwarzenberg M, Pippia P, Meloni MA, Cossu G, Cogoli-Greuter M ...
*
Clinostat
A clinostat is a device which uses rotation to negate the effects of gravitational pull on plant growth (gravitropism) and development ( gravimorphism). It has also been used to study the effects of microgravity on cell cultures, animal embryo ...
References
Laboratory equipment
Gravitational instruments