Space Elevators

[Patrick]

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/10/02/space.elevator/index.html

It's an interesting concept, but it does seem rather far fetched. But, I suppose most great achievements seem far fetched at one point or another.

Via Digg.

[bushido_man96]

That does sound pretty far-fetched. I wonder how they would compensate for rotation, revolutions, etc.

[joesteph]

Many times, something is theoretically feasible, but only on paper, as in Archimedes' claim, "Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth," reflecting his insight into levers.

To go "to the one hundred-thousandth floor" (as it says in the article), would involve a cyllinder-shaped structure that would not only contain the cable and other inner workings to have the elevator operate, but it would be a long, thin "target" for any space junk. The base of it would be moving at over 1000 mph (as its base is on earth), and that would mean, by extension using geometry, that each section of the elevator would be going faster than 1000 mph as you go to the top. (Think of a long line of horses, the horse in the center simply spinning around in a small circle. Each horse next up would have to be going faster and faster until the end horse is going at full gallop.)

The smallest piece of space junk, and there's an incredible amount of space junk since more nations, particularly China, have become involved in outer space, would collide with this elevator at I don't know how many thousands of miles per hour, with all pressure on a single point, meaning that, unless there's a perfect system of deflection, the item punctures the cyllinder, destroying a large section. (One of the "Star Wars" concepts that came out under President Reagan was a "rail gun" that would shoot a golf ball-sized piece of metal at an enemy ICBM and have that missile destroyed by the impact.)

I believe it can be worked out on paper; in practice, I'm not as optimistic.