Okada and Sternbach explained the gravity tech in the
TNG Technical Manual.
Thanks for this. It's always nice to have electronically searchable copies of this sort of thing.
The most relevant section for the particular question:
12.3 GRAVITY GENERATION
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 docu¬
mented.
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 centri¬
fuges, acceptable solutions for the day.
Humanoid organ systems require gravitational and elec¬
tromagnetic fields to insure proper cellular growth and viabil¬
ity, simulating the natural conditions present on most Class M
worlds. Low-level field devices simulated the planetary elec¬
trical and magnetic energy, and the descendants of many
twenty- to thirty-year flights arrived in a healthy state.
The general planform of the Galaxyc lass 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 four regions, two within the Saucer Module and
two within the Battle Section. All four 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 Saucer Module gravity networks each support 400
generators; those in the Battle Section each support 200.
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.
Nice thinking,
@cooleddie74.
