Posted on 03/28/2017 12:36:32 PM PDT by nickcarraway
An artist's impression of how the proposed asteroid-suspended Analemma Tower would look.
The building will be suspended from an asteroid orbiting 50,000kms from the earth A New York-based firm is proposing that Dubai be the site of a futuristic, asteroid-suspended skyscraper that orbits around the world.
The speculative Analemma Tower - which is being proposed by the Clouds Architecture Office - is designed to be suspended downward on an asteroid orbiting 50,000km from earth. It would orbit in a figure-eight pattern across the northern and southern hemispheres in a 24-hour cycle each day.
A design close-up of the asteroid from which the proposed skyscraper would be suspended using high-strength cables
On its website, the firm notes that "Analemma inverts the traditional diagram of an earth-based foundation, instead depending on a space-based supporting foundation from which the tower is suspended. "This system is referred to as the Universal Orbital Support System (UOSS).
"By placing a large asteroid into orbit over earth, a high-strength cable can be lowered towards the service of earth from which a super tall tower can be suspended," the website noted. "Since this new tower typology is suspended in the air, it can be constructed anywhere in the world and transported to its final location."
The best location to get started, Clouds Architecture noted, is Dubai.
"The proposal calls for Analemma to be constructed over Dubai, which has proven to be a specialist in tall building construction at one-fifth of the cost of New York City construction," the designers said.
World's next tallest tower
The initial design - which Clouds Architecture is billing as "the world's tallest tower" - includes separate parts of the tower dedicated to business; sleeping quarters; devotional activities; a gardening and agricultural centre; "transfer stations" that allow for the transfer of people and goods between the earth's surface and the orbiting structure; and space for dining, shopping and entertainment.
The two highest sections of the tower - starting at between 17,000 and 20,000 metres above earth - are reserved for a reliquary section (which would house religious relics) and a funerary section. The tallest point of the tower above earth is planned for about 32,000 metres above ground.
This is how the Analemma Tower would look from space
To power the building, Analemma's designers plan to instal space-based solar panels, which - "installed above the dense and diffuse atmosphere" - would receive constant sunlight. Water is to be filtered and recycled in a semi-closed loop, and re-filled with condensation captured from rain and clouds.
Once built, the tower's proposed orbit would take it in a figure-eight pattern around the world, "where the tower would move at its slowest speed at the top and bottom of the figure eight, allowing the possibility for the towers occupants to interface with the planet's surface at these points".
If that tower grazes NYC’s airspace, the owners will get a property tax bill.
How do you get back in?
Via catapult/trebuchet.
Or, the 200 million Africans who will need to migrate out of Africa by 2050 or starve to death.
These people are vulgar with their waste.
“Or the muslim scientists miscalculate that math thing?”
Out of deference to the perfection of Allah, Muslims will deliberately introduce flaws into their work.
If that’s a single misplaced knot in a fancy rug, fine.
If that’s a single wrong character in an engineering task, multiplied by the number of engineers working on an enormous project, that becomes high odds of catastrophic failure.
Being a tiny bit off when moving an asteroid into geosynchronous orbit, well, not good.
If you can keep it from swinging into mountains it might make a better space elevator than the Clarke. It can be supplied by helicopter and tons of stuff can be orbited on the cheap.
Either an early April Fool joke or someone really doesn’t understand orbital mechanics.
I don’t see any problems with it.
/s
No no, you have it all wrong, this will work.
“By placing a large asteroid into orbit over earth, a high-strength cable can be lowered towards the service of earth from which a super tall tower can be suspended,”
Total nonsense. If gravity and atmospheric forces didn’t snap the cables first, then drag on the parts in the atmosphere would eventually pull the asteroid down into a degraded orbit and re-entry. Goodbye life on planet earth as we know it.
“The Archies dreaming this thing up were on drugs for sure with this ‘brainstorm’”
... and you can be sure it was architects who dreamed it up, without ever bothering to consult an engineer or astrophysicist.
“And where is this asteroid?”
Another “minor” problem with the scheme. We don’t have the technology yet to move asteroids and park them in orbit. Theoretically perhaps, but we can conceive of anything theoretically.
You just don’t understand muslim physics.
“Hope” is the key word there. The variable wind shear forces at different altitudes affecting the structure would probably tear the thing pretty quickly. If not, the hanging structure is basically going to act as an anchor pulling the asteroid towards the earth.
Gravity.
Among other things.
Like hell. What will they do with the disabled? Throw them out of the building? They sure as hell can’t use a parachute (neither can the vast majority of ordinary people).
This is even more dumb that the idiotic idea of using a cable attached to Earth to tether a station miles high, with access by an “elevator” that would go up and down the cable.
Since they want to build it in Dubai they don’t need perpetual motion machines. They can fire harpoons into the asteroid, and attach the harpoon cables to winches which will be turned by slave laborers on treadmills.
This is a Simpson’s episode in the making.
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