[LINK] Space lift to the stars is now more than a dream

[Karl Auer]

On Tue, 2009-11-10 at 11:09 +1100, David Boxall wrote:
> That may have been the case when the proposal was for a rigid structure. 
> It was calculated that the necessary structure would weigh more than the 
> whole planet.

A rigid structure is a nonsense for a lot of reasons, but that
calculation just about has to be wrong.

> Interesting question. The structure would be stationary relative to the 
> planet's surface, but winds at altitude can reach speeds in the 
> thousands of kilometres per hour, so there's considerable potential for 
> vibration build-up. Current proposals mention a carbon nanotube fabric 
> belt, which would tend to flutter. Interesting indeed.

Arthur C Clarke suggested that the elevators could be controlled to damp
vibration.

> The belt proposal posits an all-up weight of 300 tonnes. At one metre 
> wide, that works out at around 30 grams per square metre (GSM).

I make it only 3 grams (300 million grams over 100 million metres (give
or take).

Regards, K.
 
-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Karl Auer (kauer at biplane.com.au)                   +61-2-64957160 (h)
http://www.biplane.com.au/~kauer/                  +61-428-957160 (mob)

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