02-04-2003, 11:00 PM | #21 |
Dracolisk
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and what do you think would happen if terrorists downed that mighty elevator? Or if a mechanical malfunction brought it down? What we'd be talking about is absolute decimation of thousands of miles of the earth followed by further destruction as if a large whip had cracked itself against the surface. It doesn't take a genius to calculate the death tolls if such a thing were built and fell over!
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02-05-2003, 07:38 AM | #22 |
Dracolisk
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Bottom line IMHO is that if this is as imaginitive as they can get with this sort of technology they do not deserve any funding at all. Surely there are university's in the USA that deal in this sort of science that are screaming for funding.
Phew, I think I've calmed down now [img]graemlins/dogrun.gif[/img]
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02-05-2003, 07:45 AM | #23 | |
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02-05-2003, 07:48 AM | #24 |
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The Idea is cool, but there are many materials advancements that need to be made yet. Carbon Nanotubes haven't been used to construct anything of size yet, and that trick won't be easy to solve.
I think Arthur C Clark wrote about an elevator to orbit and I know Heinlein had one in his Novel "Friday" (Which I really liked, along with the Number of the Beast) Edit: And the Idea is an elevator to geosynchronous orbit and not to the moon. You would anchor the other end to a station or small asteroid that would be put into orbit roughly 23,000 miles up. Edit to my Edit: Talk about a Navigation hazard...and I will bet the enviro types will find a thousand reasons why it would be bad because it blocked the flight path of the then endanged flying leatherbacked spotted finch. [ 02-05-2003, 07:51 AM: Message edited by: MagiK ] |
02-05-2003, 08:33 AM | #25 | |
Apophis
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I have no idea if the project is feasible, teh article is a bit one-sided. But it sounds intriguing.
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02-05-2003, 10:26 PM | #26 |
Symbol of Cyric
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Beanstalk technology is old hat in science fiction, and it's great idea. Unfortunately, as has already been covered, only a very few hypothetical construction materials have been found to be strong enough to support such an idea.
And, Gabrielles, there is something interesting on the moon - lots and lots of bauxite - that's the raw material which aluminum is made from, and aluminum is very much in demand in industry. The combination of low G and no native lifeforms or ecology to worry about also make it an ideal environment to place manufacturing facilities. If you've ever lived in a big city downwind from a manufacturing plant, you can easily see how it would be desirable to place industry OFF PLANET. DK, you're absolutely right, a beanstalk failure would catastrophic and very pyrotechnic, the energy release would be, well, gigeresque. Terrorist activity would be a very real concern. I think the first proof of concept would be a skyhook, not a true beanstalk which would offer considerably less risk for almost as much payoff. edit>spelling [ 02-05-2003, 10:27 PM: Message edited by: Sir Krustin ]
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