11 Apr 06
Originally posted by FabianFnasI don't think table tennis would be exactly impossible but you would have to modify your swing, I imagine you would need to play the game higher up from the board so as to hit with more of a down angle but then your reaction would have to be taken into account.
You are of course perfectly right.
In any sport on the moon surface, one have to take low grav into consideration. It is possible to take a match of table tennis, but it will be boringly slow, or else you will miss the table altogether. In zero grav table tennis it is impossible.
I would prefer a good sound game of chess in space. May I challenge you?
Chal me, we can have a go. BTW I see you are from Sweden. I have a Swedish daughter in law, from Gotenburg. I entered one of her songs in the music competition, don't know if you got around to listening to the entries, she was in the extra division. Not sure if the link is still up. Ask Starrman if it is if you are interested. She has an incredible voice and its a Swedish lullably she sings, etherically beautiful.
11 Apr 06
Originally posted by sonhouseSorry I don't know the english term for it, eh, when you start a ball, you have to let the ball bounce at your table half, go over the net, and then bounce at you opponents table half before he returns it. This is not possible in zero grav. In sixth grav it is possible but painfully slow.
I don't think table tennis would be exactly impossible but you would have to modify your swing, I imagine you would need to play the game higher up from the board so as to hit with more of a down angle but then your reaction would have to be taken into account.
Chal me, we can have a go. BTW I see you are from Sweden. I have a Swedish daughter in law, from ...[text shortened]... sted. She has an incredible voice and its a Swedish lullably she sings, etherically beautiful.
Yes, I'm from Sweden, from Göteborg as a matter of fact! Perhaps I know her, or at least heard her singing. Göteborg is not very big city, you know. When you meet her, say hello from Fabian, she will probably know...
And if you visit Göteborg, anytime, I challenge you at Guldhedstornet where I often sit and sip a good cup of coffee and a apple pie with vanilla sauce and some ice cream. You just have to taste it, in full gravity, and 360 view over the city from above. 64 squares between us and the life is fulfilled!
11 Apr 06
Originally posted by FabianFnasSounds great! I would LOVE to visit, Charlotte goes back about once every two years, her parents and a couple of sisters are still there. Isn't that a co-incidence, you from the exact same town! I'll ask her if its alright to give you her last name, maybe you could phone her folks and say hi indirectly from Charlotte! BTW here near Philly there is a Swedish museum/cultural center and she took us there for the annual Saint Lucia festival, it was beautiful, great costumes.
Sorry I don't know the english term for it, eh, when you start a ball, you have to let the ball bounce at your table half, go over the net, and then bounce at you opponents table half before he returns it. This is not possible in zero grav. In sixth grav it is possible but painfully slow.
Yes, I'm from Sweden, from Göteborg as a matter of fact! Perhaps ...[text shortened]... avity, and 360 view over the city from above. 64 squares between us and the life is fulfilled!
I see what you mean about having to bounce the ball. Ok, Quick modification: make a board above the table board so you can bounce the ball off your side and it hits the upper board and proceeds to bounce back down to the other side. Hows that for a quick upgrade?
11 Apr 06
Originally posted by sonhouseAnother upgrade is to place a big fan in the 'roof' above the tennis table so the ball forces 'down' to the table and then can have a more 'natural' ball path.
Sounds great! I would LOVE to visit, Charlotte goes back about once every two years, her parents and a couple of sisters are still there. Isn't that a co-incidence, you from the exact same town! I'll ask her if its alright to give you her last name, maybe you could phone her folks and say hi indirectly from Charlotte! BTW here near Philly there is a Swedish ...[text shortened]... upper board and proceeds to bounce back down to the other side. Hows that for a quick upgrade?
Tomorrow I will start asking every Charlotte I know in Göteborg if she knows any Son House from Philly. Then I give her a big hug from you, okay?
11 Apr 06
Originally posted by FabianFnasWell that won't help since Charlotte lives near Philly now! Good luck on that one! Did you see the post where I suggested a porous tennis court that would push air up from below to simulate moon conditions in a tennis game? Great minds stink alike!🙂
Another upgrade is to place a big fan in the 'roof' above the tennis table so the ball forces 'down' to the table and then can have a more 'natural' ball path.
Tomorrow I will start asking every Charlotte I know in Göteborg if she knows any Son House from Philly. Then I give her a big hug from you, okay?
12 Apr 06
Originally posted by FabianFnasI would think that table tennis would be very possible in a zero gravity environment. The key would simply be to use lots of top spin.
You are of course perfectly right.
In any sport on the moon surface, one have to take low grav into consideration. It is possible to take a match of table tennis, but it will be boringly slow, or else you will miss the table altogether. In zero grav table tennis it is impossible.
13 Apr 06
Originally posted by leisurelyslothI am not an expert on it but it might work, certainly spin would effect the ball in zero gravity as much as high gravity, maybe more. It might
I would think that table tennis would be very possible in a zero gravity environment. The key would simply be to use lots of top spin.
take more energyt to play that way, don't know. I guess the rebound problem could be taken care of by magnetic boots or velcro though.
With both players aiming in opposite directions their combined torque would cancel each other out so you wouldn't be attempting to impart an unwanted spin to a space station!
What if the table tennis ball were to be an electret? You know, permentant electric field like in most small microphones nowadays,
with a positive field on the ball and a negative field on the table, it could compensate for zero gravity so maybe EVERY shot wouldn't have to include spin. That kind of technology is already in use BTW, both in my world of Ion Implanters and Reactive Ion etchers for silicon wafers made into computer chips and such and in a smaller device, there is a kind of printer that just has a movable pen with an X and Y drive and a Z drive to lift the pen off the paper, Hewlett Packard has one that uses an electric field to hold the paper down on the platen so it sticks down and doesn't move around, the same thing is used to hold down a silicon wafer in those machines I mentioned, electric fields can develop a nice force for such things so maybe a static negative charge on the table vs a positive electric charge on the ball would simulate gravity, what do you think?