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The 62,000-Mile Elevator Ride
CNN ^ | 2.24.2006 | Georgia Flight

Posted on 03/07/2006 4:52:01 AM PST by Neville72

(Business 2.0) - Every world-changing wonder has to begin somewhere. But it would be hard for the space elevator to have a less auspicious start than it got last October in a foggy office parking lot in Mountain View, Calif. This was the setting for the first Space Elevator Games, sponsored by NASA, which offered a $200,000 prize to the first team that could make a machine climb up a 164-foot tether, powered by nothing but a mirror and a beam of light from a 10,000-watt bulb.

A short ride

In fact, none of the home-brewed contraptions on display could reach higher than 40 feet. The device that got the most attention was built by Vince Lopresti, a wheelchair-bound Texan, and that's because he made it from an old wheelchair frame. Ask him why he did it, and he gazes skyward. "I'm doing it to get off this rock," he says with a smile.

(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
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1 posted on 03/07/2006 4:52:02 AM PST by Neville72
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To: Neville72
My daughter's science teacher and I were discussing this the other day at the local Science Olympiad...

He really believes that this is the "next big thing".

Carbon nantubes woven into a fine ribbon, and then woven into rope.

Advanced composites strikes again!!!
2 posted on 03/07/2006 4:58:27 AM PST by baltodog (R.I.P. Balto: 2001(?) - 2005)
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To: Neville72

At least the CNN page has a graphic. I've been wondering for years how this was supposed to look. How big would that counterweight be, anyway? What happens when something runs into the cable?


3 posted on 03/07/2006 5:01:19 AM PST by PCBMan (...so we just called him Fred)
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To: PCBMan

The asteroid as a counterweight idea has gone by the wayside. Calculations have shown that the weight of the ribbon itself and the climber that constructs it out to the 62,000 mile limit are sufficent weight to serve that function


4 posted on 03/07/2006 5:23:18 AM PST by Neville72 (uist)
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To: baltodog
Carbon nantubes woven into a fine ribbon, and then woven into rope.

The problem I see with this idea is that carbon fiber is conductive. Place a conductor into an electromagnetic field and you make a generator. This whole thing would have a huge charge on it once in place. I wouldn't want to be anywhere near the business end of this thing when it's in place.....

5 posted on 03/07/2006 5:28:29 AM PST by Thermalseeker
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To: PCBMan
Check this out. View of earth from geosynchronous level of space elevator: View of earth from the "bitter end" of the space elevator tether: Yowza!
6 posted on 03/07/2006 5:50:43 AM PST by Neville72 (uist)
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To: Neville72
I've read that the purpose of the space elevator is to carry objects to orbit. I presume that the object is taken to its desired level and then "pushed" away (to get it away from the elevator) or uses thrusters to maneuver to its final destination.

I wonder, though, if an object was carried to the end of the device, which is presumably orbiting as fast as the Earth's rotation, if it then could be let go like a giant sling shot - possibly allowing travel to the moon...
7 posted on 03/07/2006 6:03:24 AM PST by babyface00
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To: baltodog
I hope they attach the upper end to an industrial-strength sky hook because I'd sure hate to be under that thing if it ever decided to drop back to Earth. :)

Think of the environmental impact study scenarios: a) big pile of string; b) ball of yarn; c) slingshot; d) lightning rod extraordinarie; e) de-winger

8 posted on 03/07/2006 6:04:12 AM PST by NonValueAdded ("If I were a Cuban, I'd certainly be on a raft," Isane Aparicio Busto)
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To: babyface00

"I wonder, though, if an object was carried to the end of the device, which is presumably orbiting as fast as the Earth's rotation, if it then could be let go like a giant sling shot - possibly allowing travel to the moon..."



There has been much discussion of that specific topic. Future space craft going to the moon, Mars, asteroid belt or beyond would use the elevator as a slingshot. The savings alone on weight needed to get the craft to earth orbit would be tremendous.


9 posted on 03/07/2006 6:09:48 AM PST by Neville72 (uist)
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To: Thermalseeker
whole thing would have a huge charge on it once in place. I wouldn't want to be anywhere near the business end of this thing when it's in place.....

There is your power source.

10 posted on 03/07/2006 6:52:51 AM PST by Mike Darancette (In the Land of the Blind the one-eyed man is king.)
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To: Neville72

Will these guys ever try to analyse the engineering hurdles and strength of materials problems? For instance: the elastic properties of the 62 THOUSAND MILE "ribbon", i.e., strain or percent elongation, alone, make the concept little more than a foolish pipe dream. Go figure.


11 posted on 03/07/2006 7:03:38 AM PST by LLoyd George (more speculation games - cosmology style)
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To: babyface00
I wonder, though, if an object was carried to the end of the device, which is presumably orbiting as fast as the Earth's rotation, if it then could be let go like a giant sling shot - possibly allowing travel to the moon...

Mass Driver?
12 posted on 03/07/2006 7:21:49 AM PST by Wiz (News hyaena providing you news with spice of acid)
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To: babyface00
possibly allowing travel to the moon...

Further - think Mars, Asteroid Belt, outer solar system .. Brian Dunbar System Administrator Liftport

13 posted on 03/08/2006 5:12:07 AM PST by bdunbar
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