click here to find out more on this horrible idea!
Posted on 11/17/2004 8:02:57 PM PST by Brett66
Great post, many thanks!
B59
I read that too. Right here on FR! I love this place.
I don't know how the prof would answer. But irregardless of the math on the strength of the cable, the accounting in dollars will make it fail from the cost of removing every existing satelite in orbits below the cable counterweight altitude.
Yep, I heard that same kind of thinking about 20 years ago. It was in recording technology and the "Noise Barrier" which is when your record a recording and keep doing it on analog equipment till the background noise (sometimes referred to as white noise) degrades the recording.
I was told that no matter what the physics would not allow us to proceed past a certain number of recordings and it all could be proved mathematically.
Then along came digital technology and blew that theory right out the door.
They could scale this up, and give people rides, by modifying the device that plumbers use to pull well pipes out of the ground.
A well-puller, capable of lifting several hundred pounds, by gripping onto a well pipe with three wheels at equidistant points, could, if clamped to a cable such as on a suspension bridge, lift several people at a time.
Until you ran out of extension cord.
One advantage of the two-side concept would be to provide DC power on alternate sides of the "ribbon" so that the cable-crawler could draw power all the way to the top. Or a descending car could add power through regenerative braking.
I'd be interested in seeing how one car passes another one.
Interesting idea, and a tribute to Doctor Arthur C. Clarke, who first realized the significance of a geo-syncronous orbit.
Unfortunately, it is inadequate for my purposes. I am interested in moving massive quantities of freight through use of an electro-magnetic catapult system. Given enough impetus, bigger-than-boxcar loads of material could be sent into orbit, or even farther, without using rocket fuel.
I have described this procedure, and some other modest suggestions, elsewhere.
yeah, but how far is "too far"?
"Current plans call for a base tower approximately 50 km tall -- the cable would be tethered to the top. To keep the cable structure from tumbling to Earth, it would be attached to a large counterbalance mass beyond geostationary orbit, perhaps an asteroid moved into place for that purpose."
I guess there is a tower (about 30 miles high)! You also need an asteroid!
Yeah, well wait until those damn squirrels scurry up the thing...
Not sure about the whole idea, but beaming the energy to the climber via a laser is a stroke of genius.
They could even catch the sunlight at the top of the platform and beam it downward to the climber.
I realize that it probably is just a tiny bit of energy, but wouldn't a long tether with 20,000 kg on the end slow down the rotation of the earth, perhaps a tiny bit. This would be like a skater putting their arms out while in a spin, to slow down the spin. of course, it would be so tiny, not even noticable.
Yes, you're right sir! This idea must work just because it looks so cool. How much money are you going to invest?
For payloads that are impervious to the effects of extreme and sudden acceleration, of course.
The platform is placed beyond geostationary so the platform is pulling the crawler's weight up.
"slow down the rotation of the earth, perhaps a tiny bit."
Yes, but the big problem is at the other end when the counterweight (asteroid) falls out of orbit.
Not if it's rigid though, so that the counter-balance couldn't move. (So what if we pull an astroid down on our heads...)
What if we build a tri-pod of ribbons, and then tether the whole thing to the moon? Or Jupiter?
.... and slowing down the counter weight.
I invite anyone to do the math of how long the launcher would have to be not to exceed ten gees.
My crude estimate is over a hundred miles. Much, of course, depends on how far you wish to send the "package."
And of course one is only limited to that extreme, if humans are to be aboard. Freight could stand to be squashed a bit.
"tether the whole thing to the moon? Or Jupiter?"
Yah, these guys are just not thinking big enough.
Yes but "perfect copy" doesn't mean immortal. It will continue to degrade unless serious back-up and redundancy measures are taken (presumably that could be done until the sun explodes.... but practically speaking, remember that CDs were supposed to last "a lifetime" and now we find out that means only 20 or 30 years).
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.