Artificial Gravity on the International Space Station

NASA is working on artificial gravity for the International Space Station and possibly for space craft as well. Now this feels like it is right out of science fiction! I have been watching some episodes from Star Trek:Deep Space Nine and I always have in the back of my mind that the station is in space while everyone walks around as if they had the gravity of a planet holding them down because everytime I see pictures from the ISS, they are floating around as the astronauts try to complete their daily tasks. The astronauts also need to exercise regularly and take medication to curb bone loss, from the article:

New plans for artificial gravity tests in space using centrifuges may hold the key to helping future astronauts ward off the debilitating loss of muscle and bone due to weightlessness on long missions to asteroids or the moon under NASA's revised space exploration plan.
Space station residents currently rely upon different exercises to keep themselves fit for the eventual return to Earth. But a spinning centrifuge device could create artificial gravity, which simulates the gravitational tug a planet, like Earth, has. The giant spinning device will give astronauts a healthy break from the weightlessness of space.
"You can try to treat each of the effects of weightlessness system by system, with certain pills for bone loss and certain exercise regimens for the muscles," said Laurence Young, an aeronautics and astronautics engineer at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. "Or you can treat the root cause of weightlessness by restoring gravity."

Artificial gravity sets the stage for long term visits to the ISS but if implemented into a craft that could travel long distances in space, could imply longer trips into the solar system as long as fresh air, food supply, and water, can be available for that same amount of time.

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