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I've been toying with an idea of a epic space fantasy where a certain area of the milky way is controlled by decedents of humanity that are born, live & die in spaceships, said "ngees" as the "dirt siders" humans like to call them have spent so long living in space that unlike the spaceships of the dirt siders they no longer have artificial gravity on their ships, a fact which makes their ship more energy efficient and faster as a result.

Said empires do have diplomatic relations with each other (it's all very game of thrones like) which is usually conducted in space if one of the sides is an ngee diplomat as the long years in zero gee has made them uncomfortable in any form of gravity.

Now I plan on having a ngee be forced to land on a earth like planet to conduct a diplomatic mission (that may or may not involve poison), The question is can someone who has spent his entire life in zero gee survive on earth like gravity?

some things to keep in mind:

  • the only difference is zero gee, assume that space radiation and any other impact from living in space that isn't a result of zero gee is remedied by ngee tech.
  • He doesn't have to be able to be particularly athletic once he's dirt side, he simply needs to be able to be there to talk, preform basic tasks (open a door, drink, etc) and survive for a few days.
  • If needed the diplomat can bring with him whatever equipment he needs to survive dirt side.
  • assume no magic tech level if this is the case, stick to things that are possible to build with current technology only, it's been so long since a ngee landed on a planet they didn't even bothered to think ahead and build anything advanced that can allow for them to visit a 1G world so they are stuck to using relics from ages ago.
  • He can be in pain and discomfort the entire time, it can shorten it's life span, he just needs a few days to get the job done.
  • All ngee ships have zero gee at all times, the warp travel method used means that even when the ship is moving they don't feel any gravity.
  • The ngee diplomat is an average ngee, not one bred for surviving dirt side or one that is in amazingly great shape, if he goes through special training it will be in the span of a few days at most as that is all the time he has before the mission takes place.

I know there are questions about transporting earth born humans to higher gravity planets that are similar or questions about how could living in zero gee be possible but this question is only about a person that was born and lived in zero gee it's entire life visiting a 1G planet for a short duration.

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  • $\begingroup$ Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. $\endgroup$ – L.Dutch - Reinstate Monica Mar 9 at 2:26
  • $\begingroup$ The accepted answer to this question might offer some clues. Disclaimer: the accepted answer is mine. worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/134370/… $\endgroup$ – pojo-guy Mar 9 at 6:06
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    $\begingroup$ This was addressed to some extent in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein. And as in that story, the stress of leaving a gravity well may be lethal, even if Earth-normal gravity is not. $\endgroup$ – Jedediah Mar 9 at 19:51
  • $\begingroup$ Possible duplicate of How long can humans survive in increased gravity? $\endgroup$ – Alex2006 Mar 9 at 22:22
  • $\begingroup$ @alex2006 it's related but not the same, this isn't going from normal gravity to high gravity, it's going from no gravity to normal gravity. $\endgroup$ – cypher Mar 10 at 7:32
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One way to have your "ngee" survive for a few days is to put him tank of water with a breathing mask. The buoyancy of the water will mitigate some of gravity's effects. There is an episode of the expanse which deals with this scenario.

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    $\begingroup$ That's a good start perhaps (though he's probably going to need life-support machinery as well to help with breathing & even pumping blood), a little reminiscent of Dune's navigators there :) $\endgroup$ – Pelinore Mar 9 at 0:38
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Depends on how you define survive, can he lay flat in a bed with a ventilator, yes. Can he walk, no. For one thing he will not have the muscle to support his own body weight, but more importantly he will not know how to walk, he never learned to walk as a child. Even simple things like pouring a liquid from one container to another would be alien concepts they had no practice with.

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