Using a Space Elevator

How a Space Elevator can reduce the costs to space

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Space
• Elevator

[redelman43199]

Imagine having to listen to elevator music for 48 hours.

[Wizardess]

The really big question is whether this cable can withstand something hitting it. Every satellite spends part of its time over the Northern Hemisphere and part of it over the Southern. If it makes this crossing at precisely the wrong time it can hit the cable and disasters happen. The top end flies away and the lower part falls - on what? And what happens to whatever was climbing the cable at the time.

{^_^}

[Starbattle64]

Carbon nanotubes are great and all but with the discovery/invention of Graphene. We'll, all I can think if now is the possibility of Graphene reinforced carbon nanotubes :3

[AaronBurr17]

@Wizardess Well, I know that carbon nanotubes have been measured at strengths of 400 times stronger than steel, pound for pound. This makes it potentially the strongest material known in the universe. It certainly seems like a promising material. But yes, your question is certainly an important question.

[sasuke2277]

@RoyCostasimgeek

Terrorists might as well Nuke time square.

[sasuke2277]

@Wizardess

100 times stronger than steel. There's a space station at the top, they'll monitor incoming satellites and offset them to a different direction.

[chrisblaster18]

So will there only be one or hundreds ?

[turkanator123]

Wow the human race is sooo fucked up... money is destroying us

[samysasy419]

@Wizardess Dude, there are literally hundreds of satellites up there in space, so howcome they havn't collided with each other? Because we can program them to avoid each other, plus, satellites have manuverable thrusters, in case they lose their altitudes, we can just activated from the surface, so it will reenter its orbit. A space elevator wouldn't be as fragile as most people think, which is probably why our space agencies are hesitant to build one or fund private companies to work on it.

[matthewakian2]

@RoyCostasimgeek Yeah, that would be f**cked.

[kayaking4autism]

@MrDenniski Also if you put the space elevator at altitudes above 14,000km (GEO) the spin of the Earth itself would yank on the cable and even if it didn't snap it would yoink the satellite into an eliptical orbit and thus slackening the cable. I think the "top floor" would need a lot of fuel and rockets in every direction to keep it in place every time wind blows on the cable, every time some fatso goes up etc.

[MrDenniski]

@kayaking4autism good question. this is my opinion so I wouldn't hold it as gospel. I think the weight of the lifting body's travelling up and down the tether would be negligible to the overall weight of the entire structure (think of a couple of ants climbing a vine). I suppose one way to increase the load carrying capability would be to extend the range of the tether creating a greater centrifugal force to counteract added weight.

hope that helps