Posted on 05/08/2007 5:59:39 AM PDT by Uncledave
The 4 rotor concept was a Popular Science article somewhile ago. First, only a balloon or blimp would get it up there reliably. Second, LIGHTNING would quickly ZAP it. Remember, the electro-potential gradient between the negatively charged eath and positively charged ionosphere is 50V/m or 400,000 V(at 1800 Amps worldwide)total.
The Space Elevator people have the same problem : possible discharge of the entire, spherical capacitor with their elevator cable(moisture on it + debye effect). Talk about an environmental disaster, what happens EVERYWHERE when the electro-potential gradient disappears?
This proposal has been floated quite a few times over the past 15 or so years. I think the guy behind this apparent boondoggle (honestly, 30 ton devices are gonna float like little cotton puffs in the sky) is a PR genius.
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