Posted on 09/28/2005 1:16:19 PM PDT by saganite
ping
wait, wait, wait...
The Moon orbits the Earth. Are they proposing a static elevator between the two? I see this ending poorly, yet expensively at the same time.
sorry duplicate post: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1491158/posts
Just beam me up Scotty.
Better solution:
Just beam me up Scotty.
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Wonkavision
No, no, no...
Sattelites are already routinely placed in a "geosynchronous orbit." Sattelites stay in orbit because their inertia (improperly called, "centrifugal force") cancels out gravity. The closer to the earth they are, the faster they spin relative to the earth. So there is a point, hundreds of miles high, where the speed they are travelling matches the rotational velocity of the earth. This allows a satellite placed on the equator to stay precisely over the same point of land.
The idea would be to balance a ribbon stretching downward with extra mass above the orbital plane so that the mean mass of the satellite (including the ribbon) remains at the level of a geosynchronous orbit, but yet the ribbon reaches all the way to the earth. Then you can create a dumb waiter to lift small loads from the earth to the sattelite, where gravity is much, much weaker.
The problem with space flight is that nearly all your fuel is burnt just getting you to a low orbital level. Worse, the mroe fuel you carry, the heavier your ship is, so you have diminishing returns severly limiting the ability to travel into space. (Hence, massive rockets were needed to carry a lunar module scarcely bigger than a pickup truck.) If you can get as a high as a space elevator, the rest is a snap.
A more efficient method would be to wrap the cable around the moon. This way, there would be a second cable returning to earth, creating an up as well as down elevator of sorts. By installing little cable cars, just about anyone could visit the moon. I hope they consider this as I would like to visit several relatives who live there.
Perhaps all we need is a large rubber band...
Indeed.
That suggests no counterweight. Solar power is going to be tricky.
Hmm. Guess you're right. Guess that's why you're RightWhale!
If you're in a space hotel at 22,000 miles, and the cord breaks, what happens? You should just hover there until you can be recovered, right? Or would you be thrown out into space?
The article mentions a 600 ton satellite in synchronous orbit. What's the heaviest thing that's been put in a synchronous orbit to date?
But, having a fiber that has the tensile strength to do this at all is a big step. That was the stopper.
Doesn't this whole space elevator episode end with aliens and a 'cookbook'??? LOL!
I think I saw you posting on a recent thread here about a major breakthrough in production of carbon nanotube sheets that can be used to construct this thing. If not, I can provide a link.
Not in this lifetime. I'm just a space elevator fan. I think it's gonna work and we'll all wonder why we are building these big rockets for $100 billion.
Wouldn't it be great if a privately funded space elevator obsoleted all those govt funded rockets? Of course, we'd still need some heavy lift to get that 600 ton satellite up there!
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