Sounds like the dumbest idea of the century.
Agree a waste of time and money just to say we did it.
> Sounds like the dumbest idea of the century. <
It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, either. But if they want to give it a try, go for it. Just make sure no taxpayer dollars are involved.
The idea of space elevators has been around for a long time. When carbon nanofibers were discovered, the possibility became a bit more real.
The biggest problem will be location. Last I read anything on it, they were positing off of the west cost of South America as the most ideal location due to the relatively calm weather conditions.
I’m sure the eggheads are crunching the numbers, but I’m curious about the implications on the rotation of the planet. We’ve been spinning the same for millenia. If you add a weight on one side of a spinning globe, you will naturally skew the point of rotation. It might not impact our orbit, but I suspect it will play some role on the planet’s core.
I read about it in they 1960's. Did you never fill a bucket with water, then swing it over you head in a circle and marvel at the fact that the water didn't drop out of the bucket?
The Space Hook would work like that.
I disagree. It is the dumbest idea since the beginning of time. This will be the scenario:
Her: Could you run to the store and buy some hamburger for dinner?
Him: Sure - see you in a few days.
Her: That will not work. How about we go to our favorite restaurant instead? Oh...
Him: Maybe after dinner we could go down to the lake and...oh.
Only a moron would think they could/should live on the moon or on Mars.
This is definitely the most stupid idea of the century. To get up to that station 66,000 miles up in geosynchronous orbit, you would not only have to lift the object up, but also accelerate it sideways to get up the the higher rotational speed of the station..
Here on earth, the rotational speed at the surface is about 1000 miles per hour (one full rotation in 24 hours). At 66,000 miles up, the rotation speed would be about 17 times higher, or about 17,000 miles per hour. The difference between that and the surface speed would have to be made up by a rocket firing sideways as the object was lifted to the station 66,000 miles up. The total rocket energy expended in such a lift would be nearly the same as in a conventional launch.