Thanks to Albert Einstein’s equivalence principle, which led to his theory of general relativity, an astronaut in an enclosed craft without the proper reference point couldn’t tell if the downward force they felt was caused by gravity or because the ship was accelerating in a specific direction. Using Einstein’s equations, scientists could create artificial gravity by making the ship spin, but there are only three types of acceleration that can affect gravity: linear, rotational, and gravitational.
According to Forbes, linear acceleration is caused by the uniform thrust of a booster rocket in a straight line, like a typical spaceship launch. Rotational acceleration would occur if the ship’s outer hull spun, causing the occupants inside to feel as if they were pushed toward the ship’s center. Think Discovery One in “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Lastly, the principle of gravitational acceleration states the force made by a gravitational field must be the same as the force created when something accelerates, according to TechTarget. A ship needs to speed up to move through space and slow down once it arrives at its destination. If not equipped with a device that dampens or shields the crew from the incredible gravitational (G) forces associated with those speed changes, their bodies would be wrecked.
None of these things are currently within scientists’ ability to generate realistically, so artificial gravity will remain within the realm of science fiction for now.
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