Posted on 06/25/2004 2:21:35 PM PDT by Junior
If only this were going to happen.
This sounds suspiciously like a perpetual motion scam.
Edwards said he probably needs about two more years of development on the carbon nanotubes to obtain the strength needed.
In other words, nothing we can currently build is strong enough.
Science list ping (a subset of the evolution list). FReepmail me to be added or dropped.
The science is sound and has been talked about by engineers and technologists for the last couple of decades. Unfortunately, I don't see anything coming from this because of politics (it can't be built in anyone's district).
I just want my hydrogen powered car, the one every president promises.
Fifty, maybe.
Probably a hundred.
No, there already are carbon nanotubes used in current commercial applications (some are already in plastic car bumpers) it's just a matter of improving an existing technology, not inventing a new one.
what happens if the cable is cut four feet above the ground? does it come crashing down to earth? does it fly off into space?
Ain't seen a darn thing made out of carbon nanotubes yet.
Price at $10 billion - LOL.
According to the latest issue of Discover (which does a piece on the space elevator)...
"The space shuttle, to name one example, was originally projected to cost $5.5 million per launch; the actual cost is more than 70 times as much. The International Space Station's cost may turn out to be 10 times its original $8 billion estimate."
So - while I support research of this area, I can only imagine that $10 billion has been grossly *misunderestimated*!
Carbon fiber is not carbon nanotube.
It won't, because it can't.
I've read miles of this stuff, and there's one factor that no one has taken into account, and it's a killer.
They can't build a space elevator, because it will be ripped apart by the torsional stress from the tidal forces.
For giggles, let's assume they somehow manage to hang one of these suckers into the sky, and, they somehow manage to stick an "elevator cab" on the top of it. (OK, not the "top" top, but the geo-sync altitude "top" portion.)
What happens when they lower the cab?
Picture an ice skater, spinning on one toe, arms spread out.
Then imagine the ice skater pulling in her arms.
Now picture that ice skater being 40 thousand miles tall. :)
The horizontal velocity of that cab -- at geo-sync altitude -- will be staggering, and even though it's "undetectable" at altitude, when you lower the cab, it will be like trying to contain a cannonball with a spiderweb.
My question is Why? Why would I want to go 22,500 miles on a friggin' elevator? And that's just to get TO space. And this bit about counting on Solar to power the thing? How much power do they count on it taking to power 13 tons 20, 000 miles? I've heard of this before, I think it is a scam.
Nothing can be strong enough, period.
It's like trying to bring the Moon close to the Earth. You can't. It'll break up due to the Roche Limit. You can't break the laws of nature.
The tidal force will destroy a space elevator -- even if you can erect it -- as soon as you try to use it.
I grew older in Fairmont from 1950 to 1959 when I escaped; the only thing notable about that place was crooked politicians and hotdog joints.
Indeed. Toyota is using carbon nanotubes in car bumpers and door panels.
Only the orbital science.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.