Space Elevator

[DrRocket]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>I think two million dollars is a small price to pay to keep motivated human minds at work on technological problems that may not give immediate commercial results but which may well lead to useful technologies in the future.&nbsp; Laying the groundwork.&nbsp; Heck, two million dollars is just the purse for a typical weekend of pro golf!&nbsp; And any new inventions that result will not be limited to use in a space elevator.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; <br />Posted by centsworth_II</DIV></p><p>A million here, a million there. Pretty soon it adds up.<br /></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[arkady]

<p>Technological problems aside, we're still centuries if not millenia away from such a construct I'd speculate. I suspect that should it become a reality some day the objective would be to import goods to the Earth, hence I surmise that it'd be built on the Moon or Mars.</p><p>It seems probable that during all this time we'd be able to come up with a better plan. However I can't see or have ever come across any reason why it'd be outside the realm of possibility given the availability of a plentyful and strong enough material. Whether it'd make any sense from an economic standpoint is another matter of course.</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "<font color="#0000ff"><em>The choice is the Universe, or nothing</em> ... </font>" - H.G Wells </div>

 

[DrRocket]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Technological problems aside, we're still centuries if not millenia away from such a construct I'd speculate. I suspect that should it become a reality some day the objective would be to import goods to the Earth, hence I surmise that it'd be built on the Moon or Mars.It seems probable that during all this time we'd be able to come up with a better plan. However I can't see or have ever come across any reason why it'd be outside the realm of possibility <strong>given the availability of a plentyful and strong enough material</strong>. Whether it'd make any sense from an economic standpoint is another matter of course. <br />Posted by arkady</DIV></p><p>Your time estimate is probably reasonably accurate, but you have put your finger on the real rub.</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[centsworth_II]

<p><font color="#333399"><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>A million here, a million there. Pretty soon it adds up. <br /> Posted by DrRocket</DIV></font><br />Haven't you heard?&nbsp; $1,000,000 is the new $1000.<img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-laughing.gif" border="0" alt="Laughing" title="Laughing" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[kg]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>&nbsp; I don't know any serious engineers who don't giggle up their sleeve when it is discussed.&nbsp; The last time I heard the giggling was this morning. <br />Posted by DrRocket</DIV><br /><br />And people laughed when someone came&nbsp; up with the idea of sewing miles of cow intestines together, stuffing them into a ridged airframe, filling it with hydrogen gas and flying it around the world but look whose laughing now!</p><p>I remember many years ago hearing a story about a highschool tug of war which ended when the nylon rope snapped with enough elastic force that several students lost fingers.&nbsp; Imagine what would happen if the rope were 60,000 miles long with thousands of tons of weight on it!&nbsp; </p>

 

[clone001]

An Elevator to reach up above.&nbsp; Am I the only who thinks that ridiculous? And I don't mean rediculous in the sense of "lets sail the to the new world eventhough we think the Earth is flat."&nbsp; I mean there may&nbsp; be so many other ways. If we think of an elevator, why not just build a pyramid that would reach the sky, that way we can just push the stuff up there from the incline. (being sarcastic).&nbsp; Or maybe just built a super glass conduit from the Earth to the moon large enough to place a train or mult trains and that way we can easily travel and colonize the moon super fast, but make sure we do include a stop at the train station right after we enter orbital space and deliver the satellites we are carrying. ((Again that is not the way))<img src="http://sitelife.livescience.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-tongue-out.gif" border="0" alt="Tongue out" title="Tongue out" />

 

[DrRocket]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>An Elevator to reach up above.&nbsp; Am I the only who thinks that ridiculous? And I don't mean rediculous in the sense of "lets sail the to the new world eventhough we think the Earth is flat."&nbsp; I mean there may&nbsp; be so many other ways. If we think of an elevator, why not just build a pyramid that would reach the sky, that way we can just push the stuff up there from the incline. (being sarcastic).&nbsp; Or maybe just built a super glass conduit from the Earth to the moon large enough to place a train or mult trains and that way we can easily travel and colonize the moon super fast, but make sure we do include a stop at the train station right after we enter orbital space and deliver the satellites we are carrying. ((Again that is not the way)) <br />Posted by clone001</DIV></p><p>If you think that you are the only one holding your opinion, then you have not read my posts.&nbsp; A space elevator is not going to happen.</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[killium]

<p>just a thought, following some visualisations.... Any object that is in orbit, satelites and space debris, cross the equatorial plan of the earth two times at each orbit. And each of those objects has a different speed according to thier altitude.</p><p>&nbsp;The space elevator needs a continuous ribbon or shaft from the ground up to that point high in space (well above the geosynchronic orbit).</p><p>There will be countless crash of objects on the ribbon or shaft....</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[kg]

Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>just a thought, following some visualisations.... Any object that is in orbit, satelites and space debris, cross the equatorial plan of the earth two times at each orbit. And each of those objects has a different speed according to thier altitude.&nbsp;The space elevator needs a continuous ribbon or shaft from the ground up to that point high in space (well above the geosynchronic orbit).There will be countless crash of objects on the ribbon or shaft.... <br />Posted by killium</DIV><br /><br />Yes,&nbsp; I recently saw (on the history channel) a program about possible space disasters.&nbsp; You know, things like what would happen if you found yourself suddenly in the vacuumed of space...stuff like that.&nbsp; They showed what would happen if the ribbon&nbsp;on a space elevator&nbsp;broke.&nbsp; They said it would come crashing back down to earth, winding itself around the equator several times smashing stuff in its path!

 

[centsworth_II]

<font color="#333399"><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>....They said it would come crashing back down to earth, winding itself around the equator several times smashing stuff in its path! <br /> Posted by kg</DIV><br /></font>Really? I've read that the ribbon would be made of super thin, lightweight material that -- due to air resistance -- would flutter harmlessly to the ground.&nbsp; <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[kg]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Really? I've read that the ribbon would be made of super thin, lightweight material that -- due to air resistance -- would flutter harmlessly to the ground.&nbsp; <br />Posted by centsworth_II</DIV><br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO8UO_049v4&feature=related</p><p>I'ts near the beginning of this clip.&nbsp; I think they may have exaggerated the threat, it is the History Channel after all.&nbsp; I would think that the cable would burn up in the atmosphere on the way down.</p>

 

[centsworth_II]

<p><font color="#333399"><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>....I think they may have exaggerated the threat....<br /> Posted by kg</DIV><br /></font>It certainly is dramatic.&nbsp; I hadn't thought about the scenario where the cable snaps at the bottom.&nbsp; But if it did, it would likely be immediately pulled up, not dragged along the surface as illustrated in the video.</p><p>Wikipedia has a discussion of the various failure modes and thoughts on what would happen.&nbsp; </p><p>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator_safety</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>