I just finished reading "Packing for Mars, The Curious Science of Life in the Void" by Mary Roach. It is an entertaining but informative look at the weird but very human problems associated with space travel and how NASA is dealing with them. What and how to eat and drink at zero gravity, zero gravity elimination, and B.O. are all covered, among other things. And all of it is simulated on earth.
She made a point that really struck me as fascinating, so I will quote a couple of paragraphs:
"Gravity is why there are suns and planets in the first place. It is practically God. In the beginning, the cosmos was nothing but empty space and vast clouds of gases. Eventually the gases cooled to the point where tiny grains coalesced. Theses grains would have spent eternity moving through space, ignoring each other, had gravitational attraction not brought them together. Gravitation is the lust of the cosmos. As more particles joined the orgy, these celestial blobs grew in size. The bigger they became, the bigger the pull they exerted. Soon (in a thousands-of-centuries sort of way) they could lure larger and more distant particles into the tar pit of their gravitational influence. Eventually stars were born, objects big enough to pull passing planets and asteroids into orbit. Hello, solar system.
Gravity is the prime reason there's life on Earth. Yes, you need water for life, but without gravity, water wouldn't hang around. Nor would air. It is Earth's gravity that holds the gas molecules of our atmosphere---which we need not only to breathe but to be protected from solar radiation---in place around the planet. Without gravity, the molecules would fly off into space along with the water in the oceans and the cars on the roads and you and me and Larry King and the dumpster in the In-N-Out Burger parking lot."
She makes a good case, don't you think? Gravity is practically God.
Looking together in the same direction.
Sea otters hold hands while they sleep so they don't drift apart.
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