essensialy a large shuttle that is attached to a rather long teather that is launched up into a station that is at orbital level. i figure a magentic drive to raise and lower the shuttle, would save mucho money on fuel costs, and the owership of the elevator could make a fortune as well. origianly saw it in Alpha Centari. any thoughts?
Space Elevator
- Thread starter Rahnd
- Start date
LostWorldsMike
SOC-6
Wasn't something very similar the subject of Arthur C. Clarke's book The Fountains of Paradise?
Richard Saunders
SOC-12
Hello.
Yes you use the tether to send power down to the ground and you use the magnetic field to raise and lower the car, if you build the cable longer than needed you can use the end to launch ships out with a possitive vector (centrifical force) yes this will slow the spin of the planet but so does the moon.
Bye.
Yes you use the tether to send power down to the ground and you use the magnetic field to raise and lower the car, if you build the cable longer than needed you can use the end to launch ships out with a possitive vector (centrifical force) yes this will slow the spin of the planet but so does the moon.
Bye.
Richard Saunders
SOC-12
Hello.
Several thousand years and a couple of tech levels.
Sorry couldn't resist.
Bye.
Years ago after reading Fountains of Paradise i put the elevators on high tech hi pop moderately people friendly government worlds (such as Regina) on the basis that no one wants to have space craft flying around. It was attached to a small docking port that gave lifts to Up Station
I then had Ine Givar bomb it when the players were taking the trip up. That really upset them!
I then had Ine Givar bomb it when the players were taking the trip up. That really upset them!
lightsenshi
SOC-12
Space elevators are really only practical until gravity tech reaches a fairly common level. By that point of time, it becomes fairly easy (and safe) to do bulk lifts without the fuss and hastle.
Besides, can you imagine standing on a platform and knowing that a misstep means that you have a really long time to think about that landing?
Besides, can you imagine standing on a platform and knowing that a misstep means that you have a really long time to think about that landing?
Well, it doesn't seem like gravity tech is gonna be here anytime soon. Even though I hear people out west (in America, folks, and remember what's west for me) are working on it.
I saw a demonstration about using carbon nanotubes, or cylindrical "buckyballs," to make space elevators. Anyone have any thoughts on how to construct a space elevator using them?
I saw a demonstration about using carbon nanotubes, or cylindrical "buckyballs," to make space elevators. Anyone have any thoughts on how to construct a space elevator using them?
A. C. Clarke has another Space Elevator related book called > Kalidasa's Tower < which discusses in brief, using the difference in energy generated by running the tower through the earth's magnetic field, to moving things up and down.
Taking power out of the tether's cutting flux lines would start to slow the rotation of the planet. It might be slow, but who can say what the long term problems would be? Might be practicable for small needs, though raising significant cargo to orbit might not count as a small need.
You also gain some of it back when you brake an incoming package at the surface. BTW, you ALSO have the same effect when anybody uses a gravitational slingshot type manuever. Conservation of angular momentum - just remember the planet has a VERY LARGE mass compared to whatever is coming/going. Effects on the planet are insignificant compared to things like tidal drag from the local star, etc.
justindurkan
SOC-6
You can forget about getting power from elevator cables cutting flux lines. You have no way to harness it. Just as a 747 flying through the air generates a potential differnce measuring hundreds of volts between its wing tipsthere is no way to tap into this. To make use of that potential on the wing tips (or similarly from the two ends of a space elevator cable) one would need to close the circuit. The problem then is that the connections themselves must also cut flux lines and hence eliminate the potential availble.
There are no free lunches, I'm afraid.
Regarding slowing down the rotation of the planet, forget that too. Although there would be a slowing the rate would be immeasurable. Why? The rotational energies in this spinning rock are truly phenomenal. Even the tidal forces of the Sun operating since the planet was born have not managed to slow it down fast enough to matter. I can recall where I read it but some estimates have the earth reaching a tidal locked state aproxximatelyt one billion years after the sun goes red giant. Of course at that point we will be much more concerned with other problems
There are no free lunches, I'm afraid.
Regarding slowing down the rotation of the planet, forget that too. Although there would be a slowing the rate would be immeasurable. Why? The rotational energies in this spinning rock are truly phenomenal. Even the tidal forces of the Sun operating since the planet was born have not managed to slow it down fast enough to matter. I can recall where I read it but some estimates have the earth reaching a tidal locked state aproxximatelyt one billion years after the sun goes red giant. Of course at that point we will be much more concerned with other problems
A.C. Clarke does a neat job with a TransAtmospheric Tower/Space Elevator in 3001. He also puts a ring around the planet and all of Earth's population lives in this ring. There isn't a lot of detail - but it seemed visually stunning.
Later,
Scout
Later,
Scout
Straybow
SOC-14 1K
If I grab hold of a live wire there isn't a complete circuit; the power is going to ground and not back to the generator hundred of miles away, or even the substation a few miles away.
The antenna on my radio or TV isn't a closed circuit. It generates a tiny bit of power, which is then filtered and amplified and processed into pictures and sound.
The shuttle tried an experiment with a drag line for generating power. It had problems, but closing the circuit wasn't one of them. It's the same idea as the antenna, except that the current is enough to tap for power generation.
One last example of power with no complete circuit: Electromagnetic pulse. EMP from a nuke several km away can destroy electrical components that aren't connected to anything. High altitude detonations can blanket an area hundreds of km radius with EMP. One cm of wire to general hundreds of microtransister-frying volts. They can only be protected by enclosing them in a Faraday cage.
Personally, I'd believe the invention of gravitics before materials and economics could make a Space Elevator feasible.
The antenna on my radio or TV isn't a closed circuit. It generates a tiny bit of power, which is then filtered and amplified and processed into pictures and sound.
The shuttle tried an experiment with a drag line for generating power. It had problems, but closing the circuit wasn't one of them. It's the same idea as the antenna, except that the current is enough to tap for power generation.
One last example of power with no complete circuit: Electromagnetic pulse. EMP from a nuke several km away can destroy electrical components that aren't connected to anything. High altitude detonations can blanket an area hundreds of km radius with EMP. One cm of wire to general hundreds of microtransister-frying volts. They can only be protected by enclosing them in a Faraday cage.
Personally, I'd believe the invention of gravitics before materials and economics could make a Space Elevator feasible.
