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San Francisco, 2:08 AM
Wed Nov 25
23 posts in the last 24 hours
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10/30/09
10/30/09
10/30/09
And this is a cool blog: [www.spaceelevatorblog.com] #spaceelevator
10/30/09
10/30/09
10/30/09
From ground to geo-sycn is VERY high.
However, if you dont have fixed-point to fixed point, but rather a (moving) tether that that drops as low as, say, SpaceShipTwos height, you can cut a lot of time of the trip and make the whole thing a lot more realistic as well.
Sure, its still incredibly hard, and you have added the challenge of hocking onto a moving target.
But Id wager thats still easier then ground to geo-sycn orbit. #spaceelevator
10/30/09
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10/31/09
Youd then use a counter-balance to keep tension in the cable, letting the counter balance out to either literally pull it up (ver a smaller cable), or merely to power a moter doing the same. By using a larger rock or weight in this manner you could store the energy a long time in advance of needing to pull something. (as, after all, you don't get that much from solar).
The counter balance would, of course, need to be in a slightly faster orbit. And the combined mass of the winchpoint and counterbalance and cargo would all need to be within reasonable limits in order to not drag the whole thing down.
But in principle I'm not sure I see a problem.
Orbital corrections would have to be done on the main winch platform, also, but this would be no more challenging then what the ISS already does. (propellant would have to be lifted regularly with other cargo).
Small corrections could be made using electric charges in the drop cable, there is some funky methods to get lift using the atmosphere itself. But, obviously, for most big manivours you need propellant.
Its going to be hard, and I see a world of problems...but I am puzzled why it isnt being looked into as much. Maybe there is a complete impossibility I'm overlooking.
But with ground-to-seo-sycn orbit, even with nanofibers, we are talking about cable that would have to be hundreds of meters thick.
:-/
10/30/09
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10/30/09
08/17/09
[www.spaceelevatorconference.org]
[www.nasa.gov]
[www.pcworld.com]
With a few large companies being interested. There might be resistance from USA NIMBY groups but I'd bet a country like Indonesia would jump at it because of the bucks involved. Millions of jobs and the chicks are free.
08/17/09
It's been depicted in many piece of fiction, one of my favorites being the Red/Blue/Green Mars series by Kim Stanley Robinson. Highly recommended if you're curious about how this technology can be applied. Space elevators are also featured in Peter F Hamilton's Reality Dysfunction series.
One thing is sure, it's going to circumvent the problem of reaching escape velocity to get payloads into space. Vertically we're talking tens of kilometers but it takes huge amounts of energy, currently in the form of rocket propellant, to lift anything there. A space elevator could potentially be "free" in terms of energy usage as it could be solar powered.
08/17/09
You should read The Glass Elevator, his sequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
08/16/09
.
Yeah, probably a whole bunch of decades. I'd be thrilled to be proven wrong, though.
-Kle.
08/16/09
Not in my province, though. I live in the southern tip of the island. Just thinking about the imaginary local economic growth makes me giddy! :D
and it makes total sense, too! we're located at the Equator, meaning optimum centrifugal kick that may aid departing space vessels; and on an island as opposed to massive land mass, meaning lower casualty/damage projection if the beanstalk comes tumbling down.