DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF ZERO-GRAVITY GYMNASIUM

In recent years the possibility of developing a space tourism industry has received growing attention since it has the potential to generate a commercial launch market of tens of launches per day-enough to just ify investment in developing reusable launch vehicles capable of airli ne operations. The provision of accommodation in orbit will be an impo rtant part of this activity, since it will enable guests to enjoy a wi der variety of entertainments in Earth's orbit, and so will help expan d the market. Once orbiting hotels are put into operation, competition will drive them to become more sophisticated, and progressively more advanced facilities will be developed. One direction of such developme nt will be to include increasingly larger rooms for guests to exercise and participate in sports in weightlessness, or ''zero gravity'' as i t is popularly known. This paper considers the case of a small gymnasi um that might be the first sports facility to be used as part of an or bital hotel. The engineering design is considered, together with its a ssembly, costs, and commercial potential. Overall, once launch costs f all sufficiently for space tourism to become commercially feasible, su ch sports facilities appear likely to become attractive commercial inv estments.