True. What happens when the cable is cut? When cut low to the ground, one thing. When cut higher, another thing.
That was one of my first thoughts as well. What if this sucker breaks? What kind of problems would be caused by a severl thousands of miles of cable crashing back to earth (or am I missing something that the physics guys can clue me in on)?
The other question that I had was regarding the initial deployment. The article indicated that they would snake the cable down from orbit. What, exactly, would make the cable want to come "down" as opposed to "left" or "right" or even "up"? If they are in orbit, aren't they free from most of the effects of gravity (just what pull there is to hold them in orbit)? Wouldn't they have to shoot the cable back down through the atmosphere with some type of rocket?
Very interesting article, but it sure brings up lots of questions, as well as painting some very strange mental pictures (envision our planet with hundreds of these cables sticking out from the surface, like a big, giant spiked hairdo!!)